Diary of an Orphan
by BlAcKdAuGhTeR
Summary: What if Sirius had a daughter? What would she be like? Jenna spent her early life in an orphanage until the appearance of a man named Remus Lupin changed her life forever. This is the Diary of an Orphan. HPGW, RWHG in future chapters and maybe HPOC.
1. Prologue

**Summary:** What if Sirius had a daughter? What would she be like? Jenna Black has been best friends with Harry Potter for as long as she can remember. This is her story of how she came to meet him and how their lives became inadvertently linked as they went through Hogwarts together. This is the Diary of an Orphan.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or any of these characters apart from the ones you don't recognise. Unfortunately, I'm not JK Rowling _glares_. And sorry for the bad beginning but I was watching Spider-man when I started this fic hence the cliché start. There may also be bits from either the books or the films in later chapters but who knows what I'll write. Even I don't. On the pureblood note, I didn't know Lupin was a half-blood so I kept him as a pureblood, simply cause I think he should be one. Enjoy! ;)

Prologue

Who am I? You sure you wanna know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart. If somebody said it was a happy little tale, if somebody said my life was free of fear and danger, if somebody told you I was just your average, ordinary girl, not a care in the world … somebody lied.

I guess I should start from the beginning, seeing as that's usually a good place to start. Perhaps I also better introduce myself or you'll think these are just the ramblings of a nineteen year old girl who has nothing better to do with her time.

My name is Jenna Black and I'm part of a large community hidden away from all those who are different; I'm part of the wizarding world since I'm a witch, a pure-blood at that. My father, if you haven't guessed already is, or was depending on your perspective, Sirius Black. He married my mother when they were only a year out of Hogwarts, two for my Dad. She was called Tala Lupin, Remus Lupin's younger sister, therefore making him my uncle and a man I'm truly grateful towards.

Everyone knows what Dad was like. He and his best friend from school, James Potter, were the ringleaders of the Marauders. They and their other two friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, would run riot round the school, James and Dad doing most of the dirty work. Dad had shoulder length black hair which fell neatly into place which I inherited and cool grey eyes. He also had his mischief making tendencies and cheeky grin which, according to Lupin, I've also got.

Being a Marauder was how he met my Mum, Tala. She was in the year below them at Hogwarts and sister of his best friend, Remus, as I've already told you. She had waist-length auburn hair, a thin figure and startling blue eyes. When they first met, my Mum was so forward that she cheekily kissed him, leaving him speechless and hooked for life. She was always around them whether it be with her brother, teasing James as she and Lily were best friends, or later in her first year, becoming a Marauder herself when Dad and James learnt of Remus's "furry little problem" as they called it and discovered her to be a rare type of Animagus. I won't get into that now though. They got together in her fourth year, his fifth, after an argument with a certain Slytherin I shouldn't need to mention and were together ever since.

Lupin, now he was the sensible one of the gang with his aging mousy brown hair and cool eyes. He was intelligent and "tried" to keep out of some of the pranks Dad and James pulled even if he found them hilarious himself. He was always there for his friends and his sister like he was for me. He did fail though in his task to try and keep Mum from breaking the rules but with him as an example, well, let's just say he eventually gave up.

I owe so much to my uncle. He raised me and helped me get through Hogwarts. Without him, I don't know where I'd be. Probably still where I was all those years ago. He helped me through difficult times and was always there for me when I needed him. He showed me how to believe and trust in my own abilities. But my life at the start was not full of magical creatures and spells and enchantments like what I know now. My life was very different yet … somewhat similar, to a boy we all know: Harry Potter.

This is my diary: the Diary of an Orphan.


	2. The Early Years

Chapter 1

The Early Years

I don't remember much of my younger years. Bits and pieces flash in and out of my memory from time to time but I still don't know the whole truth to what happened that night. My earliest memory though still haunts me even to this day: the memory of my mother being killed.

According to Lupin and my Dad, I was only a month old when it happened. It was September 1980, the eleventh, a Thursday. All I can remember hearing were my Mum's cries. Whether they were spells or of mercy, I'm not sure which, though I know she would never beg for anything. I also remember a bright green flash go over my eyes and a man with long white blond hair, laughing.

Everyone in the wizarding world knew of Voldemort's pursuit for power. He and his Death Eaters killed countless innocent victims mercilessly and one of them was my Mum. From what I learned over the years, some pieced together by things I could remember, others told to me by Lupin or Dad, my Mum died saving me.

She and my Dad had gone shopping. Mum was waiting outside Gringotts for him while he sorted out a vault for me. Out of the corner of her eye she spied some of the known Death Eaters. Dad was an Auror with James Potter and Mum was Healer with his wife Lily and had been working for this unknown organisation, the Order or something. See? Already Harry's past and mine are linked. Mum had seen some Death Eaters and had decided it was best to hide. She had me in a carrycot and had turned away down a hidden alley near to Flourish and Blotts. She hoped to get to a place where she could hide with me. Unfortunately the Death Eaters followed her. They cornered her in the alleyway where she stood with her back to the wall and her month old daughter clutched in her arms.

I can still remember her voice. At first it was calm, as if she knew what the outcome was going to be and was prepared to fight. There were three Death Eaters: Lucius Malfoy, who I recognised when I was twelve because of his white hair. The other two, I wasn't sure until later in my life and memories paired with pictures were put together, the old one plus one equals two. They turned out to be Peter Pettigrew and my Dad's brother, Regulus Black.

Their voices still pound in my head, especially when I'm near Dementors. I can hear every word clearly. My Mum had asked Peter why he was doing what he was doing and he'd just laughed back in her face at the mere mention of the Marauders. However, Regulus, when he realised who it was they were attacking, began to back out. He didn't want to be part of the murder of his sister-in-law. Why, you ask? Because when they were at school in their third year they'd helped each other out of trouble involving a couple of Death Eaters who'd been part of an attack on the school and they'd become friends but never let anyone know, particularly Dad. Malfoy on the other hand, he didn't stop.

'Give it up, Black!' he laughed. 'Your pitiful spells will not defend you against three Death Eaters! Let us kill you easily or die trying.'

My Mum didn't give up and said right back, 'Then I'll die trying.'

'So be it,' said Malfoy. He ordered Regulus to kill her but he couldn't do it. 'You'll pay for your insubordination,' Malfoy snarled at him before turning on my mother and saying, '_Avada Kedavra!_'

The green light just past right through her and she fell to the ground, lifeless, her blue eyes empty. I was always told I had her eyes. I don't know how I survived. Dad said I should have died that day but whatever my Mum had known about and done saved me.

The Death Eaters Apparated away when they heard a voice shouting at the opening to the alley. It was Dad. He'd come out of Gringotts in time to see Mum heading down the alley with the Death Eaters behind her. He got to them too late and found her laying dead on the pavement, no baby in her arms. He cried over her body until my cries overtook his and he found me. He picked me up and held me, forever whispering, 'It'll be all right. I'm here, Jenna.'

After he found her, Dad Apparated her body and me straight to the headquarters of this "Order" they were part of. Mum was the first of the Marauders to die. James, Lily and Remus were all devastated as well many as other Order members but not as much as Dad. And of course, Mum couldn't warn them that Pettigrew, their once loyal friend, had turned against them.

A year later, Lily and James died in October and their house was destroyed. Dad had taken me with him when he went in search for them, suspicious that their Secret had been told. He arrived to find the house in ruins and baby Harry crying in amongst it all. He was about to take him when Hagrid turned up and told him Harry was to go to his aunt and uncle's. Dad let him, giving him his flying motorcycle because he wouldn't need it anymore before Apparating to Little Whinging. He'd left me in the nearby park and watched as Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys. I don't even remember if he came back.


	3. Dumped and Alone

Chapter 2

Dumped and Alone

The next few years for me went in a blur. My earliest proper memory is of the day when I found out what my name was. I'd always been known as Skye all because I had bright blue eyes. I thought it was a ridiculous name but that was what the Matron named me. It was only when I was four that I learnt my name was Jennifer. It was inside the locket along with a picture of a woman I had been wearing since the day I was found and taken to the orphanage. I'd been lying in amongst the bushes when an old couple taking a late night walk found me and took me to the local orphanage the next morning. The Refuge Orphanage – The Dump, as I called it – was where I lived for the first ten years of my life.

And boy, did they have problems.

There were only fourteen of us living at The Refuge; five girls – Mandy, Sara, Rachael, Hannah and myself; and nine boys – Rick, Tommy, Jason, Simon, Robert, Elliot, Drake, Max and Charlie. Some were older than me by only a year or two but I had been there the longest. Only Simon, Hannah and Charlie had been there as long as I had. There were two dorms, each with eight beds in them: Birch and Tyne. I was in Tyne with two of the girls and five of the boys. We each had a trunk of any of our things that had been left with us (in my case, only a blanket and my baby clothes) and an old metal frame bed with blankets and a pillow.

I was four when things kicked off. As I said, I found out my name was Jennifer when I worked out how to open the locket round my neck having never taken it off. I wasn't too fond of the name so I came up with Jenna, short for it like Jen but unique enough, like I found myself to be. Who knew that was what my Dad used to call me? It was a lucky guess. Three years later when I was seven, I was told how I got to The Refuge. Matron had called me to her office and informed me about the day I came. Let's just say from that moment on, she had a pretty hard time with me.

I hated what Matron had told me, hated her for telling me, making me believe my parents had abandoned me. She said that I was left to die in a park, my parents nowhere to be found, nothing but a blanket to keep me warm other than the clothes I had on. I didn't want to believe her. Who would? I always believed my parents didn't mean to abandon me and as time passed and reoccurring dreams became clearer I began to wonder and question what really happened.

Something else happened when I was seven, something that would change my life quite dramatically. I remember one night I had a rather vivid dream where I was a dog chasing off a cat. Next thing I know, I woke up and I _was_ the dog! I panicked and instantly changed back. I don't know what I did but it was the first clue I had to something about me that was not quite what it seemed.

As I got older, I changed a lot. I was quite tall for my age and my black hair was sleek and straight. By the time I was seven it was already halfway down my back no matter how many times Matron got it cut. I was also extremely skinny. Of course, Matron just thought I wasn't eating and was anorexic. My best feature though were my eyes; they were bright blue and luckily, always hid my guilt when I did something wrong. I was always found out though because of one annoying girl.

I never got on with any of the other girls in The Refuge, particularly a red haired girl called Mandy, and I mainly played with a boy named Rick. He was the only one who seemed to like me. Anyway, the reason I disliked Mandy was because she always dobbed on me when I did something I shouldn't have. But that only spurred me to become even more disobedient and I never cared. When strange things happen to you almost every day which always ended in you getting into trouble you start to not care about what you do.

My attitude was a big problem because I was never afraid to fight. Literally, fight. If I wasn't fighting with the girls, slinging insults at them as they threw them at me, I was caught in a fight with one of the other boys, hitting them as they hit me. I learnt a lot from them, I must say. And if I wasn't in trouble for either of those things, it was because I'd wandered off yet again from The Refuge or from a day trip out and was usually brought back by the police. I didn't go to school so I had a lot of free time. I didn't start school until I was eight. I knew how to read and write because Matron had taught us. School wasn't an option for any of us due to the orphanage not being able to afford it. We learnt the basics from her.

As for the changing into a dog one night, it didn't stop. Whenever I was dreaming of animals, I would wake up and find myself _as_ the animal before instantly changing back. And one day, after putting up with it on and off for nearly six months (making my bed extremely tattered in the process) I decided to do something about it.

I'd wandered off yet again from a trip to the museum except this time I didn't go to one of my usual hiding places. Instead, I headed to the nearest library I could find. The funny thing was I'd never noticed it before then. It was a small building, hidden between a café and a computer game store. I noticed that out of all the people in the street barely anyone realised it was there. Slightly unnerved by this, I walked in.

The library inside didn't look like a library. Sure it had stacks of books but it didn't have a check-out desk to get books out and it didn't have many tables where people sat down to read. There were only a few people in there all dressed in strange clothes with their heads in old, worn-out books. In fact, every single book in there looked at least a hundred years old and like they were about to fall apart. Some even had chains tying them together.

As I walked further into the building, I had an eerie feeling that I was being watched and, sure enough, when I turned around a tall, rather old-looking man was standing behind me. He was wearing strange clothes like the others and had an odd hat on his head; his beard, a dark brown with flecks of silver in it, reached just below his shoulders and had a string round it to keep it neat.

'Can I help you?' he asked me. His voice was very polite. It startled me how nice he appeared. And the thing was I didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't exactly say, "Excuse me. Do you know where I can find a book on transforming accidentally into animals?" He'd think I was mad. Instead, he just observed me before saying, 'I think I know exactly what you're looking for.' and he walked off towards the back of the building. Though slightly amazed, I followed.

I watched silently as he ran his finger along shelf upon shelf of dusty old books. He muttered to himself in a low voice, occasionally glancing at me over his shoulder, searching for something. I just stood there, dumbstruck. After a few minutes searching, he pulled a particularly worn and tattered book off a shelf and took it back to the front of the library. Again, I followed.

'Just bring it back when you've finished with it,' he told me before handing me the book and ushering me to the door. 'Oh, and I thought you might like these,' he added. He took my hand and placed a bag of sherbet lemon sweets in it. 'My brother loves these but I've never had a taste for them. If you see him, give them to him. They won't go off for ages. There's also a little something extra in there for you. Enjoy!'

And off he walked. I just stared at his retreating back thinking what a weirdo before I heard the clock on the wall chime four o'clock. I jumped and ran out the door, shoving the book and sweets into my backpack. I'd already been in trouble once that day. Matron would kill me if she realised I'd disappeared again while Simon and Robert were at the dentist with her. Then again, I knew Mandy no doubt would tell her so what was the point in hurrying?

Unfortunately I never got to read the book so my problem was left unsolved. Like I'd guessed, Mandy told Matron that I'd gone out as soon as she got back with the boys. I was on my bed and just about to read the book when Matron came stomping in, Mandy grinning evilly by her side, and snatched the book from my hands.

'After wandering off from here, yet again,' said Matron, exasperated, 'I find you sitting here, God only knowing what you've been up to now. Where did you get this book?' she asked me, waving the book in front of me, out of my reach. I had to get the book back. If Matron read it, I couldn't even begin to imagine what she'd think. The place where I got it had been weird enough so what was actually in the book … I didn't dare think what she'd think.

'It's a library book,' I said. 'I'm borrowing it!'

'You don't even have a library card,' snapped Matron. 'So how you got this book I can only begin to imagine.'

'I didn't steal it!' I said desperately. 'The librarian said I could borrow it! I didn't take it without asking!'

'Jennifer, I've had it up to here with your troublemaking. I thought if I kept you out of school with the others you'd learn to behave from the example set by the children around you.' I saw Mandy grin at me again while Matron paced in front of my bed. I glared at her, knowing she'd told on me. 'But I guess school is the only option. Heaven knows how the orphanage will afford it but if you can't learn to behave from your friends, then school is the only option.'

'I don't have any friends,' I said before I could stop myself. 'Mandy keeps spreading lies about me, making them all hate me just because I don't have any parents and because they've got family to fall back on.'

Matron looked down on me, disappointed.

'I will not have you blame others for your misfortune,' she said, more calmly this time. 'As I've explained to you again and again: your parents heartlessly left you lying in a nearby park. You would have died if Mr Williams and his wife hadn't found you. For all we know, they're probably lying in a gutter dead somewhere like you could have been.'

'No!' I yelled. 'My parents didn't abandon me! They're not dead! I wasn't abandoned!'

And I ran out of the room and out of the orphanage. I didn't come back until later that night. Matron didn't even bother to find me. She knew I'd come back. I always came back because I knew that was the only home I had, if you can call it that.

And so I became more isolated from the rest of the group. Some left from either their remaining family picking them up or being adopted. I hated Adoption Day. Matron would line us all up in the main hall as prospective parents were interviewed. Then, they'd look at each of us, ask us questions, and choose whose file they wanted to see. Of course, anyone who saw mine was instantly put off. Soon, I gave up believing my parents would turn up, relieved to find me (I even started to believe they probably were dead), or that some nice family would adopt and give me a new start. Eventually, I even stopped doing the Adoption Days knowing the outcome. The one thing I didn't do was give up hoping. I don't know how but somehow I knew someone out there was looking for me and one day he'd find me.

That September, after my eighth birthday (I rarely ever got any presents so I rarely bothered to tell anyone it was my birthday) I joined the local school. I was the youngest in the year and because I was the new girl no one wanted to know me. Within the first week I found the other reason why. There was this boy who apparently him and his gang bullied everyone and anyone in his class, new people being one of his favourite targets. And boy was he big! His butt alone spilled over his seat in the classroom and it looked like he had three chins.

This boy with black hair and baggy clothes seemed to be his favourite target. I'd seen him on several occasions in my first week being chased by the bully round the school. I actually felt sorry for him. He never seemed to be around anyone else in the playground or class if he wasn't being bullied. I just privately kept the idea to myself that someone should teach that bully a lesson. It wasn't long until he got round to me after his usual targets. I was minding my own business, like I usually did, playing hopscotch at the far end of the playground. I'd gone to pick up the stone again only to find three pairs of huge feet standing in front of me, belonging to three massive boys I discovered when I looked up. The front one was tossing the stone I'd been using up and down in his massive hand.

'That's my stone,' I said simply, standing up and looking at him. He just grinned at me.

'Not anymore,' he laughed. 'Perhaps you don't know who I am. I'm Dudley. This is Piers and Gordon,' he pointed at the boys behind him, 'and we rule this playground.'

'What, with a name like Dudley?' I laughed. 'The only thing that would be scared of you is a fly.' As usual, I acted before I thought. Dudley's face seemed to pale before I noticed the vein beginning to pound in his temple.

'I think it's time we show her whose boss around here,' he said slowly.

Next thing I know I'm being chased by three lardo boys around the playground and near to the back of the school. I was just glad I'm quick on my feet, plus they were so unfit they couldn't run that fast. However, they still managed to corner me near to the lunchroom. They knew their way around. I, of course, didn't. A whole group of kids in our year had surrounded us, wanting to see the new girl get beat up.

'Not so cocky now, are you?' Dudley jeered at me. I just watched as he paced around me, my back against the wall.

'You know I've never thought much of bullies,' I said loud enough so those around us could hear me. Again I was acting without thinking. But having grown up with nine other boys, I learnt to fight my own battles. 'They only hurt other people because they're scared no one will like them.'

The vein in Dudley's temple darkened as well as his narrowed pig-like eyes. I smiled slightly. It was then I noticed the black-haired boy who was usually being bullied staring at me almost in awe.

'You've asked for it now.'

Dudley swung his massive fist at me. I ducked and he went flying past me, hitting the wall. As he cried in pain his mates, Gordon and Piers had a go. They came at me at the same time and, somehow, I did something which made their fists turn red and pimply, as if they'd been stung by tens of bees. I just watched as they shook their hands and howled in pain. It had happened again. I did something without meaning to. I didn't have time to worry about it as the three of them were advancing on me again from behind. Right at that moment I was thinking Matron's going to kill me if she finds out I've been fighting in my first week of school.

'You'll pay for that!' said Dudley angrily, eyes bulging.

Once again he came thundering at me, swollen fist raised ready to hit me. In all honesty, by now I'd had enough and my earlier thought of teaching him a lesson came back to me. So I did. I waited until he was at punching range of me then bent down and quickly stuck my leg out to make him trip over. Dudley fat ankles hit my leg and he went flying over it, landing flat on his face. He was actually quite graceful for his size. Dudley sat on the ground, crying, while I stood up with everyone … cheering around me, particularly the boy with black hair. I didn't have time though to bask in my somewhat strange glory seeing as Dudley had got back to his feet, supported by Piers and Gordon.

'Well, I guess I ought to be going,' I said smoothly as I could.

Next, I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out a small black bag of what appeared to be pink and purple marbles. They had been in the bag of sweets the old librarian had given me. I hadn't used them before but a note inside had said, "Use when in trouble or when needed". If I wasn't in trouble now, I didn't know what I was in. So, I picked up one of the marbles and threw it down on the ground, disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

How I got on top of the roof, I don't know. The smoke just seemed to swallow me up and I landed with a small thump on the roof of the kitchens. Down below I noticed that Dudley had gone back to tormenting the black-haired boy. I guess I didn't really teach him a lesson or he was taking out his defeat on him. I watched as the boy ran away from him beneath where I was and next minute, he'd gone. He'd just vanished.

I heard a voice calling me.

'Hey!' I span round and saw the boy sitting on the chimney. 'Don't suppose you can get me down?' I nodded and carefully walked along the roof towards him. I helped him climb down from the chimney before taking a seat and waiting for the trouble to start. But then he asked me something I didn't expect. 'What's your name?'

Taken aback, I said, 'Jenna. What's yours?'

'Harry,' he said simply. He looked at me for a few moments but I turned away. 'Sorry about Dudley. He likes picking on new kids.'

'It's all right,' I said. 'I'm used to it. Always get picked on.'

'I get it all the time as well. He's my cousin and I have to live with him.'

Before the headmistress found us, Harry and I sat on the roof talking. Just about family and stuff. I found out his parents died in a car crash and he lived with his aunt and uncle because of it. He showed me the scar on his forehead which I hadn't noticed that he got from the accident. Then he asked me where I was from and I told him I was from the local orphanage. I was surprised he didn't say anything about it. When he asked me what spurred me to take on Dudley I just explained after living with nine boys all your life, you learn to fight back. He seemed quite impressed. We were found twenty minutes and I dreaded the trouble I'd be in once Matron found out.

Matron went ballistic when I gave her the letter the headmistress had given me. She couldn't believe I'd been in school for a week and already caught fighting _and_ being on the roof of the kitchens though I explained to her I had no idea how I got there. Honestly, I didn't. I didn't know what those marbles were going to do. Still, I ended up being grounded for the next week, I had to do chores around The Refuge and I wasn't allowed out or to watch the television until my ban was lifted.

From that moment on though and for the next three years, Harry and I were good friends though we spent most of the time hiding from Dudley so we didn't get beaten up. Of course, I would have got him back but I decided to keep my head down and keep out of trouble. Harry was the only other friend I had and if I got expelled from school I'd probably never see him again. Matron had threatened to take me out of school if I didn't behave and to be honest, I'd rather be at school than stuck with Mandy to tell on me whenever I did something – unintentionally, I add – that landed me in trouble.


	4. Found: A Whole New World

Chapter 3

Found: A Whole New World

The three years after meeting Harry were the best in my life so far. I finally had a friend. Sure, at The Refuge I had Rick but because of Mandy even he was wary of me. Harry, he understood me seeing as he was practically in the same situation as me, only that he had family though they didn't like him. We talked all the time about how we hated where we lived and about family. The one thing I never told him though was about my weird experiences. That was something I would always keep to myself.

Soon, the end of the school year came and we would be sent off to secondary school. This gave me doubts. My behaviour had improved at The Refuge but it still wasn't good enough for Matron. I was still in trouble at least three times a week. This got me worried. Would Matron let me go to the local school Stonewall High or would I have to stop? My biggest fear would be that she'd say no and I'd never see Harry again.

The summer holidays came. Harry had said goodbye to me on the last day of school and that he hoped to see me in September. I didn't have the heart to tell him I might not be going so I just said the same. I was picked up from school by Matron and I left school for what might have been the last time in my life.

But what happened during that summer changed my life forever.

It was about the third week of the summer. As I said, my behaviour had improved and I managed to reduce the number of fights I got into at The Refuge. I contented myself with any school work I had and kept out of people's way. I mainly stayed in my dorm on my bed, reading or looking at any work I'd done, reminding myself dismally of how I'd probably never get away from The Refuge again.

There were ten of us now. Rachael and Hannah had been adopted and a new girl, Jessica, had come. She was six. Then there was Rick, Jason, Elliot and Max plus some twins called David and William. The others had all left. It didn't take long for Mandy to tell the new people I was a freak. They'd peer in through the door as I stayed on my bed, whispering to each other, before hiding if I looked up.

Then, a late Wednesday night I was up as usual staring out the window from my bed. I found myself always awake at night, never getting to sleep until about midnight due to my worries about whether I'd continue school in September. As I looked out at the clear summer night sky I noticed something moving. It got closer and closer. When it finally reached the street I realised it was an owl and it was flying straight towards the orphanage. I just watched amazed as it landed on the windowsill and pecked at it, waiting for it to open.

Not wanting it to wake anyone in the dorm (I shared with Mandy and I didn't want her finding out and telling Matron) I let the owl in. It fluttered down on to my bed before dropping something in front of me which it had been carrying in its beak. After that it just flew off again out of the window.

Closing the window, I picked up what it had left. It looked like a letter. It was made of parchment and was quite heavy. But the strangest thing was what was written on the front:

_Miss Jennifer Black  
__Bed by the Window  
__The Refuge Orphanage  
__Surrey_

I just stared at it. It was a letter for me? But it couldn't be. I didn't have a surname. I was Jenna, just Jenna. But whoever sent it obviously knew me, or something about me. I didn't have time to think about it though because not a second later there was another tap at the window with _another_ owl sitting on the sill. This one had a larger letter made out of parchment and again, it dropped it on the bed when I let it in before flying off.

Now I was really freaked out. I picked up the first letter and carefully opened it, trying not to make a sound that would wake the others. Inside was another two pieces of parchment. Grabbing my torch on my bedside table and throwing the sheets over my head, I flicked it on and started to read what the letter said.

'"Dear Miss Black",' I read in a whisper. '"We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". What on earth?' I re-read the first line several times before reading on. '"Enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment".' Sure enough, the other piece of parchment had a whole list of weird book titles and school equipment.

'OK, now I know I'm dreaming,' I said to myself when I read that I needed a wand. Where was I going to get things like a cauldron, a telescope and crystal phials in the middle of Surrey? And where on earth was Hogwarts? I'd never heard a school called that. After reading the letter another few times, I put it down dismissively, thinking it was a joke, and turned to the other.

The front this time was blank. But the owl had given it to me so it was obviously mine. I opened it and tipped it upside down. Three small pieces of card and a small parchment note fell on to my bed. The note read: _To the receiver. Here are some pictures of your family. I'm looking for you._

My heart stopped. I picked up the small pieces of card and turned them over. They were photos. I did a double-take when I looked at them in the torchlight. The people in them were moving. The one in my right hand though, the woman in it, she was so familiar. She had long auburn hair and blue eyes. She was smiling up at me, even waving sometimes. On the back was some writing. All I could make out was the name Tala. I blinked, unable to believe it. Again I saw that flash of green I'd dreamt about so many times that had haunted me for years.

The rest of that night when I'd finally fallen asleep I spent in tears. I woke up every so often from my nightmares of the green flash of light, a white-haired man and a horrible laugh. And if I wasn't crying about that I was staring at the pictures of the people who were supposedly my family. Whoever had sent them must have known my parents and they were searching for me.

The end of July came as did my birthday and went by without notice. I was much more subdued and I couldn't stop thinking about the package I got. I'd put the pictures and things in a small box I kept all my treasured things in; the letter from Hogwarts remained in my pocket. Now and then I would take out the photo of the woman and stare at it. I also realised why she was so familiar: she was the woman who was in my locket, my name on the other half.

Five days after my birthday and once again, I was staring at the photos in my dorm, my locket in my hand, when I heard Matron's voice calling me. I didn't bother answering. It was probably just to tell me off again or that I wasn't going to school in September.

'Jennifer,' Matron called in our noisy room. 'Jennifer! Mandy have you seen her?'

'The freak is on her bed,' I heard Mandy say to her. I glanced at her to see her pointing at me. I just ignored it and went back to the photos.

'Mandy, don't call her a freak. It's not her fault those … strange things happen around her …'

Matron walked away from her and waded her way through countless toys and a few of the other kids towards my bed. I didn't actually notice. I just remained on my tattered mattress staring at the photos. The woman in the one I was looking at was still smiling at me.

'Who are you?' I whispered to it. 'Why have I got your picture? Why do I feel like I know you?'

'Jennifer!' I looked up at Matron and quickly shoved the photos back into the envelope and placed them in the box on my bedside table. I jumped when she put her hand on my shoulder and looked up at her with a wide-eyed stare, wondering what I'd done now. 'Jennifer, some people have come to see you,' she said.

'It's Jenna,' I replied, scowling. She still hadn't grasped after seven years I called myself that. 'My name's Jenna.'

'Yes, dear, of course it is. Now, _Jenna_, will you please come with me.'

I looked carefully at Matron, tied my locket back around my neck and got off my bed, quickly grabbing the box so no one else could look inside it. Matron placed her hand on my shoulder again and started to lead me past the staring faces of the others in my dorm, including Mandy who was sticking her tongue out at me, and marched me out of the dorm. Matron marched me through the corridor, down a couple flights of stairs, through another corridor and into the main hallway of the orphanage. She kept a firm hand on my shoulder all the way there to make sure I didn't make a run for it like I usually did when I had to meet people. We walked in silence to her office where she opened the door and pushed me gently into the room.

Two men and a woman were sitting in chairs, talking quietly amongst themselves. The first one I saw was an old man. He had long silver hair and beard and a pair of half-moon spectacles perched on his crooked nose. He looked very odd. He wasn't wearing a suit or anything but pale blue robes with gold stars and a matching hat. The other two weren't much different. The woman's black hair was tied back in a tight bun and her square glasses gave her a very strict look while the second man was younger and shabbier looking. The clothes he was wearing were frayed and patched while his hair was brown and starting to grey before its time. They were also wearing robes.

I tried to back away from them when they turned to look at me but Matron stopped me.

'Jennifer, this is Mr Dumbledore, Mr Lupin and Ms McGonagall,' she said. 'They have come to talk to you privately.' Matron turned to the others. 'I'll just leave Jennifer with you.'

I panicked and turned towards Matron, mouthing, 'Please don't, I —'

'Have a nice chat.' Matron closed the door. Feeling the eyes on me, I slowly turned to look at the three people. I could feel myself shaking but I was never nervous about anything. The older man stood up and walked towards me, took out a long piece of wood, and began muttering to himself. A small chair appeared from nowhere beside me. I jumped when it landed with a thump on the floor.

'Please,' began the old man, 'sit down.' I just backed away from him quietly and sat down.

'Um … w-who are you?' I asked, still nervous but a bit braver.

'I am Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is Professor McGonagall, my colleague, and Remus Lupin. And you,' he continued, 'do you know who you are?'

I was a bit shocked when he asked me this. Of course I knew who I was.

'I'm Jennifer,' I said. 'Just Jennifer, but I prefer Jenna.' I saw the younger man glance up at me.

'You don't have a surname?'

'Um – I-I – well … no.'

'Ah,' said the old man. He began to pace. 'So, you don't know who you are or where your family is?' Ashamed a little by this, I nodded. 'May I have a look in that box?'

I glanced down at the box in my arms. This was all my personal things, the things someone had sent me, the only things I had that told me about my family and now some old man I'd just met wanted to look at it? I looked up to see him holding out his hand. Slowly, I nodded and held out the box.

'Thank you,' he said.

The man called Lupin stood up as Dumbledore sat and began whispering to the woman, McGonagall. When he was at his full height I saw that his robes were stitched in several places and the ends were all muddy and completely frayed. He bent down in front of me so that we were eye to eye. I looked at him worriedly. He seemed to be examining me.

'Long black hair, blue eyes, hmm,' he mused. 'Just how I thought you would look.'

'Pardon?' I said quickly. My heart was suddenly beating quite fast. 'Just like who looked?'

'Your mother,' he said.

'You knew my m-mother?' I stuttered. Tears were starting to form at my eyes. I brushed them away.

'Indeed, we did,' said McGonagall.

'It's just as I thought.' Dumbledore was speaking again. 'How did you receive this envelope, Jenna?'

'An owl brought it,' I replied. 'It just flew in the window a few weeks ago and landed on my bed. I also got this.' I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out the letter I'd got the same night. It was quite tattered now. 'It had my name on it saying I'd been accepted at this school. The one you said, Hogwarts or something like that.' Dumbledore remained silent.

'Remus, take a look at this picture.' The woman handed a piece of card to the younger man.

'No, please, that's personal!' I said. I jumped up to grab the picture but I was too short. Lupin took hold of the photo and looked at it.

'Who is this?' he asked. He sounded almost shocked.

'I don't know. There's a name on the back. I think she's called Tala. I couldn't read the writing; I don't know what her last name was. There was also another name I couldn't read.'

Lupin turned the photo over and read the back. I could see the woman's face smiling down on me. I gasped silently when a man came into the photo. He had dark black hair and a handsome face with a mischievous smile. He hugged and kissed the woman then started swinging her about. Leaves were falling in the background; they seemed to be laughing.

'What does it say, Remus?' asked Dumbledore.

'"To Tala Lupin and Sirius Black. May their lives together be happy and long lived".'

I gasped silently. Lupin! That was the name of younger man. It couldn't possibly …

'So, is she the one we're looking for, Albus?' asked McGonagall quietly.

'She is indeed, Minerva,' answered the older man. He looked at me. 'This is Tala's daughter.'

'No, you must be mistaken,' I burst. 'Matron said my Mum and Dad were dead. She said I was found by an old couple in the park.'

'Your Matron is mistaken, not us,' corrected Dumbledore. 'I'm afraid your mother is dead, but your father is very much alive. Tala is the name of your mother and as my colleague said, we did know her. She was a very bright young witch, always getting in trouble due to those she hung around with –' he looked at Lupin, '– and this is her older brother, your uncle.'

'No, you're wrong!' I cried, moving away from them. I didn't want to hear anymore lies about my parents. 'I don't have an uncle! I don't have a family! They're dead!' My back was against the wall. Lupin started to approach me. I closed my eyes with my hands in front of my face. He stopped. Something had stopped him. I opened my eyes to see a blue orb around me, blocking Lupin. I snatched back my hands and put them under my arms, rocking slightly on my feet. What was happening to me?

'Jenna, it's all right,' he said. He gently touched my cheek. I looked at him. 'We've come to take you away. Take you to where you belong.'

'Where do I belong?' I asked him, quietly.

'You belong with me in the wizarding world. You're my sister's daughter and I've come to get you. I've been looking for you all your life since you went missing. Your dad, Sirius, asked me to keep searching for him while he had some … _things_ to do.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'Because you have the things I sent you.' He held up the picture. 'You have her eyes. The strange things that have been happening to you is your magic. You're a witch, Jenna.' Lupin straightened up and took something out of his tattered pocket. It was a piece of parchment, another letter. 'Here. Read this.' I took it from him and read the front. It was addressed exactly the same as what had been on the front of the Hogwarts letter. I opened it carefully and started to read it.

_Dear Jenna_

_Firstly, I must tell you who you are. Your full name is Jennifer May Black. You are a  
__rare type of Animagus, just like I was and my grandmother as well. You can change into  
__any animal you wish. All you have to do is think of the animal of your choice and you will  
__change into that animal. To changed back, simply think of your image and you will return.  
__You will learn to control it soon, like I did and you must never tell anyone unless you trust  
__them._

_This is a letter I've written to you for your eleventh birthday. I don't know how, but I  
__won't be alive to give this to you. This is from your mother, Tala._

_I can't explain how I know this but let me tell you something; this will be given to you on  
__the tenth August, five days after your birthday. On this day, my old Headmaster and  
__Housemistress along with my brother will come and get you from the orphanage you are  
__staying at. Trust what they say, it is the truth. You are a witch._

_Your father, Sirius, is in the wizard prison Azkaban. He has been accused for killing  
__twelve Muggles and a wizard and handing over our best friends and your godparents to  
__death; Lily and James Potter. You have met their son, Harry, once in your life, two days  
__before I died. At only a month old, the pair of you were inseparable. Your father is  
__innocent, my brother will tell you what happened though he does not know all the details.  
__Believe in your heart that your father is innocent._

_Your cousin, Lucius Malfoy, is my killer. Never trust him or his son, Draco. They will try  
__to corrupt you and bring you to the dark side. Lucius is a supporter of the Dark wizard,  
__Voldemort. He has gone now but he will return. Do not stick by them. Voldemort was the  
__killer of Lily and James because our friend Peter Pettigrew betrayed them. He was the  
__man your father is said to have killed._

_There is nothing else I can think to write. All I can say is that you are my daughter and I  
__love you. I will always love you. I have looked over you for the past years watching you  
__grow. You will be a strong witch and you will find someone special for you, just like I  
__found your father._

_Lots of love to my daughter,  
__Always and forever,  
__Tala Megan Black._

I looked away from the letter and sank to the floor. I put my head on my knees, tears falling down my cheeks. All I wanted to do was cry. I didn't know whether I was crying from joy or from grief. I just knew I wanted to let out all the sadness that had built up over the past ten years. The torment I had to suffer just because I was different. But then something struck me.

'The boy my Mum mentioned, I know him,' I mumbled. 'He goes to my school. Is he a wizard?'

'I cannot answer that, I'm afraid,' said Dumbledore. 'You will find out if he is or not at the start of the school term. Now back to the point. Do you believe us, Jenna?' he asked softly. 'Will you come with us?'

I looked up at the faces of the two Professors and my Uncle. And I believed them. There was something in my Uncle's eyes telling me it was true. I got up, wiped my eyes, and said, 'Yes, I'll come. I believe you.' Lupin walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. I hesitated before hugging him back. It felt so natural, so nice. Then, seeing him smile at me, I smiled back weakly before asking, 'Should I get my stuff?'

'Yes, go do that,' answered Dumbledore. 'We need to sort out a few things with your Matron and then we'll be off.' I nodded silently, grabbed the door handle and left the room.

Immediately, I ran back up the stairs to my dorm. I pushed the door open with such force that Mandy, Jason and Sara, who had been listening out for me, were pushed to the floor.

'So,' said Mandy, 'what did they want, freak? Are you in trouble again?'

'I'm getting out of here,' I answered, smiling innocently at her. Her face dropped.

'What? Someone's adopted you when, unlike you, they could have someone as pretty as me?'

'Well, unlike you, I have a family who've been looking for me and have come to get me.' I ran over to my bed and got what things I owned that weren't in the box. 'Enjoy the rest of you time here.'

I slammed the door behind me and ran all the way back to the entrance. The two Professors and Lupin were standing there waiting. Lupin's face just seemed to light up when he saw me. Matron was standing to one side.

'Do you have all your things?' she asked, placing down a clipboard with the adoption forms.

'Yes, thanks, Matron,' I said. 'Thanks for all you've done.'

'Don't keep your uncle waiting, now. Off you go.'

I gave her one last smile then turned to the three wizards. I couldn't believe how happy I felt. I was going home. After ten years of being in an orphanage, I was finally going home, back to where I belonged. I had found my family.

I had only a month till I started my new school, Hogwarts. That month for me was a busy one. Three days after moving into Lupin's house, Moonlake Cottage near London, Lupin took me to Diagon Alley. I'd never seen so many amazing things in my life. There were piles of cauldrons at the apothecary, all kinds of robes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, broomsticks at Quality Quidditch Supplies, anything and everything.

Firstly, Lupin took me to Gringotts, the wizard bank. We got out some money and then set off into the crowd of wizards and witches. There weren't many my age there, I guess they'd all got their equipment and I was one of the last few. However, before we started getting the things on my list I heard a loud squawking. To my left, at Eeylops Owl Emporium, I saw a snowy owl flapping its wings at a larger screech owl.

'Hey, ssh.' I ran over and gently lifted him on to my arm, stroking his chest. He calmed down but still squawked a bit at the other owl but he seemed to settle straight away. 'Hey, it's all right,' I said softly to him. He turned and looked at me with his blue eyes. I continued to stroke him. 'Your lovely, aren't you?'

'Jenna, come on!' Lupin called to me before coming over. 'Put him down, Jenna. We haven't got time to mess about. We need to be out of Diagon Alley by five. We've got an appointment.'

I was about to put the owl back on his perch and follow him but the owner of the shop came bustling out to me and asked, 'Did you just calm him down? He's been screeching for a few hours now.'

'Um, yeah,' I said, giving him to the owner. 'Why was he acting like that?'

'His mate was bought yesterday. He misses her. He seems to be fond of you, though.' He was right. The owl had flapped back over to me and was on my shoulder. He nibbled me ear affectionately. 'You starting Hogwarts?' I nodded. 'Do you want to buy him? He's only fifteen Sickles along with some food and a cage but seeing as you calmed him finally you can have him for nine.' I looked at Lupin.

'Can I? It's says we're allowed an owl, a cat or a toad.'

Lupin looked at me, then smiled and nodded, handing the nine Sickles to the shop owner. He took the money and the owl from me and brought him back in a cage, a box of owl treats with him. Lupin just laughed while he did this, saying, 'You have the same talent with animals as your mother had.' I just smiled nervously back at him.

We spent about an hour and a half in Diagon Alley. I managed to get all my school robes, my potions ingredients from the apothecary, a cauldron, and all my books from Flourish and Blotts for my first year. Lastly, we visited Ollivanders and I bought my wand; thirteen inches, phoenix feather core and made of hazel. The feeling I got when I held it was like electricity going through my veins. I guessed that was just the magic inside me.

We left Diagon Alley at quarter to five. Lupin sent us via Floo powder (not a nice way to travel) from the Leaky Cauldron to Moonlake Cottage to drop off my things before sending me to another fireplace, this time much further out. He had to go at the same time as me so I didn't get off at the wrong one. As I got out though, a sudden cold started in my bones and I felt like I was in a freezer.

'Where are we, Lupin?' I asked, shivering. I didn't feel right calling him "Uncle Remus" when I'd only known him for a few days so I just stuck to calling him Lupin. 'It's freezing here.'

'We're in Azkaban,' he said darkly. I saw his eyes had narrowed somewhat. 'It's the wizard prison. I have to visit one of the prisoners here.' He looked around before turning to me, his hands on my shoulders. 'Right, Jenna, stay here. I'll be back in about ten minutes.'

Off he went. I looked around. It was very dark for a summer's afternoon. Huge thunder clouds were above where I was standing in the courtyard of a castle. I could hear the sea lashing against the rocks while screams came from the building. All of a sudden I felt a chill in the air like never before. It felt like it was freezing my very being. That's when I saw it; a huge, hooded figure floating towards me. It was reaching out its hand to me, rotten and scabbed.

It drew closer. I backed away from it but found myself up against the wall. It took a long, slow, rattling breath and I felt the air in my lungs turn to ice and I began to black out. I felt like I was drowning. Voices started ringing through me head. I could hear every word; I could see figures swimming in and out of my vision; I felt the ground connect with my back as I fell to the ground, fainting, unknown words ringing through my head.

-o-

Lupin walked through the main gate to the prison leaving Jenna in the courtyard. With a brief word to the wizard on duty, informing him of Jenna being there and which prisoner he was visiting, Lupin stepped into the castle.

The walls were damp with mould growing in the cracks between the stones. He could hear dripping water entering in from the leaky roof. The chill from outside was even more pronounce inside the castle. By every cell floated a Dementor. Their faceless heads watched as Lupin passed. He kept his mind clear, trying not to think of any happy thoughts. His footsteps echoed hauntingly around him.

Lupin finally came to a halt outside cell number XY390. Inside, hidden by the darkness, a man with long, unkempt black hair and sunken eyes in his once handsome face stared out at Lupin. A long time ago his heart would have been lifted by this. But after ten or so years behind bars with Dementors at your door, he was somewhat not heartened by the visit.

'Remus,' said Sirius Black quietly. He'd almost lost the ability to speak, his voice dry. 'I thought you ended these visits years ago.'

'I'm not here for a social call, Black,' said Lupin formerly. 'I'm here for only one thing. Give me Tala's necklace.'

'Why would I still have that?' asked Black. 'Tala died years ago. Why would you want it back?'

'It rightfully belongs to Jenna.'

Black felt a stab at his heart. He knew that name. But why would Remus bring up his daughter's name? He'd lost her years ago, the night Lily and James had died unless … Black stood up so quickly it made him dizzy but nonetheless he walked over to the bars so he was face to face with his old friend.

'You've found her, haven't you?' he asked. 'You've found Jenna.'

'Why would I tell you?' countered Lupin. He was now glaring at Black. 'You abandoned her ten years ago, leaving me to pick up the pieces and search for her, try to work out her past so she'd have a future to come to. Even if I'd found her, I'd never let you near her, not after what you did. Betraying Tala, pretending you were upset when she was killed by the Death Eaters, your mates.'

'Remus, I swear to you, I was not a Death Eater. I never passed information to Voldemort. And I can assure you, Tala meant everything to me and when she died I meant what I felt. You have to believe me, Remus, old friend.'

'You lost the right to call me a friend when you abandoned my niece,' said Lupin. He turned his back on Black and started to walk away. However, he stopped briefly just to add, 'Enjoy the rest of your days here.'

Lupin walked out of the castle. He could never forgive Black for what he did to his sister. However, his thoughts were instantly drawn away from that. In front of him, Jenna was lying on the ground, a Dementor floating over her, drawing it's raspy breath. Lupin's heart missed a beat. Instantly he drew out his wand and shouted, '_Expecto Patronum!_' His Patronus charge at the Dementor, making it back away, and Lupin was able to pick Jenna up in his arms and Apparate her away from the prison

-o-

I woke over an hour later, finding myself lying in bed at home. At that moment I felt weak and helpless, like all my energy had been taken. I sat up when I heard Lupin come in. He had a large block of chocolate in his hand of which he unwrapped and told me to eat it all, breaking me off a chunk. I did so obediently and a warm feeling started in my body, making me feel better. With that finished, I turned to Lupin.

'What happened?' I asked him. 'What was that thing?'

'It was a Dementor,' Lupin replied. He seemed a bit distressed. 'I am so sorry, Jenna, I shouldn't have taken you there. If I'd have known a Dementor would have come after you I would never have brought you with me.' He looked away and glared. 'All just to get it back from him,' said Lupin in an undertone.

'Get what from whom?' I asked to make him continue.

'No one, forget I said anything.' Lupin broke off another chunk and handed it to me. 'Eat. It works wonders.' I just nodded.

'When those … Dementors were near me … I heard Mum's voice.' I looked down at my hands in my lap as I said this. I'd never spoken about her before. 'She never screamed when she died.' Lupin glanced at me, shocked by what I'd said. 'She fought but it didn't stop them. I saw her die.'

'Did you see anyone else?' asked Lupin.

'There were three men. One had long white hair. The other two were further back. I didn't see them.' I remained silently for a few moments. 'Who were they, Lupin? Why did I see them?'

'Your mother was killed by Death Eaters,' replied Lupin heavily. He sighed. 'They were Voldemort's followers. The reason you saw them is because of the Dementors. They make you relieve your worse memories, sucking all the happiness from you. They're horrible creatures.'

That was not to be the only time I faced Dementors, as you all full well know when Dad escaped from Azkaban in our third year at Hogwarts. Still, that was not the only problem I faced before Hogwarts. Lupin had not told me something of which, though I did not have a problem with it, was very important for he could have been a danger to me. He hadn't told me he was a werewolf.

The day I found out is not one I will forget. I'd already noticed Lupin getting sicker by the end of August, looking worse each day. The night of the full moon I couldn't sleep and had gone downstairs to see Lupin. He hadn't been downstairs. Instead, I saw him outside. He seemed to be waiting. Curious to why he was there I went outside and joined him.

I shouldn't have done that. He told me get back inside straight away when the moon came out from the clouds. He instantly froze. I watched, terrified, as Lupin transformed in front of me before almost attacking me as a fully fledged werewolf. Luckily, my Animagus ability which I hadn't quite learnt to control kicked in and I changed into a dog, backing away from the werewolf. That saved me that night because as soon as the werewolf saw me, he stopped and ran off. I went indoors straight afterwards and sat in bed, waiting for Lupin to come back.

The next morning I found Lupin outside in the grass. He was all scarred and scratched up. His clothes were even shabbier. I sighed sympathetically before going into the kitchen and searching for something to clean his wounds. I came back and carefully turned him over and started cleaning up the blood. It obviously stung because he winced and woke up, staring at me. I have to say at that moment I was worried with what he was going to do to me.

'Jenna,' he said slowly. His voice was tired and his eyes didn't have the shine they had when he adopted me. He sat up, looked down at himself and sighed. 'You saw me last night, didn't you?' I nodded. It was strange; he didn't talk to me like I was a child. 'I guess there's no point in hiding it from you.'

'That you're a werewolf?' I said quietly. He nodded and stood up to walk away. 'Lupin, where are you going? You need to clean those scratches.' He stopped.

'I'm getting your adoption forms,' he muttered. 'You need to leave.'

'What?' I got up from the grass and ran over to him. 'No, you're the only family I've got. Please don't send me back. I'll be good, I promise.' He just looked at me. I couldn't believe he was going to send me back to The Refuge just because I'd found out he was a werewolf. I hadn't done anything naughty, I had behaved. 'You can't send me back,' I pleaded. 'I don't care that you're a werewolf. Please … don't send me back.'

Still, Lupin stared at me. His cuts were still bleeding slightly. He didn't seem to change his mind. I just sighed, looking away from him before walking back into the house saying, 'I'll go get my stuff.'

'Jenna, wait.' I did. 'I can't send you back,' said Lupin. He smiled down at me and came over to me, lifting my bowed face to look at his. He smiled even more. 'You are so my sister's daughter. Only you would be brave enough to face a werewolf and not care about what I am. I couldn't let you go even if I tried. We'll just have to work something out.'

'You mean I can stay?' I asked him hopefully.

'Well we can't have you missing out on Hogwarts, can we?' he said, grinning. I smiled and threw my arms around him in a hug. He did wince a bit but kept hold of me, hugging me back.

So, in the space of a month I learnt what I was, who my family were and what had happened to them and some of the secrets to my past. I still had a lot to learn and I was sure I was going to find it all out at Hogwarts and I couldn't wait. Little did I know what was waiting for me there and more importantly who.


	5. New Friends, Enemies and Adventures

Chapter 4

New Friends, Enemies and Adventures

I couldn't wait for September first and the day when I'd finally see Hogwarts. I was still getting used to all the different things you could do with magic. At that moment, I was still ignorant to my pure-blood heritage (I didn't learn about it till the summer after third year) so anything that happened I found amazing. I guess that also comes with living with Muggles for the first ten years of your life. Still …

I got to platform nine and three-quarters with literally five minutes to spare. Lupin had to drop me off and left me on platform nine and ten. He'd told me what to do but I couldn't help feel ridiculous, standing there with a trunk and an owl (I'd named him Gizmo) in a cage. Luckily though, as I walked up the platform between nine and ten, I saw a plump lady with flame red hair and her daughter walk through a solid wall ahead of me.

Quickly, I went after them. I ran pushing my trolley up the platform coming to a halt in front of the wall. I took a deep breath and, closing my eyes, ran straight through the apparent solid wall. When I opened my eyes I saw myself staring at a large red steam engine, a sign above me saying the _Hogwarts Express_. I couldn't believe my eyes.

A station guard came up to me.

'You for Hogwarts?' he asked me.

I just nodded and he told me to hurry up and get on the train. He led me up the platform to a more empty carriage before giving me a hand with my trunk and owl to stow them onboard. Just up from us, the lady and girl I'd seen was saying goodbye to her sons. There were five of them, all with flaming red hair before the oldest one walked off. All I thought was you couldn't lose them in a crowd.

The whistle went and the train started moving. The corridors were filled with people saying last minute goodbyes to their families. I moved up the train, looking for a compartment while they were doing this. Two of the red-haired boys, twins I guessed by the looks of them, walked past me. I heard them mutter, 'First year.' as they passed. I'd nearly got to the end of the train before I found a compartment. And I couldn't believe who was in there.

'Are you really Harry Potter?' I heard the first voice say. I walked up the train a bit further and peered into the compartment where I'd heard the voice. It was the youngest of the red-haired boys I'd seen. But it was who was on the other side to him that I was more interested in. It was Harry!

'What d'you mean "are you really Harry Potter"?' I asked him, opening the door to the compartment. 'He can't be anyone else, can he?'

'Jenna,' gasped Harry. 'What are you doing here?'

'Same thing as you I guess,' I said, grinning. The redhead just looked at me, stunned.

'You know Harry Potter?' he breathed. 'I mean, like, _personally_?'

'Course I do,' I said. 'Why are you so amazed by that?'

'What are you, a Muggle-born?' said the redhead. What was one of those? '_This_ is Harry Potter! He's the one who defeated You-Know-Who!'

'I know who?' I looked between the two of them. Harry just laughed.

'You-Know-Who is a Dark wizard called Voldemort,' Harry explained. The redhead flinched at the sound of his name. 'You know I told you my parents died in a car crash?' I nodded. 'Well, Voldemort –' the other boy flinched again '– he killed them and I survived when he tried the curse on me. He was destroyed and I'm this Boy Who Lived.'

I honestly didn't know what to think at that moment when I found out how Harry's parents truly died, apart from sympathy of course. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and I remembered back to something Lupin had told me. I knew that name, Voldemort, but I couldn't think where I'd heard it before. And then it hit me. His followers had killed my mother. This obviously showed on my face because Harry looked at me strangely and asked, 'Are you feeling OK, Jenna?'

'Um, yeah,' I said, distracted. I regained my composure and turned to Harry. 'Hey, you'll never guess –' but the other boy interrupted by saying, 'So you don't know who You-Know-Who is? Even Muggle-borns know who he is. Those who know they have magic.'

'Well actually I didn't know because I was an orphan,' I said to him. As you can see, Ron and I didn't hit it off to the best of starts but we got on better by the time we got to Hogwarts. It seemed to shut him up when I said that. I went back to Harry and said, 'I got adopted during the summer.'

'Brilliant,' said Harry.

'Yeah, my uncle adopted me. Turns out I'm from a wizarding family and got abandoned accidentally years ago. He's been searching for me for years.'

'Nice one. That's a bit like me then. My parents were both wizards too. This is Ron, by the way.'

I smiled at Ron and said, 'I'm Jenna. We've known each other since we were eight,' indicating me and Harry. 'That's how I already know him.'

For the rest of the train journey the three of us just sat and talked about various things. I learnt about Ron's large wizarding family, about Voldemort and why he was called "You-Know-Who" and a few other things about the wizarding world like the sport Quidditch. It sounded amazing. At lunch, Harry bought us a load of food off the food trolley and we sat eating Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes and God knows what else. The wizard cards in the Chocolate Frogs were really cool. I got about five. Harry got one of Dumbledore; I looked at the card and saw the same kind eyes I'd seen a month ago. Moments later he was gone. Strange. When we were about halfway there, there was a knock on our compartment door and a round-faced boy appeared at our looking a bit flustered.

'Sorry,' he said, 'but have you seen a toad at all?' The three of us shook our heads. 'I've lost him!' wailed the boy. 'He keeps getting away from me!'

'He'll turn up,' said Harry consolingly.

'Yeah,' said the boy dully. 'Well, if you see him ...' and he disappeared up the corridor.

'Don't know why he's so bothered,' muttered Ron. 'If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk. He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference.'

Scabbers was Ron's pet rat. He did look quite pathetic as pets go. He just lay on Ron's knee fast asleep. You could tell he was old too; his fur was a dirty grey and he was missing a toe on one of his front paws. He must have had a few run-ins with a couple of cats. Ron mentioned how he was useless and attempted to show us a spell to turn him yellow. He pulled out his wand which also looked quite battered and second hand. Already I had a certain degree of empathy with Ron. I'd always got second hand clothes from the older children at The Refuge. He was about to do the spell when our compartment door opened again and the boy from earlier with a bushy-haired girl walked in, Hermione Granger. She seemed rather haughty for an eleven-year-old but as everyone knows, later on in the term we all became good friends. They were still looking for his toad when she noticed Ron about to do the spell.

'Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then.'

Ron cleared his throat. He waved his wand and said, 'Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.' Nothing happened. He just lay there fast asleep, and still grey. Hermione smiled.

'Are you sure that's a real spell?' she asked. 'Well, it's not very good, is it?' Ron looked at me and Harry. 'I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, what about you?'

She'd said this all so fast I didn't realise at first she'd addressed me. I just stared at her and said, 'Pardon?'

'Have you tried any magic?'

'Er, not really,' I said. 'I had a look but I haven't tried anything out yet.'

'Well go on,' said Hermione. 'Try one now.'

I felt slightly on the spot, especially after Ron's embarrassment, and he was from a wizard family who'd known about the wizarding world. My eyes darted round the compartment for something to use magic on. I noticed the tape holding Harry's glasses together was still there. Maybe I could fix them or something? Taking a breath, I took out my wand and pointed it at Harry. He jumped slightly.

'_Reparo_,' I said. The sellotape around Harry's glasses came ripping off and vanished in a puff of smoke. Wow, it worked. Harry took off his glasses and stared at them.

'Not bad,' said Hermione. She didn't sound that impressed. 'So, you are?' she then asked, looking at me and Ron.

'Jenna Black,' I said. It was weird having a surname.

'I'm Ron Weasley,' replied Ron, his mouthful of Cauldron Cake.

'Pleasure.' Again, she still wasn't impressed.

'Harry Potter,' said Harry.

'Are you really?' said Hermione. 'I know all about you, of course –' I looked at her. Everyone seemed to know who he was. I certainly didn't when I first met him. 'I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_.'

'Am I?' said Harry. Blimey, and he was only eleven. He must have defeated some Dark wizard then.

'Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me,' said Hermione. 'Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad ... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon.'

Hermione left, taking the boy, Neville, with her, who'd been just standing there the entire Hermione spoke.

'Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it,' said Ron when she'd gone. At that point in time, I kind of agreed with him.

For the remainder of the journey we talked about Ron's oldest brothers and a break-in that had happened at Gringotts recently. Someone had tried to steal something but failed. I wasn't completely surprised by that. Before we got to Hogwarts, we got a third set of visitors, this time in the shape of three boys. One was quite pale and smaller than the other two who were both broad and rather thick looking. Harry seemed to recognise the pale one. He too looked familiar to me but I couldn't think what it was that was so familiar.

'Is it true?' he asked. 'They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?'

'Yes,' said Harry. He too was eyeing the large boys either side of the smaller one.

'Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,' said the boy. 'And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.' That name! I recognised the name! But where had I heard it before? Ron let out a snigger. Malfoy glared at him. 'Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford.'

Well he was pleasant. He turned back to Harry.

'You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.' He held out his hand.

'I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,' Harry replied coolly. I smiled. Malfoy's cheek flushed a bit.

'I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you.'

The five boys were moments away from starting a fight as Malfoy and his friends wouldn't leave. It was only because Scabbers bit Goyle when he tried to take a Chocolate Frog that they left. Only to be replaced once again by Hermione who wanted to know what was going on. Harry explained he'd met Malfoy before in Diagon Alley which was what all that had been about. According to Ron, Malfoy's family used to support You-Know-Who but had feigned innocence when he vanished. Well by the looks of Draco, some things don't change.

'You'd better hurry up and put your robes on,' she said bossily, 'I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!'

'Scabbers has been fighting, not us,' said Ron indignantly. 'Would you mind leaving us while we change?'

'All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors. You can come and change in my compartment if you want, Jenna,' she then said to me, 'instead of changing in front of these boys. And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?'

Ron glared at her, rubbing his nose, as she stalked away. I unwillingly agreed to follow as I wasn't too keen on changing in front of Harry and Ron.

At last we reached Hogwarts. It was pitch black outside. All the new first years crowded on to the platform all looking rather nervous. A lantern came swinging above our heads. I looked up to see the man carrying was much bigger than a regular man. And he seemed to know Harry which was a bit reassuring. This must have been Hagrid, the man Harry told Ron and me about on the train. He led us down a narrow track to a large black lake where dozens of boats were moored. We were told to get in so I took one with Harry and Ron. Neville also was with us. With Hagrid's command we floated across the lake to an underground harbour. Once across it we climbed up another flight of stairs to a large set of oak doors. Hagrid knocked on the doors and they swung open where we were met by a rather strict-looking woman whose black hair was tied up in a tight bun. She was wearing emerald-green robes and had a strict expression. It was the woman who was there when I was adopted, Professor McGonagall. She took us from Hagrid and led us into a smaller room near to what looked like the main hall.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' she said briskly. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is award the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.'

At that moment, there was a loud yell and the boy without the toad, Neville, shouted, 'Trevor!' His toad was sitting on the step in front of Professor McGonagall. He went to retrieve and received a very stern look from her. He flushed. 'Sorry.'

She just looked at him sternly before saying, 'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.' She gave Neville another look. 'I shall return when we are ready for you.' and she walked away.

My mind was boggling. I was so excited but I was also nervous. I didn't know what it was but I had a feeling it was something to do with my family. I knew nothing about them so I had no idea which House I'd be placed in. My thoughts were distracted though when a series of gasps grabbed my attention, not to mention the numerous ghosts that had just floated into the room having what looked like a deep discussion. The one with the ruff looked very surprised to see us but the fat friar realised we were the new first years. They were shooed away when Professor McGonagall returned. She got us into a line then took us across the Entrance Hall. A pair of large oak doors opened in front of us and she led us into the Great Hall. It was a huge room with hundreds of candles floating in the air above four long tables filled with students. I heard Hermione behind me point out something about the ceiling to another girl; she really was a bookworm. But the ceiling was pretty impressive, reflecting the night sky. Soon, we were all gathered at the front before a stool with a hat on it and another large table with all the teachers. Professor Dumbledore was sat in the middle in a high, throne-like, chair. I swear he caught my eye and winked. But before I could dwell on the hat, which until now had been stationary, sprung to life and began to sing. The students applauded when it finished and it bowed to the tables before falling silent again.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward.

'Now when I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Abbott, Hannah!'

She just had to do it alphabetically. Not only did I not have a clue about most of the things I was supposed to know from being from a wizard family, I was the second person to be called up to be Sorted! Hannah had gone off to the Hufflepuff table and I heard Professor McGonagall call, 'Black, Jennifer!' I winced a bit at my full name.

Slowly, I stepped out from the crowd of first years and walked up to the stool. I sat on it carefully and felt Professor McGonagall place the Hat on my head. It fell almost completely over my eyes. Then all of a sudden it jerked alive and began to speak. And it wasn't a quick decision like it had been for the previous girl. It seemed to be contemplating something while looking into my mind, saying things I didn't know myself.

'Well, what have we here?' it said out loud. 'A strong mind, brave spirit, but a contradicting family history. Yes, I remember your father, hard to place as well. Would have done well in Slytherin like the rest of his family but even I can be wrong sometimes.' I felt my stomach sink when he said my father's family had been in Slytherin at that moment. Dark wizards came from there so what did that make my family? 'So, where to put you … a hidden talent, indeed, but which is best to show that? Well, better be …' I tensed, dreading the Hat saying "Slytherin". 'GRYFFINDOR!'

I let out a sigh and took off the Hat before walking quickly to join the cheering Gryffindors. It felt weird to have people you don't even know cheer you. Shortly after me, Hermione joined the Gryffindors, as well as a boy named Seamus Finnigan, then Neville Longbottom once he'd given the Hat back after running off with it, and a couple of girls named Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil and a third who's name I didn't catch. When Malfoy got Sorted, the Hat didn't even touch his hair before it shouted Slytherin for him. I watched unsurprised as he swaggered over to the far table to sit with Crabbe and Goyle. Harry got Sorted just after him, the Hat taking its time over him as well.

'Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!'

Ron was the last to join us, being greeted by his three older brothers. With the Sorting over, Professor Dumbledore finally stood. He beamed at all of us in the Hall, his arms opened wide and a smile on his face.

'Welcome!' he said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!'

He sat back down again. All the older students were clapping and cheering. I looked at Harry and Ron to see they were as confused as I was. Either way, I wasn't about to pass up on the food that had just appeared in front of us. I'd never seen so much food and I was starving. By now the ghosts had joined us. The one sitting beside Harry looked longingly at the food. He was apparently called Nearly Headless Nick which he seemed to take a slight offence to.

'I would _prefer_ you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy –' he said stiffly.

'_Nearly_ Headless?' repeated Seamus Finnigan in his Irish accent. 'How can you be _nearly_ headless?'

'Like _this_,' and he pulled his head by his left ear, causing it to fall to one side, attached only by a small flap of skin. I swallowed in an attempt to keep my dinner down. It looked like his beheading had gone a bit wrong.

When everyone had finished eating, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again.

'I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.' Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, snickered. 'I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

'And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.'

Talk about a pleasant welcome, being told that if you went somewhere in the castle you could die.

Dinner finished that night with the entire school singing the school song. Dumbledore conjured the words for the first years but we had no tune to worry about as we could sing it to whatever we wanted. Ron's twin brothers sang it to the funeral march, morbid but funny as it was. After conducting the last line, Dumbledore sent us to our common rooms. I went to bed full of the best food I'd ever tasted and with two firm friends at Hogwarts with me. I couldn't wait to start lessons the next day and see all the wonders of the school. Hogwarts was my home and I knew from the very start I would never want to leave it. And what was even better was that I knew I wasn't going to be going back to The Refuge for the summer but going back to Lupin's.

Hogwarts was brilliant though everything doesn't come without its flaws. The castle was huge and it was very easy to get lost in. And if you came across Peeves, the school poltergeist, he took great delight in chasing you down the corridor with a waste-paper basket. Then there was Filch, the school caretaker. He and his cat Mrs Norris stalked the corridors reprimanding anyone he saw breaking the rules. All my lessons were amazing and I loved every one of them. It was incredible how Muggles actually got along day-to-day without magic. They were all loads of fun. Charms with Professor Flitwick was a great laugh when I first saw him standing on the pile of books so he could see over his desk; Professor McGonagall was as strict as ever in her Transfiguration class but I was very impressed when she turned her desk into a pig and back again; Professor Sprout taught Herbology down in the greenhouses which was a task in itself to get there on time; and we had Astronomy on Wednesday night with Professor Sinistra; while a rather nervous Professor Quirrell took us for Defence Against the Dark Arts which seemed to be quite ironic to me, considering his stuttering disposition. The only lessons I didn't enjoy that much were for History of Magic which was incredibly dull as was the ghost teacher, Professor Binns, and especially Potions. If it was possible to hate a teacher before you've been in his class for less than five minutes, I managed it with Professor Snape. He just took one look at me and took an instant dislike to me. And it wasn't just me but all the Gryffindors. Harry had it worst though.

'Our new – _celebrity_,' he said smoothly. He folded his arms, his black eyes scanning all the Gryffindors and Slytherins sitting in front of him.

'You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making.' He spoke barely above a whisper. It almost sent shivers down my spine. 'As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.'

Class got worse as Snape picked on Harry to answer some impossible questions. The only one I could answer was about the monkshood and wolfsbane as it was something used in a potion Lupin took every so often. It was very unfair when Snape belittled Harry, saying, 'Fame clearly isn't everything.' Harry got him back though.

'Clearly, Hermione does know, why don't you try her?'

Snape's eyes flashed. He told Hermione to sit down after she'd leapt up eagerly to answer his questions then leaned over where Harry sat beside me.

'For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite.' Snape looked up at the rest of the class. 'Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?'

The entire class were suddenly scribbling down what Snape had just said. He returned to his desk, not before adding that Harry had just lost a house point.

After class that day I went down into the grounds with Harry and Ron and finally met Hagrid properly. He was much bigger up close than when I'd seen him previously. Then again I was only eleven years old. He was really nice for someone at least ten feet tall and his dog Fang was just soppy. He just couldn't cook that well; his rock cakes might as well have been made of rock, they were so hard. While we were there, Harry noticed a clipping from a paper about the robbery at Gringotts. It had happened the day he'd been there with Hagrid. Hagrid merely grunted and ignored the subject. I didn't really think much of it either, believing it was just a freak accident and nothing to be concerned about. Harry didn't seem to think so though.

The second week of term brought about a new challenge for us first years: flying lessons. I thought they were going to be good fun but unfortunately we had them with the Slytherins like our Potions class. Everywhere we went we would hear Malfoy boasting about how good his flying skills were. Harry and I were both nervous about it. Neville too was a bit anxious and hung on to every word Hermione said she'd read in _Quidditch Through the Ages_. On the same morning of our first lesson, Neville received a package in the mail which took my mind off it. His Gran had sent him a Remembrall, a device which helped you remember things. Helpful. It wasn't just me who was interested though; Malfoy appeared and snatched it from him. It was only because of Professor McGonagall appearing at his shoulder that nothing happened.

It turned out that for all his boasting, Malfoy actually wasn't that good on a broom. Once we'd managed to summon our brooms off the ground, I watched with a small amount of pleasure as Madam Pomfrey told Malfoy he'd been riding his broom the wrong way for years. Harry and Ron found this very entertaining. It was in this lesson though that I saw Malfoy's true colours. Neville had been landed with a temperamental broom and had to be taken to the hospital wing when he fell off it from twenty feet in the air. His Remembrall had fallen out his pocket and Malfoy instantly snatched it up when Madam Hooch took him to the hospital wing. I also saw what the relationship between the Gryffindors and Slytherins was like.

'Did you see his face, the great lump?' laughed Malfoy along with the other Slytherins.

'Shut up, Malfoy,' snapped Parvati Patil.

'Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?' said Pansy Parkinson, a stuck up Slytherin girl. 'Never thought _you'd_ like fat little cry babies, Parvati.'

With Neville's Remembrall in hand, Malfoy flew off to dump it in a tree. I was shocked though when Harry tried to stop him, regardless of Hermione's warning. He chased after Malfoy on his broom. Ron and I watched from the ground. They both floated there for a minute or so before Malfoy lobbed the Remembrall away. Harry zoomed after it. Whatever Malfoy had planned, Harry had fallen right for it. And sure enough Professor McGonagall came and got Harry moments after he landed back on the ground.

Of course, his plan backfired when Harry went after him and instead of getting expelled, Professor McGonagall had taken him to see a boy called Oliver Wood who was Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He was to be the new Seeker. Ron and I were thrilled for him when he told us at dinner but we had to keep it quiet. Fred and George, who were also on the team as Beaters, came and congratulated him too.

'Having a last meal, Potter?' came an unwelcome voice. We looked up to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had appeared at the table. 'When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?'

'You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you,' said Harry.

'I'd take you on any time on my own,' said Malfoy. I watched silently. I could see another fight brewing. 'Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?'

Harry hadn't. Neither had I. I hoped Harry wasn't going to accept Malfoy's challenge but he didn't have a choice as Ron agreed to it for him. It was to be at midnight tonight in the trophy room as it was always unlocked. With the duel agreed, Malfoy stalked away. Harry instantly asked Ron about wizard duels and his advice wasn't that helpful, especially when he said if Harry's wand didn't work he should punch Malfoy instead. I had a bad feeling about this. It didn't help when Hermione appeared behind them and told Harry he shouldn't do it. Neither Harry nor Ron were very polite to her about it and told her to go away. I noticed her give me a significant look before she walked off. I hoped she didn't expect me to stop them.

Why Harry and Ron thought they could sneak out the Gryffindor Tower without someone finding out, I don't know. Why I'd agreed to go as well, I didn't know either. We'd met in the common room and were just about to leave when Hermione tried to stop us again. She mainly aimed it at me but I didn't really say anything on the subject. She followed us out of the Tower only to then get locked out when the Fat Lady, who lives in the portrait which hides the common room, had gone. She ended up coming with us, as well as Neville who we'd run into as he came back from the hospital wing, but when we got there, Malfoy didn't turn up.

'He's late, maybe he chickened out,' Ron whispered to us.

'I don't think he chickened out, Ron,' I said. A second later, we all jumped when a voice beckoned down the corridor.

'Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking a corner.'

'We've been set up,' I said.

'Don't say I didn't warn you,' said Hermione. Ron glared at her.

We only just managed to get away from Filch and Mrs Norris, even with Neville and Ron making a lot of noise as they knocked over a suit of armour. We made a run for it, Harry in the lead, going through a passageway behind a tapestry and ending up near the Charms classroom. We then ran into more trouble when we were found by Peeves. We begged him not to tell but Peeves wasn't one to stay out of causing chaos. We instantly bolted when he yelled at the top of his lungs, 'STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!'

'This is it!' moaned Ron. We'd come to a dead end at a locked door. We could hear Filch's footsteps slowly getting closer. 'We're done for! This is the end!'

'Oh move over,' snapped Hermione. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock of the door and whispered, '_Alohomora!_'

The door opened. We all scrambled inside. We heard Filch still stalking around outside trying to get information from Peeves but he didn't cooperate. I was kind of thankful about that though he did almost get us caught too. Harry kept his ear to the door.

'He thinks this door is locked. I think we'll be OK – get _off_ Neville!'

I really wished Harry hadn't said that. He hadn't exactly noticed the massive three-headed dog that was standing over us. He'd led us right into the forbidden corridor! Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes stared at us as three mouths with dripping yellow fangs bared. At that moment, I wished I'd been caught by Filch. The five of us bolted back out the door, locked the door as the dog snapped at us, and up the corridor. We didn't stop running until we'd reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, not really caring about the reprimand she gave us. We scrambled into the common room, Neville instantly running to his dormitory.

'What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?' said Ron flatly.

'You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?' said Hermione, having got her breath back. The four of us walked up the stairs towards our dormitories. 'Didn't you see what it was standing on?'

'The floor?' suggested Harry sarcastically. 'I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads.'

'Or maybe you didn't notice, there were three,' added Ron.

'No, not the floor,' said Hermione impatiently. 'It was standing on a trapdoor which means it wasn't there by accident. It's obviously guarding something.' Ron just stared at her; Harry gave her a more curious look. Hermione glared back. 'I hope you're pleased with yourselves. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled.'

'No, we don't mind,' said Ron.

She disappeared into the girls dormitories. I just looked at Harry and Ron before shrugging my shoulders and following after her. I was just glad to be back in the Tower and a good few floors away from that three-headed dog. I didn't think it was fair though that Hermione blamed us for running into that dog when she was the one who opened the door in the first place.

'I don't understand how you could hang out with those two,' said Hermione tersely to me the next morning as we got dressed. 'They're such a pair of horrible boys.'

'They're my friends,' I replied, slightly annoyed. 'I've known Harry before we even came here.'

'Well I think they're still a pair of troublemakers,' said Hermione. 'And if you're not careful, you'll see yourself getting into a lot of trouble too and probably detention as well.'

Hermione left the dormitory. Nice girl, wasn't she?

The following day after our run in with the three-headed dog, Malfoy was stunned to see the three of us still sitting at the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron, however, were more concerned with what could be beneath the trapdoor Hermione had found last night. For the first time, I actually sided with Hermione and Neville on this one; whatever was beneath that door had to be no good so it was best to stay out of it. After what she had said to me this morning, she didn't speak to me for the rest of the day, nor Harry or Ron, not that they minded. They were too preoccupied with the mysterious object and how to get back at Malfoy.

That morning Harry also got a surprise. A package was dropped in front of him by six screech owls as well as a note. Excited, Harry ripped open the note. It was from Professor McGonagall, telling him not to open the package in the Hall although it said that it was a Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick for when Harry played Quidditch. Lucky him. Quickly the three of us left the Hall so Harry could look at his new broom. Unfortunately, Malfoy blocked our way on the marble staircase with Crabbe and Goyle. He snatched Harry's package.

'That's a broomstick,' he said, throwing it back at Harry. 'You'll be for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them.'

'Aww, jealous, are we, Malfoy?' I asked. He turned and glared at me.

'No, I probably have a better broomstick at home,' he sneered. 'Better than one Potter could afford at any rate.'

'It's not any old broomstick,' said Ron, 'it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?' Ron grinned at Harry. 'Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus.'

'What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle,' said Malfoy spitefully. That was rather mean of him. 'I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig.'

Luckily Professor Flitwick appeared just in time to stop another argument starting. While he spoke to Harry and Ron, I saw Hermione walk out of the Great Hall. She gave me a bit of a dirty look then walked off. Geeze, what had I ever done to her? It was Harry and Ron, not me, who'd been mean to her.

'It's really thanks to Malfoy here that I got it,' Harry said beside me.

'Very good, very good,' squeaked Professor Flitwick. 'Now, best get it up to your dormitory so it doesn't get damaged. Mind, don't be late for class because you're admiring it too much.'

'No, sir,' said the three of us and we hurried off. Malfoy still had a bemused look on his face from Harry's comment of it being thanks to him. Well, he was right: if he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall, Harry would never have chased him and made a spectacular catch to get him on the team. Bet Malfoy was kicking himself about it now.

'So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?' said Hermione, walking up to us.

'I thought you weren't speaking to us,' said Harry.

'Yeah, don't stop now,' said Ron, 'it's doing us so much good.'

Hermione gave me another look then walked ahead of us with her nose in the air.

'Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on her?' I asked the boys. We continued back up the changing staircase towards the Tower to get our bags. 'She's only trying to stop us getting in trouble.'

'When she's the one getting us _into_ trouble?' said Ron incredulously. 'She opened that door, not us! And she's meant to be the intelligent one in our year!'

'Ron's right, Jenna,' agreed Harry. 'She's just a bossy know-it-all who loves to show off and be right about things.'

'Still,' I said but Harry and Ron weren't going to be swayed. Oh dear.

Things between the four of us didn't improve by Halloween. In our Charms lesson that day, Professor Flitwick put us into pairs to practice levitation which the entire class was all really excited about. I couldn't wait to make something fly even though it was only a feather. I got paired with another Gryffindor girl while Harry went with Seamus Finnigan and Ron was paired with Hermione. It was hard to tell which one was angrier about the situation.

'Now don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing,' squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his books. 'Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest. Now, off you go.'

Making things levitate wasn't as easy as I originally thought it was going to be. I waved my wand in the correct way and said the words as best as I could but my feather would not lift off the table. Harry and Ron weren't having much more luck. Better than Seamus though; he somehow managed to set his feather alight. Hermione didn't help things though.

'You're saying it wrong,' she snapped at Ron. They were sitting on the table in front of me. 'It's Win-_gar_-dium Levi­-_o_-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long.'

'You do it then, if you're so clever,' snarled Ron.

Needless to say, Hermione managed to do the spell, leaving Ron in an even fouler mood than before. He showed this at the end of the lesson. We left the classroom along with Seamus and his friend Dean Thomas, another boy in Gryffindor with Harry and Ron, saying to them, 'It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a nightmare, honestly.'

Just then, Hermione pushed roughly past Harry and went walking ahead of us, tears in her eyes. I felt really sorry for her at that moment. Ron and the others had stopped walking.

'I think she heard you,' said Harry.

'So?' said Ron, though he looked a bit uncomfortable about the situation. 'She must've noticed she's got no friends.' I frowned.

'I'll see you later,' I said to them before chasing after Hermione.

I followed her all the way from the courtyard and up to the first floor girls' bathroom. I found her crying in a cubicle. Cautiously, in case she wanted to be alone, I walked up to the locked door and gently knocked on it.

'Hermione?' I said. 'Are you all right?'

'Go away,' I heard her cry. 'Go back to your big-headed friends.'

'Hermione, I'm really sorry about what Ron said. He just doesn't think sometimes … well, I guess.' I couldn't really comment considering I'd only known him since September. 'But all boys are jerks this age.'

'How would you know?' she asked me fiercely.

'Because I lived with nine of them for the past ten years,' I muttered. I leant back against the door waiting to hear if Hermione would reply.

There was a few moments silence, then, 'How come when the Sorting Hat said your father was here?'

I just sighed. It just had to be this way to get her to talk, didn't it?

'I was an orphan,' I explained to her. 'I come from a wizarding family but I accidentally got abandoned ten years ago. I know about as much as a fly does when it comes to the wizarding world and magic when really I should know a lot more. But I do know boys this age are jerks.'

Hermione and I ended up missing most of our last lessons as well as the Halloween feast. We spent our time talking, Hermione asking what was wrong with being a bit excited about being a witch when you're from a Muggle family. I said there was nothing wrong with it just maybe she shouldn't show off so much. I could hear the thunder and lightning overhead as we sat there, not to mention my stomach starting rumbling when I remembered about the Halloween feast taking place in the Hall. But someone had to talk Hermione out of the cubicle and I don't think Parvati Patil or Lavender Brown was going to volunteer when they turned up that afternoon. Hermione didn't come out of the cubicle until gone six o'clock. That's when trouble started. I'd just convinced her to come out when we found ourselves face-to-face, or rather face-to-rather-large-thick-legs, with a troll.

_Great_, I thought, _first a three-headed dog and now a bloody troll!_

'Back away slowly,' I said quietly to Hermione.

The troll grunted and came towards us, raising its club. We both backed into the cubicle Hermione had just been in. We shut the door and locked it, not that that did much good, when the wood suddenly shattered on top of us. Hermione and I fell to the floor screaming from the force of the troll's club and we were left half buried underneath it.

'Jenna, Hermione, move!'

I looked out from under the wood and saw two people at the doorway. It was Ron and Harry. Quickly, we crawled under the broken wood to another cubicle when we felt the troll swing again and more wood fell on us.

'Help!' screamed Hermione.

'Confuse it!' shouted Harry.

The troll stopped a few feet from the cubicle we were by when a piece of wood hit its head. It looked at Harry and Ron. I saw our chance and pulled Hermione out from the cubicles and under the sinks. However, the troll spotted us and thrust its club down where we were. I pushed Hermione forward in time so it missed the sink she was under and I scrambled backwards to avoid it. A broken tap was then thrown at its head and it looked round again, now advance on Harry, lifting its club

'Oi, pea-brain!' yelled Ron.

Ron threw a metal pipe but it merely bounced off the troll's shoulder. It lumbered round again to face while Harry ran over to us.

'Come on, run, _run!_' he yelled.

Harry tried to pull Hermione towards the door but she had frozen from fear. I did my best to get her to move but she was too scared. The troll meanwhile was so confused with what we were doing it itself was getting in more of a rage. It roared as it charged at Ron. Next minute, Harry ran towards the troll and jumped on to it, grabbing it round its neck, his wand stuck up its nose. Ron managed to get away from where he was cornered but Harry was still on the troll as it howled in pain from his wand, its club missing Harry by mere inches. I watched in fear while Hermione beside me had sunk to the ground.

'Harry!' I shouted.

I saw Ron take out his wand and pointed it at the troll. What was he planning to do? Stick it up the other nostril?

'_Wingardium Leviosa!_'

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand and floated above it until it dropped right on top of the troll's head. It swayed dangerously on the spot before landing flat on its face. The entire room shook with the thud it made. I stared at the troll. My knees finally gave way and I sank to the floor next to Hermione. Harry got to his feet visibly shaken. He and Ron came over to where we were. Hermione was the first to speak.

'Is it … dead?'

'I don't think so,' said Harry. 'I think it's just knocked out.' He bent down and picked up his wand from out of the troll's nose. 'Urgh – troll bogies.'

Harry walked over to us and took my hand to pull me up. My legs were still shaking. Just then Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell all came rushing into the bathroom just as we were about to leave. She looked in horror at the sight before her, four eleven year old wizards standing remarkably alive in a completely trashed room with a troll lying unconscious on the floor. Once her initial shock had gone, she gave Harry and Ron very angry looks. Snape was examining the troll.

'What on earth were you thinking of?' she scolded. 'You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?'

Ron and Harry started going on about God only knows what, trying to explain what happened. I just watched.

'The thing is, Professor –'

'Ron and I –'

'Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me.'

I looked at Hermione, stunned. What was she doing?

'Miss Granger!'

'I went looking for the troll because I – i thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them.'

Ron dropped his wand. Harry and I stared at her. She was the least responsible person there.

'Jenna tried to stop me but I didn't listen and we got trapped in here. If they hadn't found us, we'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish us off when they arrived.'

Harry and Ron both nodded.

'Well – in that case ...' said Professor McGonagall, straightening her glasses. 'Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?' Hermione hung her head. 'Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses.'

Hermione left. Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.

'Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could take on a full-grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. You each win Gryffindor five points,' I smiled across at the boys, 'for sheer dumb luck,' added Professor McGonagall at the end of the sentence. 'Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.'

The three of us quickly left the bathroom and we made our way back to the Tower.

'We should have got more than ten points,' grumbled Ron.

'Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's.'

'Good of her to get us out of trouble like that,' admitted Ron. 'Mind you, we _did_ save her.'

'She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her,' said Harry.

'We wouldn't have needed saving at all if you two hadn't insulted her in the first place,' I said. Harry and Ron looked at me. 'I have a point you know. And thanks for locking the troll in there with us. That's a comforting thought.'

'We didn't mean to,' said Ron.

'Either way, thanks for saving us,' I said. 'Wasn't quite what I expected when I went after her. But McGonagall's right. That really was dumb luck.'

If it wasn't for that troll though, then the four of us would have never become such great friends. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and that was definitely one of them. It was our first adventure together since joining Hogwarts and it certainly wouldn't be the last that the four of us would encounter.

* * *

**AN: Hiya, I'd just like to thank all the people who've reviewed this story and please keep reading it when I next update it. If you do review, please tell me also wat you think of Jenna because if people don't like her then I won't continue boring you with this story. Keep reading and do review so I can get as much feedback as possible to improve this story. Thanks! ;)**


	6. A Different Kind of Bravery

Chapter 5

A Different Kind of Bravery

November came as did the Quidditch season. Harry had been training for the last month or so as Wood's secret weapon apparently. His school work would have suffered too had it not been for Hermione helping him along. She'd finally relaxed and she turned out to be quite a nice friend. It was certainly nice for me having another girl in our group. She even leant him _Quidditch Through the Ages_ to help him read up on the sport but it got confiscated by Snape when Harry was caught reading it in the courtyard.

'Library books are not to be taken outside the school,' said Snape, taking the book. 'Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor.' and he limped away. I wonder why he was limping.

'He's just made that rule up,' muttered Harry behind his back. 'Wonder what's wrong with his leg?'

'Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him,' said Ron.

That night Harry was restless as we did our homework in the common room. We already had favourite chairs in the corner round a table by the window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's homework as she wouldn't let them copy when Harry got up, saying he was going to try to get his book back. Half an hour later he rushed into the common room looking startled and with no book. What had happened?

'Snape had tried to get past that three-headed dog,' whispered Harry urgently to us. 'That's why he was limping. The dog had bitten him. You know what this means? He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick _he_ let that troll in, to create a diversion!'

'What?' I asked. I knew Harry disliked Snape but that was a bit farfetched, wasn't it?

'No – he wouldn't,' said Hermione. 'I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe.'

'Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something,' snapped Ron. OK, while we were friends, Ron and Hermione still argued a bit. 'I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?'

We didn't know. But Harry was adamant about Snape trying to steal whatever it was. I, however, wasn't so sure. Granted he was an unpleasant person but would he really steal from Dumbledore?

Finally the first Quidditch match arrived. It would have been an understatement to say Harry was nervous. He wouldn't eat anything, even with Ron, Hermione and I trying to make him. Seamus didn't help when he mentioned that the Seekers were usually the ones who got bloodied up. I think Harry turned slightly green at that.

The Quidditch match itself was amazing, not to mention Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan's commentary was very entertaining. He was definitely biased and every so often you could hear Professor McGonagall reprimanding him about it. The whole school turned out and just to watch it sent butterflies going in your stomach. It was so violent though. Harry was nearly knocked his broom by Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain, when he went into a dive after the Slytherin Seeker. The Gryffindors were incensed.

'Foul!'

'Send him off, ref!' shouted Dean Thomas. 'Red card!'

'This isn't football, Dean,' said Ron. 'You can't send people off in Quidditch – and what's a red card?'

Hagrid agreed with Dean, as did Lee Jordan.

'So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating –'

'Jordan!' growled Professor McGonagall.

'I mean, after that open and revolting to foul –'

'_Jordan, I'm warning you _–'

'All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could have happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue to play, Gryffindor still in possession.'

Everything seemed to be going all right for Harry, besides the tackle by Flint, as he flew above the pitch. But then his new broomstick starting behaving oddly and he was almost thrown off it. Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and I watched wondering what was going on. It was carrying him further and further away from the pitch.

'Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing,' said Hagrid. He watched through his binoculars. 'If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom ... but he can't have ...'

We weren't the only ones to notice this. It was only when Hagrid mentioned that only Dark magic can affect a broom that Hermione snatched his binoculars and looked frantically round the crowd. She then shoved them at me and Ron to show us that Snape was muttering continuously under his breath. He was jinxing Harry's broom! Instantly Hermione ran off. Harry meanwhile was clinging on for dear life to his bucking broom. A few minutes later Harry's broom finally stopped jerking around and he climbed back on to it.

'Neville, you can look!' said Ron. He'd been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Harry suddenly went into a dive. Had he seen the Snitch? Slytherin Seeker Terrence Higgs was on his tail but pulled up before he hit the ground. Harry just went for it. He fell off his broom with his hand clamped to his mouth. It looked like he was going to throw up. I wasn't surprised after what his broom had just been doing. But he didn't throw up. He merely coughed up the Golden Snitch and it fell into his open hand. He'd caught it! We'd won!

After the match the four of us went back to Hagrid's hut with him. Harry asked us if we knew what had happened to his broom and Ron explained about Snape jinxing his broom and Hermione stopping him. Hagrid didn't believe us though, dismissing it by saying, 'Why would Snape do somethin' like that?'

'I found out something about him,' Harry then said. 'He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding.'

Hagrid dropped his teapot.

'Who told you about Fluffy?'

I think I would have fainted if I hadn't have been still a bit hyper from Gryffindor winning the match. Who calls a monster like that Fluffy?

'_Fluffy?_'

'That thing has a name?' I asked. 'It's anything _but_ "fluffy"!'

'Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the –'

'Yes?' said Harry eagerly.

'I shouldn'ta said that,' muttered Hagrid. 'Now, don't ask me anymore,' he said gruffly. 'That's top secret, that is.'

Harry wouldn't let the subject drop. Even Hermione now was agreeing with him that Snape was up to something. Hagrid wouldn't listen though and told us to drop it.

'Now, listen to me, all four of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel –'

Hagrid was furious when he let that out.

Christmas time arrived and the entire castle was decorated for the occasion. Of course, not everything was that cheery. Malfoy was still jealous and annoyed about the Slytherin loss and had gone back to taunting Harry about his family because he was staying at Hogwarts over Christmas. Potions lessons were a right pain in the arse. Still, I was going home for the holidays so I'd have a nice few weeks without Malfoy. It didn't mean I could forget him while I was still here though.

'Would you mind moving out of the way?' he said rudely to Hagrid. He was pulling one of the school's Christmas trees to the Great Hall and it had blocked the corridor. 'Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley?' he then said after hearing Ron offer to help. 'Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to.'

It didn't take much to provoke Ron and he lunged at Malfoy at the same moment Snape appeared behind us. Hagrid told him that he'd been provoked but still Snape took five points. I saw Malfoy smirk as he walked away. I would be so glad when I was back home and didn't have to see him again for a while. Hagrid dragged the tree into the Hall and left it in the hands of Professor Flitwick, then turned to us to ask how things were. We told him we'd spent most of our free time in the library to find out who Nicolas Flamel was. Hagrid was not pleased.

'Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'.'

'We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all,' said Hermione.

'It's just a bit of research,' I added, 'to deepen our knowledge of things.'

'Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?' said Harry. 'We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere – just give u a hint – I know I've read his name somewhere.'

Hagrid wouldn't tell us so we went back to the library before he could stop us. We searched hundreds of books apart from those in the Restricted Section as we knew Madam Pince would never tell us if Nicolas Flamel was in there. We'd just have to find him ourselves. Needless to say we didn't have much luck so we went back to the Hall for lunch.

'You will keep looking while we're away, won't you?' said Hermione. 'And send us an owl if you find anything.'

'Are they likely to though?' I asked. 'We've looked everywhere but we've got nothing.'

'You could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is,' said Ron. 'And you could ask your uncle, Jenna. It'd be safe to ask them.'

I wasn't so sure about Lupin but Hermione said, 'Very safe, as they're both dentists.'

I went down to the Great Hall with Hermione and said goodbye to the boys on the morning we were due to leave. I'd left their presents with Professor McGonagall. They were playing Wizards Chess, like real chess but the figures beat each other up. Ron had changed his mind about staying because his parents were visiting his brother in Romania. He was studying dragons there which were pretty cool. Harry, who wasn't going back to the Dursleys (not that I blamed him), was staying too. We reminded them to look again and left them too it. Lupin was waiting for me at platform nine and three-quarters. He seemed really happy to see me. I still wasn't used to be welcomed like that. We set off home back to Moonlake Cottage via Floo powder at the Leaky Cauldron. Once home, he asked me all about my time so far. I said it was brilliant. I just didn't tell him I'd met a three-headed dog named Fluffy or that I was nearly killed by a troll on Halloween.

On Christmas morning I awoke to find a small pile of presents at the bottom of my bed. I couldn't believe it. I had presents! I never used to get anything apart from something from Matron when I was at The Refuge. Harry and Ron had both given me boxes of Bertie Botts and Chocolate Frogs while Hermione had given me a diary. I wasn't surprised by that. Lupin's was the best though. It was another diary, but this time, it was my Mum's. It had loads of entries in it from when she was about nineteen. She mentioned my father a lot. Sure it made me cry a little but it was just nice having something for me to remember my mother by.

One thing about it that intrigued me though was some of the later entries before she died. It seemed like she knew bad things were to happen to her and her friends, as if she'd predicted they'd happen. It seemed familiar. The letter she'd left me! I quickly scrambled off my bed and pulled out the letter from my box of things from The Refuge. It was written exactly the same way. It was really strange, like she could predict the future or something. Could witches do that? I didn't have time to dwell on this discovery. The full moon came just after Christmas and Lupin told me what he'd decided was to happen during each one. Apparently, he and Mum used to do it all the time. I would simply transform into a large animal and just spend time with him. The Wolfsbane Potion, a recent discovery, allowed him to keep his mind and so he'd know who I was. At first I was a little apprehensive but it turned out to be so much fun. Surprisingly I managed to keep the werewolf in check that night but I saw so much of the area we lived. It was brilliant.

Back to school and things kicked off before I'd even had any lessons. Harry told Hermione and me what had happened while we had been away. He'd been out of bed at night using his Invisibility Cloak he'd received for Christmas to look for Flamel in the Restricted Section of the library but instead had discovered a mirror which showed his family. That was strange. Hermione was horrified that he'd been out of bed at night while I wasn't really that surprised. If she'd known all of what Harry had got into before he came to Hogwarts, she wouldn't be either. It didn't stop her being disappointed that he hadn't found anything on Flamel yet.

Quidditch practice started again as soon as term did so Harry was spending his afternoons again practicing while Ron tried to teach Hermione and me how to play chess. It was the first time I'd ever seen Hermione lose at something. After a particularly muddy session Harry came into the common room looking very down. He told us that Snape was refereeing the next match. That wasn't good. The three of us instantly said he shouldn't play but Harry had no choice the same way Neville had no choice but to fall into the common room a moment later because someone putting a Leg-Locker Curse on him. Funny as it was, I was glad when Hermione took pity on him and countered the spell.

'What happened?' she asked, helping over to where we were sitting.

'Malfoy,' he stuttered. 'I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practise that on.'

'Go to Professor McGonagall!' urged Hermione. 'Report him.'

'Hermione, that won't do much good,' I said. 'There's no proof Malfoy did it. Malfoy would have made sure there were no witnesses.'

'I don't want more trouble,' said Neville quietly.

'You've got to stand up to him, Neville!' said Ron. 'He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier.'

'There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be a Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that,' choked Neville. I took pity on him and gently rubbed his shoulder.

'It's OK, Neville,' I said kindly. 'Not everyone's brave when they're eleven years old.'

'You all were, with that troll,' he sniffed.

'That wasn't bravery,' I replied quietly. 'That was stupidity getting lucky.'

Harry pulled a Chocolate Frog out his pocket and gave it to Neville.

'You're worth twelve of Malfoy,' he said. 'The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin.' Neville's lips twitched into a week smile.

'Thanks, Harry ... I think I'll go to bed ... D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?'

Neville gave him the card and walked off. With Neville gone I reset the chess board so I could play Ron when Harry let out a yell. He'd found Nicolas Flamel. It was on the back of the Dumbledore Famous Wizard card he was holding. Instantly Hermione jumped to her feet and ran up to her dormitory. She came back with an enormous book in her hands that she'd taken out for a bit of "light" reading as she put it.

'This is _light_?' said Ron, staring at the book. Hermione gave him a look then started flicking through the pages. A few minutes later she shoved the book under mine, Harry and Ron's noses and pointed to the passage at the top of the book.

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with  
__making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary  
__substance with astonishing powers. The Stone  
__will transform any metal into pure gold. It also  
__produces the Elixir of Life, which will make  
__the drinker immortal.  
__There have been many reports of the Philosopher's  
__Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently  
__in existence belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted  
__alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who  
__last year celebrated his six-hundredth and sixty-fifth birthday  
__last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife,  
__Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

'See?' said Hermione. 'The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they were friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!'

'A Stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!' said Harry. 'No wonder Snape's after it! _Anyone_ would want it.'

'And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_,' said Ron. 'He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?'

'To think he was right in front of us all the time,' I said, looking at Harry's Chocolate Frog card. 'These sorts of things are always in the last place you look. But the question is, besides the obvious, why would Snape want the Stone in the first place? He's not exactly dying and he must make a decent amount working at Hogwarts. Why would he need it?'

This was a question we couldn't answer because the obvious answer seemed the most plausible. But to me it still didn't make sense. Besides, Harry had the more important issue of Snape refereeing the next Quidditch match to worry about than why he wanted the Philosopher's Stone.

Ron, Hermione and I all took the precaution of bringing our wands to the match the next day. Neville couldn't understand why but he didn't know, nor did Harry for that matter, that we'd all been practicing the Leg-Locker Curse in case Snape tried to jinx Harry's broom again or unfairly foul the team. We kept a close eye on him as he waited for the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams. He looked in an even fouler mood than usual.

'I've never seen Snape look so mean,' whispered Ron to us. 'Look – they're off. Ouch!'

'Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there,' came Malfoy's voice. He, Crabbe and Goyle had come and sat behind us and deliberately poked him in the head. 'Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want to bet? What about you, Weasley?'

The three of us tried to ignore him but Malfoy had one of those annoying voices you couldn't block out.

'You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?' he said loudly. Snape had awarded Hufflepuff a second penalty. 'It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains.'

Neville went bright red beside me.

'I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy,' he muttered. This only started the three Slytherins howling with laughter.

'Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley and that's saying something.'

Neville's face went even pinker. Ron too was getting angrier, his ears turning red. It irritated me as well and I turned round to Malfoy.

'You know perhaps you should be on the Slytherin team, then,' I said to him. 'You've got no spine hiding behind those two thugs and you're a suck up.'

Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles. I looked at them apprehensively but stood my ground. Malfoy smirked.

'Ah, yes, I'd forgotten about you, Black,' he said smoothly. 'You should be on the team too. You're the worst of all of them. The little orphan. Tell me, did mummy enjoy Father's surprise?' What? I stared at him confused. His smirk grew. 'I heard she begged them ...'

'I'm warning you, Malfoy,' said Ron, 'one more word –'

'Ron!' said Hermione suddenly. 'Harry –!'

I looked round. Harry had gone into a dive chasing after something down the length of the pitch.

'You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!'

I jumped out of the way when Ron lunged at Malfoy. Seconds later Neville had climbed over the seat to help. Hermione hadn't noticed and was still cheering Harry on. Crabbe and Goyle had joined in now, two against one with Neville. I didn't know what to watch. A whistle was blown. I looked round to see Harry had caught the Snitch, missing Snape by an inch when he shot past him. Cheers filled the stadium. Hermione was ecstatic, hugging Parvati. I would have been too but I'd completely missed it. I was still happy though. Ron finally disentangled himself from Malfoy, who slunk off now the match was over, and joined in the celebration.

It continued well into the afternoon when the entirety of Gryffindor and the team had returned to the Tower. Harry wasn't with them though. He didn't turn up for another hour. We found him when we were on our way back from taking Neville to hospital wing because he'd got knocked out by Crabbe and Goyle. When he did show up, he had a lot to tell us. He ushered us into an empty classroom where he told us about a conversation he'd seen Snape having with Quirrell, questioning his loyalties.

'So Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it,' said Harry. 'He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy – and he said something about Quirrell's "hocus pocus" – I reckon there are other things guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spells which Snape needs to break through –'

'So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?' said Hermione, alarmed.

'And going by Quirrell's track record and his nerves of steel,' I said sarcastically.

'It'll be gone by next Tuesday,' said Ron.

Quirrell managed to hold out longer than we thought as he could still be seen walking the corridors. We even took to checking if Fluffy was still behind the door by listening for his growls, so long as Filch wasn't anywhere near us. But Hermione had other things on her mind on top of this: exams. Every break she'd be sitting somewhere colour-coding her notes or writing a revision timetable for herself. She was obsessed that we needed to start revising. The teachers also seemed to have this idea and work began to pile on to us, leaving us no choice but to work over the entire Easter holiday and late into the night to finish all our homework in time.

'I'll never remember this,' said Ron one afternoon when we were in the library again for the third time that week. 'Hey, Hagrid!'

Sure enough Hagrid came shuffling out from between two bookcases.

'Jus' lookin',' he said gruffly. 'An' what're you lot up ter?' He gave us a suspicious look. 'Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?'

'We're doing homework,' I said. I held up my essay on Dittany for Snape.

'We found out who he is ages ago,' said Ron. '_And_ we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St―'

'_Shhhh!_' Hagrid glanced around the library in case someone had heard. 'Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?'

'There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact,' said Harry, 'about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –'

'SHHHH!' Hagrid said again. 'Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –'

'See you later, then,' said Harry happily.

Hagrid shuffled off, not before he moved something from behind his back. Intrigued, Ron got up and went into the section Hagrid had been in. He came back hissing about dragons. Hagrid had been looking up dragons? Why? Harry told us Hagrid had apparently always wanted a dragon but Ron said that was against the law. I'm not surprised. Dragons were vicious things. Well, they always were in Muggle fairytales. I couldn't believe there were wild dragons in Britain. How on earth did the wizarding world keep it quiet?

'The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you,' said Ron. 'Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget.'

'People have actually seen them? I asked. Ron nodded. 'Blimey. No wonder the Ministry keep it quiet. I'd freak out if I saw a real live dragon.'

'So what on earth's Hagrid up to?' asked Hermione.

Late that night the four of us snuck out of the Gryffindor Tower under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. We got out the castle and quickly ran across the grounds and down the hill towards his hut. We banged hard on the door until he opened it. He let us in. I instantly wanted to go back outside. It was like an oven in his hut, it was so hot. What had he been doing in there? He gave us a cup of tea and offered us some sandwiches. We refused them. Harry got straight to the point and asked Hagrid about the Philosopher Stone. To his dismay, Hagrid didn't know much about it and he wouldn't tell us anyway if he did. It was only when Hermione turned on the flattery and managed to worm it out of him.

'Some o' the teachers did enchantments ...' he muttered, 'Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall – Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.'

'_Snape?_' gasped Harry.

'Yeah – yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snap helped _protect_ the Stone, he's not about ter steal it

The four of us shared a look. Harry proceeded to ask Hagrid who knew how to get past Fluffy. Only he and Dumbledore did. The heat finally got to us at that moment and Harry asked if he could open a window. Hagrid didn't let him.

'Hagrid – what's _that_?'

He pointed into the fire. There was a large black egg sitting in it.

'Ah,' said Hagrid, fiddling with his beard. 'That's – er ...'

'Where did you get it, Hagrid?' asked Ron. He crouched by the fire for a better look. 'It must've cost a fortune.'

'Won it,' said Hagrid. 'Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest.'

I think anyone would be, considering he had a dragon's egg there. That explained why he'd been looking them up in the library. But how was he going to keep a dragon here? In a wooden hut. It would torch the place. Hagrid didn't seem to hear mine and Hermione's complaints though as he merrily stoked the fire. At that point the four of us decided to leave. The less we knew about the dragon, there better. Plus we were all about to pass out from the heat in there.

A little over a week later we received a note telling us the egg was hatching. I couldn't believe Hagrid was seriously doing this. Ron was the only one remotely excited about it. I wanted to keep well away from that dragon egg. He and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology, once Malfoy had slunk away when we noticed him lurking nearby. Eventually we agreed we'd go and visit him at morning break, much to my reluctance. I really didn't want to meet a dragon, even a baby one.

Hagrid ushered us straight into the hut when we got there. The black egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in the shell and it was shaking ominously on the table. A rattling was coming from the inside. We pulled up a couple of chairs, one between the two of us they were so big, and watched. The scratching got worse and worse. Then it burst open, shell flying everywhere. We ducked and covered our eyes so as not to be hit by it. And there, standing in the remnants of its shell was a tiny lizard. It squawked as it looked up at us with a pair of large orange eyes. Hagrid seemed almost in awe. I stared at it; in a strange way, it was actually kind of cute. It stretched its spiny wings and lifted its long, black snout. A pair of horns sat on its head with spines going all the way down its back. Well Hagrid had said it was a Norwegian Ridgeback.

The dragon sneezed, a few sparks flying from its nostrils.

'Isn't he _beautiful_?' sighed Hagrid happily. He reached out and stroked its head. The dragon snapped at its fingers. 'Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!' Hagrid playfully scratched him under the chin. 'Hello, Norbert.'

'Norbert?' I repeated. What sort of name was that for a dragon? Then again, Hagrid did call a three-headed dog Fluffy.

'Yeah, well, he's got ter have a name, don' he? Don't you, Norbert?' Ron smirked. Hagrid was still tickling him, making cooing noises. Norbert hiccupped and let out a small burst of flame. Hagrid's beard caught alight and he started to pat it with his oven glove. 'Well, he'll have to be trained up a bit, of course.'

'Hagrid,' said Hermione, 'how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?'

Hagrid didn't answer though. He leapt to his feet and ran to the window. Someone had been looking through the gap in the curtain. Harry quickly ran over to the door and looked out its small window.

'Malfoy.' was all he said. This was not going to be good.

With Malfoy knowing about Hagrid's dragon, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I spent all our free time trying to convince Hagrid to let him go. That and the fact Norbert was growing quicker than Hagrid could keep up. In a matter of weeks his wingspan alone would take up the entire hut. Hagrid just couldn't keep him. He was reluctant though to let him go. Inspiration then hit Harry and he suggested that Charlie, Ron's older brother, to come and get him. In the end Hagrid agreed after a lot of persuasion and Ron sent an owl to his brother.

The next week dragged by as we waited for Charlie's reply. Ron didn't help matters along when he got bitten by Norbert when he and I had helped Hagrid feed him on Wednesday night. My handkerchief was completely red from the amount of blood.

'I tell you,' complained Ron, 'that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it.'

'Well you did make a lot of noise when you banged your knee on the chair,' I said.

'And when we left, he was singing it a lullaby.'

Though I agreed that Hagrid was acting a bit ridiculously about the whole Norbert thing, I couldn't blame him. Norbert was his pet after all, if you could call it that. Still, when Charlie's reply came, I couldn't wait for that dragon to be out of our lives. Some of Charlie's friends were going to come and get Norbert from us as long as we could get him up the tallest tower in the castle. With the Invisibility Cloak, it was a little less daunting but at that moment I still couldn't see how we were going to get away with this.

However, things only got worse for us. The next day Ron's hand had swollen up and the bite was turning a nasty shade of green. At first he refused to go to the hospital wing because Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, would ask too many questions, but by the afternoon he was so dizzy he had no choice. Harry, Hermione and I visited him after school finished only to find out things had got worse. Malfoy had been round and had threatened to tell Madam Pomfrey what had really bitten Ron. He'd faked wanting to borrow one of his books to get in. At least by Saturday night it was going to be over.

'Oh no – oh no – I've just remembered,' groaned Ron. 'Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert.'

'It's too late to change the plan now,' said Harry later on to Hermione and me. 'We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we _have_ got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that.'

'That's about the one good thing about this whole thing,' I replied. 'We've still got to get the thing to the Astronomy Tower without getting caught. At least things couldn't get any worse.'

In the words of Hagrid, I shouldn't have said that.

Saturday night came. Hidden beneath the Cloak, Harry, Hermione and I raced as fast as we could down to Hagrid' hut. When we got there Norbert was already locked up in a wooden crate. I hoped that could hold him, considering he was a dragon. More to the point, I hoped Harry, Hermione and I could carry him all the way back to the Astronomy Tower. It must've taken us a good two hours to struggle all the way there hidden under the Cloak with Norbert. We were almost there before we were forced to stop; we'd reached the base of the tower when we heard movement ahead of us and we hid in the shadows even though we were invisible. A lamp nearby lit up and revealed a struggling Malfoy being held by the ear by Professor McGonagall in her tartan dressing gown.

'Detention!' she snapped. 'And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how _dare_ you –'

'You don't understand, Professor,' complained Malfoy. 'Harry Potter's coming – he's got a dragon!'

'What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!'

The three of us shared a look of utter joy. Then remembered we still had Norbert and hurried as quickly as we could up the stairs. When we got there and were free of the Cloak, Hermione actually did a little dance in joy about it. We were all ecstatic about it. Ten minutes or so later Charlie's friends appeared on broomstick and we helped get Norbert into the harness they'd rigged up for him. They took off into the night sky, five black dots in the moonlight. With Norbert on his way we slipped back down the spiral staircase to go back to the Tower. Nothing could go wrong now.

'Well, well, well,' said Filch, appearing from nowhere out of the darkness. 'We are in trouble.'

The Invisibility Cloak was still on top of the Tower.

This had to be the worst trouble I'd been in all my life. As Harry, Hermione and I stood in front of Professor McGonagall, Neville also there as he'd been caught out of the Tower when he tried to find and warn us, I could recall the times when I stood in front of Matron as she reprimanded me. I kept my head down while McGonagall scolded us.

'I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr Filch says you were up the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain yourselves_.'

Only problem, none of us could, even Hermione which was a first.

'I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on,' she said. 'It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?

'I am disgusted,' said Professor McGonagall. 'Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. Miss Black, I hope this is not the start of you following in your father's footsteps.' I shrank back at that, whatever it meant. 'As for you, Mr Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four of you will receive detentions – yes, you too, Mr Longbottom, _nothing_ gives you the right to walk around the school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor.'

'_Fifty?_' Harry gasped.

'Fifty points _each_,' said Professor McGonagall. My mouth fell open. We'd just lost the lead the score of the last Quidditch match had won us.

'Professor – please –'

'You _can't_ –'

'Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students.'

What happened that night spread very fast the next day when the Gryffindor students saw the difference in the hourglasses that showed the House points. That Harry Potter and some other stupid first years had lost two hundred points in one night. Virtually every Gryffindor turned on him, not to mention all the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who'd been hoping we'd finally beat Slytherin for the first time in seven years for the House Cup. Hermione, Neville and I didn't receive half as many glares, mainly because only the other people in our year knew who we were, but we got our fair share of people not speaking to us. Only Ron stood by him. Slytherins, on the other hand, were thanking him for it. That didn't make Harry feel better. He almost resigned from the Quidditch team because of it but Wood wouldn't let him. To ignore it, we buried ourselves in revision as exams were getting closer.

The only other thing that took our minds off it was that Harry had seen Quirrell run crying from a classroom. It appeared he'd finally given into Snape. There was still Fluffy at least.

'Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid,' said Ron. 'I bet there's a book somewhere in here, telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?'

'Go to Dumbledore,' said Hermione. 'That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure.'

'But we've got no _proof_!' said Harry. 'Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor – who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get through out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining.'

'If we just do a bit of poking around ...' said Ron.

'And get in even more trouble than we already are,' I said. 'I don't know about you, Ron, but I think I can safely say the rest of us want to stay on the good side of Professor McGonagall for the rest of the year. Losing two hundred points in one go – I'd like to stay out of trouble.'

Like that was ever going to happen.

'No,' said Harry flatly, 'we've done enough poking around.'

The following night, Harry, Hermione, Neville and I walked down to the Entrance Hall where we were met by Filch and Malfoy for our detention.

'Follow me,' he grunted. He lit a lamp and led us out into the grounds. 'I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?' he said, a slight tone of enjoyment in his voice. 'Oh yes ... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me ... It's just a pit they let the old punishments die out ... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed .... Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do.'

Filch sounded a bit like a sadist to me. He was definitely taking some glee in all this, even more so when we realised our detention was to be in the Forbidden Forest. At least it was with Hagrid. He greeted Harry, Hermione and I warmly before sending Filch on his way. Malfoy complained as soon as Filch had gone. Hagrid took no sympathy on him.

'If my father knew I was doing this, he'd –'

'– tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts,' growled Hagrid. 'Writin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!'

Malfoy didn't move. With him silenced, Hagrid led us along a path into the Forest. I looked around as we walked down it. The trees loomed over us like even darker than the night sky. Strange sounds echoed all around us making shivers go down my spine. I think this was the first time I was ever properly scared. I followed closely after Hagrid until he came to a stop. At his feet was a large pool of what looked like a silvery liquid. Apparently it was unicorn blood and it was our job to find the creature to put it out of its misery.

'And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?' asked Malfoy, his voice shaking. I was kind of glad to see him shaking.

'There's nothin' that lives in the Forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang,' said Hagrid impatiently. 'An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff''rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least.'

'I want Fang,' said Malfoy quickly.

'All right, but I warn yeh, he's a bloody coward.' The large dog looked sappily up at Malfoy. 'So me, Harry an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, Jenna an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now – that's it – an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll come an' find yeh – so, be careful – let's go.'

I gave Harry and Hermione a pleading look then reluctantly I traipsed after Malfoy. Neville stuck close to me the entire time to the point of him being annoying. The only light we had was from our wands. It flickered along the path illuminating the roots of the trees. The Forest seemed even scarier when Hagrid wasn't here. Beside me Neville was ever so quietly whimpering to himself. All of a sudden he let out a high pitched scream and sent up red sparks into the air. He fell to the ground crying. I span round to see Malfoy laughing his head off having snuck up on him.

'That was really mean of you, Malfoy!' I snapped as we waited for Hagrid to come get us having seen the sparks Neville had sent up.

'Longbottom deserved it,' Malfoy sneered. 'He's a wimp.'

'You weren't so brave yourself when you found out we were coming in here,' I retorted. 'I distinctly remember your voice shaking more than anyone else's when you asked about the monster hurting the unicorns.'

'I wasn't scared,' snapped Malfoy.

'Yeah, right. You're such a coward.'

Malfoy and I glared at each other when we heard Hagrid's loud footsteps stomping over the ground. He asked what happened and I didn't hesitate in telling on Malfoy. Neville merely nodded in confirmation. Hagrid was not impressed. He marched us back to where he'd left Harry and Hermione where he divided us again, this time making Harry go with me and Malfoy. We walked for ages, Harry and I in the lead with Malfoy slinking behind us and Fang trotting along beside us. The path eventually disappeared. After about half an hour we found some more spots of silver blood. Maybe we were getting close. We followed the small pools until Harry threw out his arm to stop us. He raised his wand. There lying on the ground was the unicorn. I gasped when I saw it. It was such a beautiful creature but unfortunately, it was already dead. But then something appeared which made us all freeze.

A tall hooded figure slithered effortlessly over the tree roots towards the unicorn and bent over it. It looked like it was sucking at its neck. Malfoy instantly screamed and ran off. Fang followed, leaving Harry and me alone with the creature. Then Harry let out a gasp and put his hand to his forehead. I didn't have a clue what was happening. The figure looked up at us. It advanced on us. It got closer and closer, drawing itself up. Harry and I backed away but tripped over the large roots on the Forest floor. I thought it was going to kill us when a large shadow jumped over us. It reared up on its hind legs and kicked at the black figure. The figure retreated and flew away. My heart was beating very fast and I was panting in shock. I looked up to see the thing that had saved us was a centaur.

The centaur, a large palomino with white-blond hair and blue eyes, pulled us to our feet and checked we were all right. He introduced himself as Firenze and already seemed to know who Harry was, not that we were surprised. He bent down on his front legs so Harry and I could climb on to his back so he could take us back to Hagrid when another two centaurs Harry seemed to recognise appeared. They were appalled with Firenze's behaviour. What was wrong with it if he wanted to do it? When one of the other centaurs called him a donkey though, Firenze reared up in anger. Harry and I had to grab on to him so we didn't fall off. He shouted back at them before galloping off. We finally slowed again when we got to a denser patch.

'Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?' he asked after a long silence.

'No,' said Harry. 'We've only used the horn and tail-hair in Potions.'

'That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,' said Firenze. 'Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenceless to save yourself and you will have but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.'

'That's horrible,' I breathed.

'But who'd be that desperate?' asked Harry. 'If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?'

'It is,' said Firenze, 'unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something that will mean you can never die. Mr Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?'

'The Philosopher's Stone! Of course – the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who –'

'Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?'

Voldemort. Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone. And Snape was going to get it for him. Harry too realised this and was about to ask Firenze when Hagrid, Hermione, Neville and Malfoy found us. Firenze let us down off his back then galloped off. Harry and I shared a look. We had a lot to tell the others.

We told Hermione and Ron what we'd learnt as soon as we were back in the Gryffindor Tower. Harry paced back and forth across the floor muttering about Voldemort trying to return, despite Ron's protests to call him You-Know-Who. We were all worried but it was Hermione who pointed out the one important thing.

'Who's the one wizard You-Know-Who always feared?' she said. 'Dumbledore! Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, Harry, you're safe. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you.'

The rest of that term and the beginning of the next before exams, Harry continuously worried about the Stone. He was still convinced Snape wanted it for Voldemort but with exams looming, Hermione went crazy and told us we all had to study really hard and that the exams were important because if we didn't pass them then we wouldn't be able to go on to the second year. All were hard, both the practicals and the written papers. All the way through the exam period Voldemort was in the back of my mind but I couldn't help but think that maybe Harry was blowing this a little out of proportion. Voldemort had been gone for ten years. How could he be back?

Harry wasn't convinced though. His scar kept burning and he wanted to know what it meant. It had been doing it quite often now. When we were sitting down by the lake under the beech tree after our last exam, he was rubbing it constantly. Hermione suggested he went to Madam Pomfrey but Harry was adamant. He said it felt like something bad was going to happen, like his scar hurting was a warning. I was quite concerned by this. Harry's scar had never hurt before the entire time I'd known him. Ron, however, wasn't bothered at all, agreeing that what Hermione had said about Dumbledore being here meant that nothing was going to happen. Hermione, Ron and I relaxed while Harry still sat there in thought.

All of a sudden Harry jumped to his feet saying we had to see Hagrid immediately. The rest of us got up and ran after him.

'Don't you think it's a bit odd,' said Harry quickly, 'that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Why didn't I see it before?'

Now I was really confused. So were Ron and Hermione. But we all followed Harry as he ran across the grass to Hagrid's. He was sat outside his hut shelling peas into a large bowl. He greeted us cheerfully and offered us a drink but Harry was in too much of a rush.

'No, we're in a hurry, Hagrid,' he said, 'I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?'

'Dunno,' said Hagrid, 'he wouldn' take off cloak off.' The four of us shared a look. 'It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up.'

'What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?'

'Mighta come up,' said Hagrid, frowning. 'Yeah ... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeep here ... He asked a bit about the sorta of creatures I look after ... so I told him ... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon ... and then ... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buying me drinks ... Let's see ... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted ... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go to any old home ... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy ...'

'Did he seem interested in Fluffy?' asked Harry.

'Well – yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –' Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. 'I shouldn'ta told yeh that! Forget I said it! Hey – where're yeh goin'?'

We were already running back to the castle. We had to find Professor Dumbledore otherwise someone was going to steal the Stone. But none of us knew where Dumbledore's office was. We came to a halt in the Entrance Hall. We didn't know what to do.

'What are you three doing inside?' came Professor McGonagall's voice. We span round to see her standing over us.

'We want to see Professor Dumbledore,' said Harry. 'Immediately!'

'See Professor Dumbledore?' repeated Professor McGonagall. She eyed us suspiciously. 'Why?'

'It's sort of a secret,' said Harry. Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

'Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,' she told us. 'He received an urgent Owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once.'

'He's _gone_?' said Harry frantically. '_Now?_'

'Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time –'

'But this is important.'

'Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?' questioned McGonagall.

'Look,' said Harry, 'Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone –' Professor McGonagall's face paled when Harry said that. The books she was holding fell out of her arms. She hadn't expected that.

'How do you know –?'

'Professor, I think – I _know _– that Sn– that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore.'

'Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow,' said Professor McGonagall finally. 'I don't know what you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected.'

'But Professor –'

'Potter, I know what I'm talking about.' She bent and picked up her books. 'I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine.'

Professor McGonagall walked away.

'It's tonight,' said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. 'Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up.'

'And with Dumbledore gone –'

'Good afternoon.' Hermione was cut off by another cool voice. We spun round to see Snape standing over us. 'Now what would four young Gryffindors be doing in the Entrance Hall. You shouldn't be inside on a day like this.' There was an odd smile on his face as he said that.

'We were …' stuttered Hermione, 'we were just –'

'You want to be more careful,' said Snape smoothly. 'Hanging around like this, people will think you're …' he looked at Harry. He glared back, 'up to something. And Gryffindor can't afford to lose any more points, can they?'

'No, sir,' I answered for us. I gave the others a significant look and we turned to go back outside. Snape called us back.

'Be warned, Potter – any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.'

Snape turned around and walked away, robes billowing behind him.

'Now what do we do?' asked Hermione.

'We go down the trap door,' said Harry. 'Tonight.'

'You guys can,' I said. They looked at me. 'I'm not going.'

'Why not?' asked Harry.

'With the amount of trouble I've got into in my life, it's not worth risking my Uncle finding out and sending me back to the orphanage.' I looked away from Harry. 'Sorry, but count me out.'

I felt really bad for leaving them to deal with this on their own. But it was true. I didn't want to risk Lupin sending me back to The Refuge because I'd broken God knows how many school rules, especially defying a directed order by a teacher. I didn't want to go back there. Never. But my conscience got the better of me.

That night, I heard Hermione get dressed then secretly snuck out of our dormitory. I knew she was going to meet Ron and Harry. I lay awake for about another twenty minutes afterwards, battling whether to tell someone and stop them or just go after them. In the end, I got dressed and headed out of the dormitory and down to the common room.

'I must be out of my mind,' I muttered to myself. I got downstairs when I saw something lying on the ground; it was Neville, lying frozen on the floor. I quickly unfroze him. 'Neville, what happened?' I asked.

'H-Hermione f-froze me,' he stuttered. 'T-they've snuck out again.'

I knew it! I just knew they were going to go after the Stone.

'Stay here, Neville,' I told him before running out of the portrait hole.

Once outside the Tower I didn't know what to do. I didn't have an Invisibility Cloak to hide. But I did have one way. I remembered back to my Mum's letter; it had said how to control my weird Animagus thing she said I had. I concentrated hard on what I wanted to be: Mrs Norris. If I was her, then I could sneak around unnoticed. I closed my eyes and tried really hard but nothing seemed to happen until … my bones began to ache and I felt them change. They rubbed and grinded against each other; my arms and legs shortened and I fell forwards on to my hands; I could feel fur sprout over my face and my clothes change as well. When I opened my eyes, I could see perfectly well in the dark even though I'd lost half the colour sensitivity.

Once my body had stopped hurting, I set off at a run down towards the third floor corridor. It was really weird running on all fours. As I darted down the stairs I had to dodge the ink pellets Peeves decided to fire at me. Well, he did think I was Mrs Norris. As soon as I was there, I ran into the forbidden corridor and towards the door. It was closed.

I changed back (it was a bloody painful thing to do but I got used to it over the years) and carefully opened the door. Fluffy, though asleep, opened one of its pair of eyes. I saw the trapdoor had been torn off, they had obviously been here, and in the corner was a harp. And just at my feet was Harry's Cloak! I grabbed it and stuffed it into my pocket. Then, I took out my wand and pointed it at the harp, whispering, '_Ludus_.'

The strings gently started to pluck themselves like an invisible man was playing it. The open eyes of Fluffy slowly closed and it started to snore. I crept inside and over to the door. I took a deep breath and jumped through the hole in the floor. I fell through the hole and landed on a large, plant-like thing. Rapidly its tendrils started to wrap themselves around me. Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher had told us about this; it was Devil's Snare. Desperately I thought back to that lesson. I had to relax, that was the answer. So I closed my eyes and stopped moving. The tendrils at once loosened and I was lowered into another chamber where I landed on the floor with a thump. There was only one corridor out of the chamber. I got up and walked up the stairs. It led to another room. It had a lot of birds in it I thought at first. But they weren't birds, they were keys! Across the room was another door. In the centre was a broomstick.

'Madam Hooch,' I said to myself. I looked at the keys. 'And Flitwick. Well, might as well try.'

It wasn't fun. The moment my hand touched the broom, the keys started attacking. All but one; it had a broken wing and was rusted and crooked. I chased after it, zooming back and forth in the room. When it was in my grip, other keys still attacking, I jumped off the broom, unlocked the door and ran through it. The rest of them were still thundering at the door as I walked onwards.

The next room was pitch-black when I approached it but flame torches lit up instantly when I entered. Black and white chessmen as high as Hagrid stood on a large chessboard. However, there was a way I could see to get around it without needing to play. This was McGonagall's test. Her subject was Transfiguration. If changing into animals wasn't Transfiguration then I didn't know what was. Calmly, I changed back into Mrs Norris and slinked around the board. They didn't even stop me. Across the other side, I changed again and ran into the next room, smiling. Luckily there were only two left after that; Quirrell's and Snape's. Quirrell's turned out to be a large troll which was already asleep so I didn't have to do anything except sneak past it. Snape's although was tricky. There were seven bottles on a table and a piece of parchment. Purple flames instantly blossomed behind me while black ones started in front. I read the parchment quickly and looked at the bottles. It was a riddle, a simple Muggle riddle. It took me about five minutes to work it out. I grabbed the correct bottle, put the Invisibility Cloak on and downed it, and went straight through the flames. I was in another chamber but so were two other people. Harry and … Quirrell!

Quirrell was talking differently to him. He didn't stutter. It was like he had more confidence and someone was egging him on. Harry stood in front of a large mirror. I stepped quietly towards them as Quirrell spoke to him.

'Well?' asked Quirrell. 'What do you see?' Harry was staring into the mirror. I watched, worried about what would happen.

'I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore,' replied Harry. 'I – I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor.'

'He lies ...' said another voice. It wasn't Quirrell's. It was deeper and raspier. 'He lies ...'

'Tell the truth!' yelled Quirrell. 'What do you just see?'

'Let me speak to him ...' said the other voice, 'face to face ...

'Master, you are not strong enough!'

'I have strength enough ... for this ...'

Who was Quirrell talking to? There was no one else in the room except Harry as he obviously couldn't see me. Next, Quirrell began to unwrap his turban. More and more of his head was exposed. He was bald. But reflected in the mirror was the most horrible, disfigured face I'd ever seen. Its red eyes stared out from the back of Quirrell's head, its slit nostrils flaring.

'Harry Potter,' it hissed.

Both Harry and I froze to the spot.

'See what I have become?' said the face. 'See what I must do to survive? Live off another, a mere parasite ... Mere shadow and vapour ... I have form only when I can share another's body ... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds ... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks ... you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest ... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own ... Now ... why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?'

How did he know that? And how did Harry get the Stone anyway? He was standing there the whole time. Harry appeared to have gotten the same idea. He stumbled backwards away from him.

'Don't be a fool,' snarled the face. 'Better save your own life and join me ... or you'll meet the same end as your parents ... They died begging me for mercy ...'

'LIAR!' shouted Harry suddenly. I jumped.

Quirrell moved so Voldemort's face could still see Harry.

'How touching ...' it hissed. 'I always value bravery ... Yes, boy, your parents were brave ... I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight ... but your mother needn't have died ... she was trying to protect you ... Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain.'

'NEVER!' shouted Harry. Voldemort laughed.

'SEIZE HIM!' snarled Voldemort.

Quirrell instantly flew at Harry and grabbed his wrist. I watched as Harry yelled and tried to break his grip. I wanted to help but there was nothing I could do. Harry yelled in pain. Then all of a sudden Quirrell let go. He hunched over gripping his hand, his fingers blistered and burnt.

'What is this magic?' he cried. His hand was blistering badly, falling apart even.

'Fool!' shouted Voldemort. 'Seize him! SEIZE HIM!'

Quirrell lunged at Harry, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. He grabbed Harry around the neck attempting to strangle him. But once again he pulled back, his hands blistering worse than before.

'Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!'

'Then kill him, fool, and be done' screeched Voldemort.

Quirrell raised his hand, the curse on his lips. Harry ran at Quirrell and placed his hands over his face. It too began to blister. Both Voldemort and Quirrell yelled in pain. In seconds, his whole face had blistered. He pushed Harry away from him but he merely ran at him again, hanging on to his arm as tight as he could. Quirrell yelled in pain, Voldemort all the while screaming for him to kill Harry. Finally Quirrell managed to throw Harry away from him. He fell to the ground and was knocked unconscious. I ran over to him to check he was all right then looked up at Quirrell. Slowly his entire body disintegrated. A black smoke-like gas rose up from the ashes and flew out through the roof of the chamber.

'Harry!' I pulled the Cloak off me and knelt by his side. He had cuts all over his face as well as dirt and ash.

'He will be fine, Miss Black,' said a voice from behind me. It was Dumbledore! Ron and Hermione must had gone and got him or something. I was so relieved to see him. 'Now if you would be so kind, I will need your help getting him back to the castle.'

I nodded. Dumbledore took out his wand and muttered something, making Harry's body rise up off the ground and float in front of us. We walked back the way we came in silence. Thoughts were bursting through my head and one I just had to ask.

'Is Harry going to be all right, Sir?' I asked him. 'He was yelling pretty badly when Quirrell was attacking him.'

'He shall be fine, Miss Black,' said Dumbledore cheerfully. 'A whole and pure soul will always heal itself no matter how damaged it becomes especially when those who care about them are around.'

I just nodded and accepted it, though at the time I had no clue what on earth Dumbledore was on about.

Harry was out of the hospital wing for the last day of term. He joined Hermione, Ron and I at the end-of-year feast and told us quietly what had happened down in the dungeons with Quirrell, though he knew all of the school knew anyway. However, I never told him till a few years later that I'd been there to help as well.

The House Cup still needed awarding so when Dumbledore got up a hush fell over the school.

'Another year gone,' said Dumbledore cheerfully. 'And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts ...

'Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two.'

The whole of the Slytherin table burst into cheer. No other table was cheering. I looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione. We were all pretty annoyed but we had broken the rules and lost points all year so what had we expected?

'Yes, yes, well done Slytherin,' said Dumbledore over the applause. 'However, recent events must be taken into account.'

The Hall quietened. We all looked at each other then back at Dumbledore. The Slytherin smiles faded.

'Ahem, I have a few last-minute points to dish out,' said Dumbledore. 'Let me see. Yes ... First – To Mr Ronald Weasley,' Ron looked amazed when he said his name, 'for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points. Second – to Miss Hermione Granger ... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor fifty points.' Hermione blushed. 'Third – to Mr Harry Potter ... for pure nerve and outstanding courage. I award Gryffindor house sixty points.'

There were applause from the other two tables. I couldn't believe we'd just won one-hundred and sixty points. I looked up at Dumbledore. He was looking back at me. He gave me a slight nod of the head. I knew no one knew of my part in the whole thing, not that I actually did anything. I didn't expect to get any points.

'We tied with Slytherin,' gasped Hermione. Ron and Harry grinned at each other. The rest of the students too were whispering. Dumbledore raised his hand to quieten them again.

'There are all kinds of courage,' he said. 'It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom.'

The Hall suddenly erupted with cheers from three quarters of the students. The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were all cheering that Slytherin had finally been beaten and that Gryffindor had won the House Cup. Hermione hugged me as Ron and Harry jumped up and down in joy. Neville meanwhile had been swamped by people hugging him, his round white face still showing his shock at the whole thing.

'Which means,' finished Dumbledore, 'we need a little change of decoration.'

The banners which had been green and silver and showing the Slytherin snake turned to scarlet and gold, bearing the Gryffindor lion. The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers not to mention Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's. We'd won!

The train journey back to London was a long one though it seemed to go in seconds. We'd all got our exam results and had all passed. With a warning not to use magic outside school in the holidays we were shipped off, watching Hogwarts vanish into the distance and the Muggle towns and villages come to view. While the other three talked I merely stared at the window, already counting down the days till I'd return. When we got to the station Ron told us that we all had to come and visit over the summer. I looked forward to that. Lupin greeted me at the station and we returned home, a place I knew I would be in for the next seven years or so with the knowledge I'd see my best friends in two months back at school. I couldn't wait to go back but I had things to do in the holiday that kept me very busy. And if I thought at that time that was going to be my most eventful school year, how wrong I was …


	7. Summer Challenges, part 1

Chapter 6

Summer Challenges Part 1

The summer after my first year was a busy one. It was only the second day of the holidays when Lupin had got me up and told me he needed to start training me. I'd just groaned and pulled the covers back over my head. The training he had in mind was this Animagus thing I had. Once he'd finally got me out of bed and down in the kitchen he explained to me over breakfast what exactly it was that I had.

'Most people who wish to change into animals become Animagi,' he explained. I was just dozing with my head on my hand, trying to stay awake. I really couldn't be bothered to listen. 'They have to use spells and potions to become ones.'

'Hmm,' I mumbled, pretending to listen.

'You, however,' continued Lupin, louder. My head snapped up and I fell off my chair. He just chuckled. I glared at him and sat back down, completely awake now. 'You were born as one. The technical term is a Feramorph seeing as you are able to transform into any creature, magical or not. Owing to the time the first one was discovered in 1755, wizards didn't know how to react to them so they were classified as half-breeds under the Classification of Beings and Beasts made by the Wizard's Council, later known as the Ministry for Magic, due to the fact that, like with werewolves, they spent most time as human, rarely transforming enough times to be classified as a "beast".'

'So I'm a half-breed according to the eyes of the Ministry?' I asked. 'But then if I _am_ a … a Feramorph, why do you call it a rare-typed Animagus?'

'Studies were done on these Feramorph. It intrigued other wizards and compelled them to research a way for normal wizards and witches to change into animals. In the late eighteen-hundreds, they managed to create a series of complex spells and potions to do so but they could only master transforming into a single animal reflecting the person's personality, each with particular markings.

'They christened this discovery "Animagus", meaning animal magician. When it was created, those scant few who were Feramorphs took the name Animagus as well so as to not draw attention to them, but declared it to be a "rare" form of the potions.'

I nodded. I'd understood that much but it still didn't explain why I was one.

'That's all well and good,' I told Lupin, 'but that doesn't really tell me why I'm one.'

'Because your Mum was,' Lupin replied. 'Your great-grandma was also one. The … gene, I think Muggles call them, skips several generations. The last known rare-Animagus was recorded in 1805. After that, everyone assumed they died out and so gave up registration of them, only registering those attempting the Animagus transformation, getting the animal they change into and their particular markings. Nowadays, it's illegal to do it without registration.'

'And what exactly is it that sets me apart?' I asked.

'Just the ability to change into any animal at will,' said Lupin. He casually took a sip of his coffee. 'There's nothing special about it. You're just able to change your form into an animal's. Tala, your mother, was so adept at it she learnt how to change single parts of her body at a time. Something no doubt you'll learn. The only thing you must remember is that you've got to be willing to transform and willing to change back.'

Apart from the fact under the eyes of the Ministry I was classified as a half-breed, it sounded pretty cool being this "Feramorph" or "rare-Animagus" or whatever you want to call it. I was already thinking about how great it would be to do animal transformations for Harry, Ron and Hermione, and all the cool magical creatures I could change into like phoenixes and unicorns or even a Pegasus.

'There's just one condition,' added Lupin. I looked at him curiously. 'Because of it being such a rare talent, any who are revealed to have it tend to get shunned because of its half-breed status. Your grandma told your Mum the same thing I'm telling you now: you are not allowed to flaunt this nor are you to tell anyone what you are for risk of exposure. Do you understand, Jenna?'

I have to say I was a bit miffed at that moment but I could understand the reasoning. But where there's a will, there's a way. I was pretty sure I could bend this in order for me to have a little fun.

Then again, if people like Malfoy found out what I was, ooh, I shudder to think what he'd do. Blackmail me into doing his bidding in fear of him telling my secret. The annoying thing was that I couldn't tell Harry, Ron and Hermione about it and they were my best friends. Of course, they eventually found out but I'll get to that later.

After thinking about the so called "rules and history" of what I was, I looked up at Lupin grinning and said, 'When does training start?'

I regretted it the moment I said it.

God, Lupin's training was _stir_-rict! Because we lived on the outskirts of London, there were a few fields around Moonlake Cottage. He used these to every advantage. Any creature that lived on land, he made me transform into it (he was looking through _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and some Muggle animal books for inspiration) and then do different tests as that animal or creature. Unicorns, dogs, owls, salamander, Nundu (not Lupin's best idea), you name it, I changed into it.

When it came to water animals and ones that flew, Lupin took me to the beach, again with the same method of training. The way he did the flying as birds though I didn't like. He'd Side-Along Apparated us to Dover and led me to the top of the cliffs. I looked down and instantly took a disliking to what he might be planning. The waves looked pretty fierce from all the way up there.

'Lupin,' I said nervously. 'What exactly are you planning for me to do?'

'Well, birds fly,' he said.

'I know that.'

'And you can't.'

'I know that too. Well, not without a broomstick.' We'd had flying lessons through the first year. I was pretty good at it, if I must say so. Not as good as Harry though.

Lupin put his hand into his backpack and pulled out a broom. I stared slightly. He'd just pulled a full-size broomstick out of a small backpack. That was impossible, wasn't it? It was when he said, 'Now, I'll fly alongside you and catch you if you start to fall.'

'And how am I going to be falling?' I asked him warily.

'Oh, um, like this.'

Next thing I know, Lupin had _pushed_ me off the cliff and I was falling towards the water. A thirty-foot or so drop! I just scrunched up my eyes and thought of the first bird that came into my head. It happened to be a phoenix; I'd been fascinated by them when training started and found them, for some reason, the easiest bird to change into. I felt feathers sprout on my face and the familiar twisting of my bones. Opening my eyes I saw my arms were wings.

'Start flapping, Jenna!' Lupin yelled behind me.

I saw the water getting closer and I was heading straight for it, headfirst. I started to flap the wings I'd just gained but it didn't seem to work. Panicking, I flapped harder. Again, it didn't seem to do anything. With one last attempt as the water was now about five-feet away I flapped as hard as I could. Next thing I knew, I was zooming across the water surface before rising upwards and hovering over the sea. Talk about a rush of adrenaline.

'Nice one, Jenna!' I looked up to see Lupin flying downwards and levelling with me. 'I knew you could do it.'

'_Thanks!_' I shouted at him but all I heard was a caw come from my mouth. Well, I was a phoenix at that time.

'Fly back up to the top!' Lupin shouted. He pointed upwards and headed that way. I followed. However, instead of being all "Wow, that was amazing" I was …

'What the hell did you do that for?' I shouted at him once we were back on the top of the cliff and I'd transformed again. 'I could have died!'

'It's how Tala was taught to fly as a bird,' replied Lupin. 'All these methods were done by your Mum. It's how she would have wanted you to be trained.'

He was being casual? Casual?! Honestly, if I wasn't eleven years old at the time and was able to do magic outside of Hogwarts I would have hexed his arm off. Still, without Lupin's training from what he'd seen my Mum do all those years back I wouldn't be able to transform as easily as I can now. It's a painful process until you get used to it.

The majority of my holiday was taken up with this training but there were still other things to do. It was a holiday full of learning. I learnt so much in the space of two months about the wizarding world and what happens in it. I was amazed how Muggles coped without magic. I also learned more about my family.

I saw loads of pictures of my Mum and Lupin's family. My Gran had the same long hair as me and my Mum (it was now nearing my waist, all one length) but hers was auburn. Lupin looked a lot like Granddad but his eyes were blue like mine. Lupin's were brown. Oddly there were no photos of my father and his family. Was Lupin hiding them from me or something? Or did my father just not exist to him? There was this one guy who kept appearing and _did_ look familiar but he was just in photos from when they were at Hogwarts. And when I asked Lupin about it he changed the subject by going off and making a cup of tea (something he did a lot of).

When he disappeared I went upstairs to my room with the photo album and pulled out the picture of my Mum and Dad I'd got before I was adopted. I looked at the two photos. The man in both of them … they looked very alike, only a few years difference I guessed. Before I could do anything about it though, Lupin came into my room and found me looking at the two photos. He seemed to pale when he saw the one of Mum and Dad in my hand with the other he'd shrugged off.

'Time we packed up those photos,' he said casually, taking it out of my hand and snapping the book shut. 'Best put these away so they don't get damaged.'

'Lupin!' He stopped and looked at me. I wanted to ask him whether the younger man was the same as the one with my Mum, however, words failed me. 'Thanks for showing me my family,' I said instead.

'No problem, Jenna,' he replied.

I knew that was not the time to ask him about my Dad. For some reason it appeared to be a very sensitive subject to him. But I wasn't going to let the subject drop. Lupin knew something, I knew he did, I could tell. And no matter what it took I was going to find out who my father was.

Nearing the end of July, Lupin took me back to Azkaban. Instead of giving me another few lessons in transforming into animals, Lupin told me we were taking a trip out. Though curious, I didn't ask where. But it was Azkaban. It was the second time I'd gone there. And again, Lupin had left me in the courtyard.

It wasn't as cold as last time but I still felt like something was chilling my bones. And it wasn't long till I caught the attention of an unwanted guest. It was a Dementor. Instantly I felt my heart sink and I knew in a matter of seconds I'd be hearing my mother's voice again, seeing her death yet again. Why did they like me so much? It didn't take long. The rattling breath came … so did the cruel, cold laughter …

'_You're pathetic, Black! Your magic is no match to ours!'_

'_No, I won't just give up_.'

_'You will have to learn! Crucio!_'

Screams … painful screams …

'_Had enough yet?_'

'_Peter, why are you doing this? The Marauders _–'

'_Ha! Those losers. Never did they appreciate me, always mocking me._'

'_They never did, you were their friend. But now you show your true colours and not those of Gryffindor._' The woman's voice was getting weaker. Her time was shortening. I wanted to help her. I knew any moment the man with the cruel laugh would kill her. I wanted to scream for someone but I knew no one would hear me, not with the Dementor doing what it was doing to me. I just remained crouched on the ground, my hands covering my ears, crying.

'_Give it up, Black!_ _Your pitiful spells will not defend you against three Death Eaters! Let us kill you easily or die trying._'

'_Then I'll die trying._'

'_So be it. Regulus, end this woman's unworthy blood traitor life._'

'_Regulus, please don't do this …'_

'_You'll pay for your insubordination. Avada _–_!_'

'Mum!'

I didn't realised I'd screamed that, let alone what I did afterwards. I'd passed out again.

-o-

'Are you ready to give back the necklace?' said Lupin quietly, his back against the cold wall. Black was listening in his cell.

'It's all I have left of my wife,' said Black heavily. He didn't have the energy or strength to stand up and speak to Lupin properly. 'You knew how much I loved her. Why do you want to take that away from me too?'

Lupin looked up at Black through the bars, hidden in the shadows.

'And what about me, her own brother?' he asked him. 'You knew how close to her I was. How do you think I felt, having my sister taken from me? Not a year later, my niece lost as well? I never got to say goodbye.'

'Neither did I. And Jenna's my daughter. Do you not think I regret what happened to her? She was all I had left.' There was a brief silence before Black spoke again. 'Why are you here, Moony? Why do you come for answers you'll never get?'

'For the sheer chance I _will_ get the answers I seek,' replied Lupin. 'The answers to the questions I've been asking for years. Why Tala? Why kill her, what had she done? Who even killed her? Would I ever be able to tell my niece the truth … if I ever found her,' he added. He did not want Black to know she was alive.

No emotion penetrated Black's appearance or his physical being. Inside, however, thoughts of depression, regret, guilt and pain stabbed at every nerve, every sense, and every fibre of his body. Did Remus not think he asked himself those same questions every night since he first came to Azkaban? Even more importantly: was Jenna even alive?

'You might as well leave, Moony,' said Black finally. 'Like you said last time; the necklace rightfully belongs to Jenna. If I ever see her again, if she's even alive, I will give it to her. For now … I'm keeping it.'

Lupin let out an angry sigh and stalked off out of the castle. Black had always been too arrogant for his own good even when they were at school. When Black and his sister had got together they were inseparable and so to this day he'd been asking himself why. Why his best friend of ten years at the time would go to the dark side and let his wife, _his_ sister, die? He did not have time to think of that. When he reached the courtyard he found Jenna yet again collapsed on the cold stone. A Dementor was floating over her but unlike last time, it couldn't get to her. Standing over her was a large white horse. It seemed to look at Lupin for a second before rearing and chasing the Dementor away.

'Hooves,' Lupin mumbled, unable to believe what he could see. 'But how –?' Jenna couldn't produce a Patronus. She was only eleven, how could she make a full corporeal one? She didn't even know the incantation.

Lupin ran over to Jenna and carefully picked her up in his arms. She was ice cold and her skin was very pale. The Dementors were having a worse effect on her. Lupin knew he shouldn't have brought her with him after last time but he didn't want to leave her at home alone. But he also didn't want her to meet Black so he wouldn't bring her in. Looking up Lupin saw the white horse beside him, gazing down on her. He smiled.

'Always protecting her,' he said to it. Lupin gave a nod of his head and the Patronus vanished, before he Apparated them away from the prison.

-o-

My head was pounding when I woke. I felt even weaker than last time, as if my magic had been drained, not just them trying to take my happiness. Beside me on my bedside table was a huge block of chocolate which I went for straight away, taking a large bite in order to regain some of my strength. As I did so, there was a knock at the door and Lupin stepped in.

'How are you doing?' he asked. I couldn't speak quite yet and so I just nodded at him, eating my chocolate. 'Make sure you finish that,' said Lupin firmly. 'The Dementors got you worse this time.'

I nodded again and swallowed the chocolate, going for another piece. With that in hand, I braved repeating to Lupin what had gone through my head when the Dementors had been near me.

'I saw Mum again, and the people who killed her,' I mumbled. Lupin looked at me, almost expectantly. 'I saw the man with white hair and the others. They were much clearer. One was shorter and rounder than the others, the other lean. One of them had short black hair and his eyes were cold. He was wavering behind them, nervous about what they were doing.'

'Go on.' Lupin was listening to what I said very carefully. Something had obviously clicked in his mind from what I'd said. As if I'd spooked him or something.

'I could hear what they said. One of them mocked what Mum said … about the Marauders, whatever they are.' I didn't notice Lupin become startled by this. I didn't realise at the time what it meant. 'Another was going to be punished for not killing Mum.' I looked up at Lupin, tears in my eyes. 'I wanted someone to help her, to help her myself. No one did. I screamed but no one heard me.'

'I suggest you don't dwell on this,' said Lupin kindly. He came and sat on my bed beside me. He ran his hand over my cheek and smiled. 'I was worried about you but you seemed to have it under control.'

'I did?' I asked him, confused.

'Somehow, even I don't know how, you produced a Patronus,' replied Lupin. What was one of those? Lupin continued when he saw my face. 'A Patronus is a sort of positive shield which gives Dementors something to feed on instead of a person. It explains why you're so drained of energy. I'm not sure how but you managed to produce a full, corporeal Patronus and it protected you. And what intrigued me most was the form it took.'

'What was it?' I asked.

'A horse,' said Lupin. 'The exact same one your mother used to transform into when she'd help me with my … "furry little problem".' Lupin let out a chuckle as he said that. 'I guess Tala will always be around to protect you.'

That was the first time I produced a Patronus. I was pretty surprised as well as Lupin. I hadn't done any of the things that you had to do to produce a Patronus; I hadn't thought of anything happy, I hadn't used my wand, I hadn't used a spell. How could I have done it? I spent the rest of July and the beginning of August thinking about that, and what I'd heard and seen in my head. The one thing that did make me happy was the fact its form was like my Mum, like she would always be with me.

My twelfth birthday came (and so did Harry's, I sent him a card) and so did my letter from Hogwarts. When I looked at it I saw that virtually the whole list was made up of books by this guy called Gilderoy Lockhart. I'd heard of him. Apparently every witch who'd read his books was in love with him or something. I personally couldn't see why. He looked like an airhead.

By the end of the holidays, I received a letter from Ron saying he hadn't heard from Harry all summer and was going to attempt to rescue him with the help of his brothers, Fred and George, and a flying car of some sort. I wrote back saying be careful. I bloody hoped they would be. I also got a letter from Hermione asking if I was able to go to Diagon Alley and meet up with her and the others on the Wednesday before school started. I wrote back saying it was all right and I'd meet her there.

All in all I had a pretty good summer what with its surprises and challenges. I was able to transform into dozens of animals quite easily, I had somehow produced a corporeal Patronus, but I still wasn't any wiser about my father. I wanted to know who he was more than anything now. It wasn't until the following summer that I finally learnt who he was, something that turned my world upside-down.


	8. A New Year with New Troubles

Chapter 7

A New Year with New Troubles

I met up with Hermione and her parents on the last Wednesday of the holidays. Lupin had dropped me off at the Leaky Cauldron that morning (it was that time of the month) with a letter for Hermione's parents asking them if they could take me the last few days of the holidays. I met up with them just before lunch and was introduced by Hermione. I gave them the letter and they said they were happy to have me to stay even though it was short notice. I gave my thanks and sent Gizmo with a note for Lupin with their address to send my trunk over to their house. With that done, Hermione and I went to get some money from Gringotts so we could buy what we needed for the new school year. I knew I needed to restock my potions kit from the apothecary and I had to pop into Eeylops to get some more Owl Treats for Gizmo. We were just about to go into Gringotts when I spotted a very sooty looking Harry with Hagrid striding along beside him. He looked like he'd been in a fight with a Salamander.

'Harry!' shouted Hermione. 'Harry! Over here!' We ran through the crowd over to him. He smiled broadly when he saw us.

'It's so good to see you, again,' I said, giving him a hug. It was strange not seeing him all the time like I used to when I was in the orphanage.

'It's great to see you too,' said Harry.

'What happened to your glasses?' Hermione had started talking insanely fast like she always did when she was excited. 'Hello, Hagrid ... Oh, it's _wonderful_ to see you two again ... Are you coming to Gringotts, Harry?'

'As soon as I've found the Weasleys,' he replied. That's right; he'd been staying at Ron's recently. Sure enough, all the male Weasleys were running towards us.

'Harry,' panted Mr Weasley. 'We'd _hoped_ you'd only gone one grate too far ... Molly's frantic – she's coming now.'

A plump woman with bright orange hair the same as the rest of the Weasleys came running through the crowd, a girl with the same hair as her being dragged along beside her. So this was Ron's mum and little sister. Well I could see the family resemblance at least. She instantly began sweeping off the rest of the soot on Harry's clothes, gasping when she heard Harry had been found in Knockturn Alley. Wow, were all mothers like her? Mr Weasley repaired his glasses for Harry and handed them back. With Harry now safe with us, Hagrid turned and walked off. We then returned up the white stone steps of Gringotts to get our money out. On the way Harry began to tell us how he'd seen Malfoy and his father in a shop called Borgin and Burkes, catching the interest of Mr Weasley if Malfoy's dad had bought anything. He was instantly distracted though when Hermione's parents appeared and he found out they were Muggles.

'We must have a drink!' he said delightedly, shaking Mr Granger's hand. 'What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!' He pointed at what I recognised as a ten pound note. 'It's paper money.'

I glanced at Ron as we all watched this exchange. He merely shrugged.

After a very bumpy and sickening ride down to my vault, then the Weasley vault, then Harry's, I was glad when we were finally back in the main building and on solid ground. We rejoined Hermione and her parents where we separated again, the various Weasleys going off to buy what they needed and Mr Weasley taking Hermione's parents to the Leaky Cauldron, and we were to meet up in an hour's time in Flourish and Blotts. Our first stop was Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where Harry bought us all some ice cream we ate as we walked down the street window shopping. As we past Quality Quidditch Supplies, we had to drag Ron away from gawping at the Chudley Cannons robes he'd seen. We bought all the things we needed apart from our school books then stopped off in Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke shop where we saw Fred and George with their friend Lee Jordan buying No-Heat Fireworks. I'd learnt over the previous year that the trio were quite the pranksters. I wondered what they were going to do with those. We also found Percy, the third oldest Weasley, in a junk shop looking very interested in a book about _Prefects Who Gained Power_. He instantly shooed us away.

At one o'clock, the four of us returned to Flourish and Blotts and met up with the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione's parents. There was a book signing being held there today by none other than Gilderoy Lockhart, that bloke who'd written practically all the books on our booklist for that year. Hermione got all giggly about it. When we got there, there was a whole crowd of witches pilling in through the entrance. We slide our way through them to where the Weasleys were at the front, grabbing a copy of _Break with a Banshee_ as we past.

'Oh, there you are, good,' said Mrs Weasley, rounding us up to stand with her and Ginny, Ron's little sister. She seemed quite breathless and kept fiddling with her hair. I peered round Hermione's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about.

A man with a horribly cheerful grin sat at a table at the back of the room, dozens of smiling and winking pictures of himself surrounding him. Dressed in blue robes, his wavy blond hair was slicked back and he was dazzlingly all the witches with a perfect white smile. Just in front of us a man with a camera was taking even more photos of him. I raised my eyebrow. I didn't think it was possible but Gilderoy Lockhart looked even more like an airhead in person. Suddenly he looked up when he heard Ron mutter something when the photographer stood on his foot.

'It _can't_ be Harry Potter?'

Harry looked at Ron, Hermione and me. Next moment, Lockhart had dived at us and pulled Harry beside him. There was more applause from the witches gathered there. Poor Harry turned bright red to rival Ron's hair. I actually felt quite sorry for him at that moment. When Harry tried to escape, Lockhart pulled him back.

'Ladies and gentleman,' he said loudly. Even his voice sounded smarmy. I must have been the only witch standing there who didn't find him at all amazing. 'What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time.

'When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free f charge –' the crowd clapped again, 'he had _no idea_ –'

_He'd be dragged up to stand next to a smarmy git?_ I thought to myself._ I'll say he didn't_.

'– that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book _Magical Me_. He and his school fellows will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that, this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!'

He was what? My mouth fell open. Beside me, both Ginny and Hermione squealed in delight while the rest of the crowd applauded his "generous" announcement. I couldn't believe I was going to get taught how to defend myself by that airhead. Regardless of what his books said he'd done, Lockhart looked like he couldn't teach a cat how to meow, let alone a whole school of students how to defend themselves. I just shook my head. Harry finally managed to get away from Lockhart. He dumped his free set of books in Ginny's cauldron before going to find his own copies.

'Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?' Harry, Ron, Hermione and I looked up to see Malfoy walking down the stairs from the upper level of the shop. '_Famous_ Harry Potter,' he sneered. 'Can't even go into a _bookshop_ without making the front page.'

'Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!' said Ginny, glaring at him.

'Potter, you've got yourself a _girlfriend_!' drawled Malfoy. Ginny instantly turned as red as her hair.

'Oh, it's you,' said Ron. 'Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?' I didn't know what he meant by that.

'Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley,' retorted Malfoy. 'I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for that lot.'

Ron too went red and Harry, Hermione and I had to hold him back from lunging at Malfoy. Malfoy grinned. Just then the tip of a staff with a snake's head appeared on his shoulder.

'Now, now, Draco, play nicely,' said a man with a cool voice.

Shivers instantly ran down my spine when I heard it. I looked up to see who had spoken only to come face-to-face with an older version of Malfoy. A man with long white-blond hair and a pointed face with the same sneer as Malfoy stood at the door, his grey eyes observing all of us. He wore expensive black robes from the look of it along with the cane in his hand. The flash of green passed across my eyes again when I saw him, the man with the long white hair from my dreams. It was him! He was the one who killed my mother: Malfoy's father. I couldn't believe I was standing in the presence of my Mum's murderer. Mr Malfoy's eyes landed on Harry.

'Mr Potter … Lucius Malfoy, we meet at last,' he said to Harry. 'Forgive me.' He pulled Harry closer and ran the staff tip over his forehead, pulling back his hair to see the scar. 'Your scar is legend. As of course is the wizard who gave it to you.'

'Voldemort killed my parents,' said Harry calmly. He pulled his hand away from Mr Malfoy. 'He was nothing more than a murderer.'

'You must be very brave to mention his name,' said Mr Malfoy, a small smile on his lips, 'or very foolish.'

'Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself,' said Hermione.

'And you must be Miss Granger,' said Mr Malfoy, turning to face her. 'Yes, Draco's told me all about you. And your parents … Muggles, aren't they?' That was when his cold eyes turned on me. I felt my heart stop. 'Now who do we have here?' he asked slowly.

He lifted his walking cane so it was under my chin, raising my face so he could look at it, the snake handle digging in. Harry and the others were watching. I knew they could tell something wasn't right at the way I had paled.

'Well, well, if it isn't Tala's daughter,' said Mr Malfoy silkily. He was smiling. 'Such a pity, to die at the hands of three Death Eaters at such a young age.' I saw Harry look at me curiously. He didn't know what a Death Eater was nor how my Mum had died. 'Such a surprise also to see you looking so lively …'

I pulled my face away from his staff. I could feel myself shaking and was trying desperately to hold back the urge to lash out at him shouting, 'Of course you know she's dead! You killed her! You murdered my mother!'

'Let me see,' continued Mr Malfoy. 'Red hair, vacant expressions … You must be the Weasleys.'

At that moment, Ron's dad appeared with Fred, George and Percy.

'Children!' he called. 'What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside.'

'Well, well, well – Arthur Weasley.'

Mr Weasley stared at him, replying stiffly, 'Lucius.'

'Busy time at the Ministry, I hear,' said Lucius Malfoy. 'All those raids … I hope they're paying you overtime.' He reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out one of the books to examine it. 'Obviously not. Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it.'

'We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy,' replied Mr Weasley.

'Clearly,' said Mr Malfoy, his eyes wandering to where Hermione's parents were. 'The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower.'

What happened next happened so fast I nearly missed. Mr Weasley lunged at Mr Malfoy, knocking books off the shelves on top of them as he went. Ginny's cauldron was knocked to the floor as the others and I got out the way. Mrs Weasley was shrieking 'No, Arthur, no!' behind us while Fred and George were cheering him on. The shop assistant was going frantic to try and separate them. Hagrid then appeared and pulled them apart. Mr Weasley had a cut lip while Malfoy's dad has been hit in the eye by a book.

'Here, girl,' he snarled, thrusting Ginny's book at her, 'take your book – it's the best your father can give you.'

He pulled himself out of Hagrid's grip then left the shop. Malfoy gave us all one last smirk then followed after him.

'Yeh should've ignored 'im, Arthur,' Hagrid told him firmly, putting Mr Weasley back on the floor. 'Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now – let's get outta here.'

We left the shop, Mrs Weasley beside herself with fury while Hermione's parents were white as sheets. They'd never seen a ten foot tall man, had they? After that we returned to the Leaky Cauldron and said our goodbyes before going our separated ways, Harry and the Weasleys into the fireplace, me and Hermione and her parents to the Muggle side of London. We returned to her house which in itself was very nice, large but not too large if you know what I mean. The few days I spent there were so much fun. Hermione's parents were the nicest Muggles I ever met.

Before I knew it, it was September first. We had to leave Hermione's house quite early that morning so as to get through the London traffic, not to mention allow time for Mr Granger to attempt to unload both our trunks and hand a panicky Gizmo to me. We got to King's Cross with plenty of time to spare. We strode up the platform towards the barrier hiding platform nine and three-quarters, passing through it without any of the Muggles noticing. Hermione's parents said goodbye to us when we'd got our stuff on the train then left us to wait for Ron and Harry to arrive. We saw the various Weasleys appear through the barrier to the platform but no Ron or Harry. Where were they? If they weren't careful they'd miss the train. We waited the final ten minutes but neither of them appeared. Mrs Weasley was frantic with worried but still bustled us on to the train while Mr Weasley went to look for them. The whistle went and the train pulled away from the station.

'What are they going to do?' I asked Hermione. 'How are Ron and Harry going to get to Hogwarts now? The train's gone and won't be back until tonight.'

'I'm sure Mr Weasley will find a way for them to get there,' said Hermione. 'It was just so irresponsible of them to miss the train in the first place.'

The train journey was pretty uneventful for the majority of it. Hermione and I were joined in our compartment by Ginny and we spent most of the time talking and getting to know her. She was very interested in how we knew Harry, her cheeks pink when she asked about him. She also chatted quite happily about where she lived with her family, a house they'd named The Burrow. It was when she mentioned the flying car that my attention was diverted.

'Ginny, what colour is your dad's flying car?' I asked, looking out the window.

'Blue,' she said.

'Is it by any chance a Ford Anglia?'

'Yeah, why?'

I watched as a blue Ford Anglia car dipped down from the clouds then disappeared into them again with Ron and Harry in the driver and passenger seats. I looked away and sat back down in my seat.

'No reason ...'

Darkness had fallen when we arrived at school. Ginny left us at the station to go with the other new first years up to the school by boat with Hagrid. Unsure what we had to do, Hermione and I followed the rest of the students to where some carriages were waiting to take us up to school. Hermione was very impressed at the magic which made them go by themselves. But they weren't. I did a double take when I saw a pair of white eyes staring out from the darkness belonging to a weird black horse of some sort. It had large see-through wings that let in the light from the lamps above us and its entire body looked emaciated, its skin literally stuck to the bones.

'Hermione, can you see that?' I asked, tugging the sleeve of her robe.

'See what?' she said impatiently. 'Come on, Jenna, there's Neville and Seamus. Let's get in the carriage with them.'

Hermione couldn't see them, nor could a lot of the students by the looks of it. I looked at the strange creatures for another minute or so then got in the carriage with the others. I pushed the image of the creatures to the back of my mind, not wanting to think about it.

I'd never realised just how dull the Sorting Ceremony was for all the other students. To think, this time last year I was being Sorted while others had to wait. Now it was my turn, I kind of empathised with them, especially those as impatient as Fred and George. All the Weasleys, however, were waiting for Ginny to be Sorted. Her time finally came at the end of the list and like everyone else in her family, she was Sorted into Gryffindor. She came and joined the rest of us and we enjoyed the feast the school provided. During dinner Harry and Ron still hadn't turned up. I glanced up at the table to see if Hagrid had gone to get them but he was merrily chatting with Professor Flitwick. Professor Snape, however, wasn't there, nor was Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. I guess that meant Harry and Ron had been found and were in deep trouble.

We finally found Harry and Ron when we returned from dinner. The pair of them both looked rather beaten up. What had they done this time? Hermione took no sympathy on them, saying there'd been rumours flying around about them crashing a flying car. Those weren't rumours though as confirmed by Harry, much to Hermione's alarm. The rest of the Gryffindor House were much more impressed and the two of them were greeted by applause when they entered the common room. Only Hermione and Percy, who was sitting in the corner amongst the celebrations, weren't pleased. It was definitely wise of them to escape up to their dormitories early before either of them got their hands on them. Hermione just groaned, '_Boys!_' as we went to bed.

Hermione was still in a mood with them the next morning when they joined us at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She kept her head behind her copy of _Voyages with Vampires_. I gave them a small smile but continued silently with my bowl of cereal. It was the only silence we were going to get that morning. As soon as the post came Ron found he had a rather nasty surprise waiting for him. Their family owl, Errol, came swooping into the Great Hall and crash-landed rather spectacularly into the jug, spraying us all with milk. The bird then collapsed in a bedraggled heap on the table.

'_Errol!_' groaned Ron. 'Oh no –!'

'It's all right, he's still alive,' said Hermione, prodding him gently with her fingertip.

'It's not that – it's _that_.'

'What's the matter?' asked Harry.

'She's – she's sent me a Howler,' said Ron faintly.

A blood red letter was clasped in Errol's beak. Cautiously Ron took it from him. Next second the owl flew off as if nothing had happened. Other people started to look round and notice the letter which had started smoking.

'Look everyone!' shouted Malfoy. Oh great, he'd noticed. 'Weasley's got himself a Howler.' A chuckle went round the Hall.

'You better open it, Ron,' urged Neville. 'It'll be worse if you don't. My Gran sent me one once, and I ignored it –' he gulped, 'it was horrible.'

Harry didn't know what a Howler was. I didn't either but his question was answered seconds later. The minute Ron opened red envelope Mrs Weasley's voice rang through the Hall magnified at least ten times so loud I had to cover my ears. I just stared at the moving letter, hopping about in front of Ron. I could understand why it was called a Howler.

'_RONALD WEASLEY!_' it shouted in Mrs Weasley's voice. '_HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR, I WOULDNT HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT GONE!_

'_WE WERE HORRIFIED WHEN WE RECEIVED THAT LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUHGT YOU FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED!_

'_I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AND INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!_'

What surprised me most was when the letter turned down the table and added, in a much softer tone, '_Oh and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor, your father and I are so proud._'

It finished by sticking out its ribbon-like tongue at Ron before bursting into flames, landing as ash on the table. A ringing silence followed. Around us some people were laughing quietly to their friends before the noise of talk finally started up again. Ron groaned and let his face drop on to the table.

'Don't tell me I deserved it,' he warned Hermione when she turned to him.

We got our timetables for the year shortly afterwards and left the Get Hall for Herbology first period out in the greenhouses. Most of the class were gathered there waiting for Professor Sprout when we arrived. She came striding along a few moments later with a pile of bandages in her arms. I wonder what she'd been doing with the bandages when she looked after plants. Gilderoy Lockhart was with her, much to my dismay, strolling along very leisurely beside her. Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones of Hufflepuff instantly started giggling. I cringed and move behind Ron to make sure I wasn't noticed. The last thing I wanted was to have to talk to him before it was necessary.

'Oh, hello there!' Lockhart called cheerfully. 'Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow!' Yeah? What did he know about plants? 'But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several exotic plants on my travels ...'

'Greenhouse Three today, chaps!' said Professor Sprout over him. I saw the impatient look on her face. Perhaps I wasn't the only one not taken in by Lockhart's charms. I hastily followed the class into the greenhouse.

Harry slipped in a few minutes later and stood next to me. I raised an eyebrow at where he'd been. The look on his face told me Lockhart had been involved. In front of us were loads of large pots and several pairs of earmuffs. Professor Sprout explained that we would be re-potting Mandrakes. Hermione managed to earn Gryffindor ten points for her correct answers to Professor Sprout's questions before she gave us a demonstration on how to re-pot a Mandrake. She instructed us to put on a pair of earmuffs and we weren't allowed to take them off until she said. She rolled up her sleeves and pulled one of the pots towards her then, grasping the tuft of leaves sticking out it, pulled the ugliest plant out of the soil ever. It looked like a brown wrinkled baby with roots for feet and its scream was so loud! I was very glad I was wearing the earmuffs. Opposite me, Neville fainted

'Hmm, looks like Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs,' muttered Professor Sprout having put the plant into a new pot.

'No, Professor, he's just fainted,' said Seamus.

'Ah well, just leave him there then,' she said, 'Four to a tray – there is a large supply of pots here – compost in the sacks over there – and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it's teething.'

I just gaped at how lax she was about it.

The four of us worked together to re-pot the two trays of Mandrake seedlings that we had by the end of the lesson. Professor Sprout briefly stopped us all so she could tell Ernie Macmillan that he should stop worrying about getting dirt on his shirt. While we waited for her to give us the all clear to start again, another Hufflepuff boy by the name of Justin Finch-Fletchley had to lean over and borrow our trowel to get some more compost. He didn't hesitate in taking the break to introduce himself to us.

'Know who you are, of course,' he said, 'the famous Harry Potter ... and you're Hermione Granger – always top in everything ... and Ron Weasley. Wasn't that your flying car? Sorry, I don't know your name though.'

He knew who all of us were apart from me which I was kind of glad about. I introduced myself then walked off to get another tray of seedlings. When I got back he was still talking to them.

'My name was down for Eton, you know, I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course, mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun t see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family.'

We had Transfiguration straight afterwards. We had to change a beetle into a button and I wasn't the only one having trouble after the summer holidays. I didn't have it as bad as Ron though; his wand had been broken during his and Harry's stunt the day before and was being held together by Spellotape. It kept sparking and wouldn't have a single effect on the beetle sitting on his desk. At lunch Harry told him to write home for a new one but Ron didn't want to, muttering he'd probably just get another Howler. Harry changed the subject and asked what we had after lunch.

'Defence Against the Dark Arts,' she replied instantly. She'd memorised it?

'_Why_,' demanded Ron, snatching her timetable, 'have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?'

Hermione snatched her timetable back, blushing.

Things certainly didn't improve for us when we went outside for lunch break after we'd eaten. We'd taken refuge in the corner of the courtyard only to be found by a small mousey-haired boy staring at us with a camera in his hands. Harry, Ron and I shared a look then looked at him. The boy went bright red. Timidly he walked up to us.

'All right, Harry? I'm – I'm Colin Creevey,' he rushed. 'I'm in Gryffindor, too.' And judging from his size, he was a first year. He was tiny. 'D'you think – would it be all right if – can I have a picture?'

'A picture?' said Harry blankly.

'So I can prove I've met you,' said Colin eagerly. 'I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You Know Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll _move_.' He took a breath. 'It's _brilliant_ here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you – maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?'

'_Signed photos?_ You're giving out _signed photos_, Potter?' Great, just what we didn't need, Malfoy to turn up. 'Everyone queue up!' he yelled to anyone in the courtyard. 'Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!'

It appeared that Harry, Ron and Malfoy couldn't go five minutes without getting into a fight. Ron made to draw his wand on Malfoy but he merely taunted him about the Howler from this morning. For what was going to be the only time I was going to be thankful to see him, Lockhart turned up and he would put an end to the argument before it escalated seeing as he was a teacher. But all he was interested in was posing for a photo with Harry and signing it himself! I couldn't believe it! Harry's face had turned as red as it had back in Flourish and Blotts. The only good thing was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had slunk away. The bell went and Colin scurried away. We unfortunately had no choice but to walk with Lockhart to class as we had him next, not that Hermione minded. She just listened as eagerly as Colin had spoken to Harry to Lockhart's every word.

'Let me just say that handing out signed pictures at this stage of your career isn't sensible – looks a tad bigheaded, Harry, to be frank. There may well come a time when, like me, you'll need to keep a stack handy wherever you go, but –' he chuckled, 'I don't think you're quite there yet.'

I walked ahead into the classroom and took a desk near the back. The day Harry became like Lockhart would be the day I went around saying I didn't know who he was. Never going to happen. Harry and Ron followed suit and sat near the back with me, Seamus, Dean and Neville. Hermione was right at the front next to Susan Bones. Both were looking googly-eyed at Lockhart. After his introduction of himself having "Order of Merlin, Honorary Member, Most Charming Smile" – whatever! – "Professor" Lockhart began handing out several sheets of parchment to each of us. It was a test, on him of all things, to see how well we'd read his books. I'd glanced at them but given up after about the first chapter of each because all he talked about was himself. He was so egotistical.

'Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered my favourite colour is lilac,' he said half an hour later, looking through our answers. 'I say so in _Year with a Yeti_. And a few of you need to read _Wanderings with Werewolves_ more carefully – I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magical and non-magical peoples – though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky!'

Unsurprisingly Hermione got the top mark. I just found that quite sad that she'd learnt virtually everything about him like she did every other subject when there was nothing amazing about him, as he proved when he set loose a whole bunch of Cornish pixies. Seamus was beside himself in hysterics when he pulled the cover off his cage; even I had sniggered a bit at that. But the moment he opened the cage door, all hell broke loose. The pixies shot in every direction creating havoc in the classroom. They shredded books, tore pictures from the wall, flew through the windows showering glass over all of us, upended the chairs and desks, and even hung Neville from his cloak on the candelabra in the ceiling.

Lockhart was useless, 'Come on now, round them up, round them up, they're only pixies!' Yeah, like that was going to happen. We were all running about to try and avoid getting hit by a flying book. Lockhart took out his wand. '_Peskipiksi Pesternomi_!'

The spell had absolutely no effect. Not one of the pixies stopped terrorising us. Instead they took his wand from him and threw it out the window before going for one of his numerous portraits that was hung by his desk at the front of the room. Lockhart was more preoccupied at saving his portrait than stopping them. The bell rang. There was a mad rush for the door. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were the last to escape. Lockhart spotted us.

'I'll just leave you four to round them up,' he said and he ran into his office.

'What?' I shouted. A pixie grabbed my hair and pulled. I pointed my wand over my shoulder and sent it flying. 'How on earth are we meant to round them up? There's too many of them.'

'I don't know,' snapped Ron. He too was ducking as a pixie hit him with a book. 'Why doesn't Hermione do something? He's her hero!'

Hermione rolled her eyes and took out her wand.

'Jenna, _Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two_, chapter four,' she told me. She got up and ran to the opposite end of the classroom to me while I tried to remember which spell was on that page. 'Ready?' she called.

I nodded. I left my cover and the pair of us shouted, '_Immobulus!_'

Two invisible bangs burst from our wand tips. The pixies suddenly froze so that they were floating around in midair. Immobulus Charm: immobilises your foes in whatever position they're in. Very handy when in a tricky situation. With the pixies frozen we got Neville down from the candelabra then collected them all and put them back in their cage. Once we were out of the classroom Ron instantly started complaining by shouting, 'Can you believe him?

'He just wants to give us some hands-on experience,' said Hermione casually.

'_Hands on?_' repeated Harry. He, Ron and I looked at each other. 'Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing.'

'No half decent teacher would leave four twelve year old wizards to clean up the mess they'd made,' I added.

'Rubbish,' she said tartly. 'Read his books. You'll see all the amazing things he's done.'

'He _says_ he's done,' muttered Ron.

Things didn't really improve for any of us. Lockhart's classes were a joke; Potions was as bad as always and Snape had certainly come back with a vengeance having been beaten to the House Cup by Gryffindor the previous year; Charms and Transfiguration were the most bearable as we were actually able to have some fun in class, as long as we didn't go too far in front of Professor McGonagall; and Malfoy was still taking delight in taunting Harry about Lockhart and his fame. At least Harry was able to escape all this once in a while as the second week of term meant Quidditch practice was starting again for him. Of course, the moment Colin Creevey found out he was on the Quidditch team, Harry looked pleadingly at Ron, Hermione and I to keep him out of trouble as he tried to get pictures. He'd got us up as well on Saturday morning to watch his practice with him, much to our dismay.

'Why do we have to get up?' I moaned from my bed, pulling the sheets over my head when Hermione shook my shoulder.

'Someone's got to keep an eye on Colin,' said Hermione tiredly. She pulled on her jumper. 'Angelina said he's already following the boys down to the pitch after Harry. Even Oliver wants to keep him out of the way.'

Begrudgingly I got up and got dressed. I still wasn't fully awake when the three of us got down to the Quidditch pitch. The Gryffindor team was already there but hadn't started yet so we took a seat in the stands with our slices of toast. I pulled the hood up on my coat and tucked my hands in my sleeves. It was really cold and misty out there. In a matter of moments, the practice was stopped as seven people dressed in green robes walked on to the pitch including one with suspiciously familiar white blond hair. It was the Slytherin Quidditch team. Ron, Hermione and I shared a concerned look. This wasn't going to be good. Quickly we went down to the pitch.

'Oh look,' said Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain. 'A pitch invasion.'

'What's happening?' Ron asked Harry. 'Why aren't you playing? And what's _he_ doing here?'

'I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley,' said Malfoy smugly. Ron glared at him. 'And that's not all that's new this year. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team.'

Each member of the Slytherin team was holding the same shiny black broom. Ron's mouth fell open.

'Those are Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones,' he said. 'How did you get those?'

'A gift from Draco's father,' grunted Flint. I actually backed away slightly when I caught sight of his teeth. He really did look like a troll.

'It's the very latest model,' said Malfoy smoothly. 'Only came out last month. Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, two. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives, I expect a museum would bid for them. You see, Weasley, unlike you, my father can afford the best. Good, aren't they?'

The Slytherin team laughed.

'At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in,' said Hermione sharply. '_They_ got in on pure talent.'

The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered.

'No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,' he spat.

Several people gasped, including Ron and me. I couldn't believe Malfoy had just called Hermione that. It was such … such a horrible name. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell were all shouting at the Slytherin team; Flint had blocked Fred and George from getting at Malfoy. Ron, whose ears had turned bright red, plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out his wand, yelling, 'You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!' pointing it at Malfoy under Flint's arm.

There was a loud bang. Ron's wand backfired and he was thrown ten feet backwards on the grass. Harry, Hermione and I ran over to him.

'Ron!'

'Ron! Are you all right?' squealed Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth on to his lap. Just watching it made me feel sick. The Slytherin team were in hysterics. Colin too had come down from the stands to see what all the commotion was about. The moment he saw the slugs Ron was belching up, he wanted yet another photo. Harry pushed him out the way and between the three of us we managed to get Ron down to Hagrid's hut. He'd know what to do about this. Ron belched up slugs all the way there making it harder for us to get him there from all the slime. We also had to hide for a few minutes to avoid Lockhart offering to help out. He's was walking away from Hagrid's when we got there. Once inside we got Ron into a chair while Hagrid rooted around for something in the back of his hut.

'This calls for specialist equipment,' he said. He came back and plonked a bucket on Ron's lap. Yes, special equipment, he says. 'Better out than in,' he said cheerfully. 'Get 'em all up, Ron.'

'I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop,' said Hermione anxiously. 'That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand ...'

'Perhaps now you'll write home for a new one,' I finished for her. Ron sent me a half-hearted look, then stuck his head back in the bucket as another slug came up. Eww.

Harry was curious to why Lockhart had been round. Hagrid explained he'd been giving him advice on getting kelpies out of a well. It was quite weird to hear Hagrid criticise a teacher; he usually spoke so highly of them, even Snape which was saying something.

'He was the _on'y_ man for the job,' said Hagrid. He offered us a plate of treacle tart. I declined fully aware of what Hagrid's cooking had been like in the past. 'An' I mean the _on'y_ one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me,' said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron, 'who was he tryin' ter curse anyway?'

'Malfoy called Hermione something,' said Harry. 'It must've been really bad, because everyone went mad.'

'It _was_ bad,' said Ron hoarsely. His throat must have been really dry from bringing up all those slugs. 'Malfoy called her "Mudblood".' Ron disappeared again behind the bucket.

'He didn'!' growled Hagrid. He looked at Hermione.

'He did,' she said. 'But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course ...'

'It means "dirty blood",' I explained for Harry. I glanced at Hermione. She'd recoiled at what I said. 'Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born, someone with non-magic parents. Someone like Hermione. It's not a term one usually hears in civilised conversation.'

'It's about the most insulting thing he could think of,' gasped Ron. 'There are some wizards – like Malfoy's family – who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood.' He burped up another slug and threw it into the basin. 'I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference. Look at Neville Longbottom – he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up.'

'That's a bit harsh, Ron,' I said, folding my arms. 'Neville's just got a confidence problem.'

'He can't do the simplest spell, Jenna,' burped Ron. 'Us pure-bloods aren't any better than Muggle-borns.'

'An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do,' said Hagrid proudly.

'It's a disgusting thing to call someone,' said Ron. It looked like he was taking this more than personally. 'Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's mad. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out.'

'Well I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron,' said Hagrid. 'Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble.'

'I don't really think that would stop him,' I muttered quietly. He murdered my Mum for no reason.

The conversation took on a lighter note when Hagrid joked about not getting a signed photo from Harry. Harry wasn't impressed. He then showed us the pumpkins he'd been growing in his vegetable patch. They were quite impressive but Hermione pointed out that he'd used and Engorgement Charm on them.

'That's what yer little sister said,' said Hagrid to Ron. 'Met her jus' yesterday. Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house.' He winked at Harry. My eyebrow arched. 'If yeh ask me, _she_ wouldn' say no ter a signed –'

'Oh shut up,' grumbled Harry. I smirked.

We got back to the castle in time for lunch where we ran into Professor McGonagall. She informed Harry and Ron of their detentions; Ron was to be cleaning the silver in the trophy room without magic with Filch, while Harry had the pleasurable task of helping Lockhart answer fan mail. I so pitied Harry at that moment. What could be worse than answering Lockhart's fan mail and having to put up with _him_ for a few hours while you did it? It put the pair of them off their lunch, not that Ron ate much anyway. Their detentions were to be that night so at eight o'clock, Harry and Ron left Hermione and I in the common room and sloped off to their detentions.

'Those two shouldn't be making such a fuss,' she said, returning to her Charms essay. 'They deserve it.'

'As you've reminded them every time the subject's come up,' I said.

'If you break the rules –'

'– you deserve the punishment.' Hermione had said this so many times in the past, I knew it off by heart now. 'You know, one day you'll be the one encouraging us to break the rules,' I said casually. Hermione gave me a sharp look.

'That'll be the day,' she huffed.

Hermione and I managed to get most of our homework done over the next few hours as we waited for the boys to return. Time slowly ticked away and the common room began to empty as it got later and later. By ten o'clock only the sixth and seventh years were left. In our corner, Hermione was deeply involved in her copy of _Gadding with Ghouls_ while I absently bewitched my quill to draw shapes on a spare bit of parchment.

'_Come … come to me … let me rip you … let me tear you … let me kill you …_'

I jumped, my quill dropping on to the floor.

'Hermione, did you hear that?' I asked. That voice had been so – so cold, I felt like I was near a Dementor again.

'Hear what?' she asked. I stared at her.

'Nothing, I must've imagined it,' I muttered. Hermione returned to her book. I glanced round the common room. No one else appeared to have heard the voice. 'Or at least, I think I did.'

October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madam Pomfrey was kept busy by a sudden spat of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepper Up Potion worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterwards. Quite a few Gryffindors were seen with smoke around them in the common room including Neville and Ginny; it was hard to miss the steam pouring from her ears as it made her look like her whole head was on fire with her red hair. Rain hammered the castle windows for days making it virtually impossible to go outside during break and being confined to the common room started to get to me after a while. I needed some exercises desperately and I was so bored. Though, if it was between not doing anything and keeping dry, and going out on a broom in this weather and getting soaked like Harry and the Quidditch team were doing, I knew which I'd choose.

I couldn't help but sniggered slightly when Harry traipsed into the common room after practice on Thursday night. His messy hair hung limply around his face and his glasses were spattered with water; his clothes were practically hanging off him from the amount of water they'd soaked up and were leaving a wet trail along the carpet. He sent me a look as he went up to his dormitory to get changed. He came back ten minutes later in dry clothes, his hair even wilder than before having towel dried it.

'What is it with you and your hair?' I laughed upon seeing it. 'In all the years I've known you, your hair has never looked neat. What do you do with it?'

'Nothing,' said Harry. 'You know it's always been like this. It's not my fault.'

'Ah, what is more attractive than the "just come through a bush backwards" look,' I said sarcastically.

'Putting that aside,' said Harry, 'I've got something to tell you. Nearly Headless Nick's invited us to his Deathday Party.'

'A Deathday Party?' said Hermione keenly. 'I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those – it'll be fascinating!'

'Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died?' asked Ron. 'Sounds dead depressing to me ...'

'No pun intended,' I added.

'So d'you think we should go?' asked Harry. Across the common room, a series of loud bangs and sparks sounded from a Salamander Fred and George were feeding Filibuster Fireworks to. 'It'd be rude of us not to.'

'I think we should,' said Hermione. Ron and I looked at each other thinking the same thing. We kind of had no choice in the matter now, did we?

Nick's Deathday Party turned out to be on Halloween which meant that Harry had succeeded in making us miss the Halloween feast in the Great Hall that night. Even he seemed to be regretting it now. Hermione reminded him that we'd promised to go and so at seven o'clock that night we walked past the Great Hall and down the steps that led towards the dungeons. The passageway that lead to Nick's party had been lit with candles but instead of looking cheery, they were long, thin, jet-black candles with blue flames casting dark shadows over the stone walls. In the distance I could hear something that sounded like fingernails down a blackboard. With each step I wanted to be there even less and less. We turned the corner and there was Nearly Headless Nick standing in a doorway with black velvet drapes over it.

'My dear friends,' he said in a mournful tone, 'welcome, welcome ... so pleased you could come ...'

We weren't. Nick bowed us into the chamber. It didn't look much nicer inside. There were hundreds of ghosts gathered for the occasion making the room freezing cold and at the far end of the room, a table had been set up with plates full of smelling, rotten food which the ghosts passed through as if they were eating it. This was not pleasant.

'Careful not to walk through anyone,' Ron whispered to us.

We edged our way round the ghosts as best we could. But then Hermione and I saw someone we didn't want to see. There was this girl ghost called Moaning Myrtle who haunted the girls' bathroom on the first floor making it impossible for you to go to the toilet in peace. You couldn't even say anything without making her start to cry. The toilet had been put out of order earlier in the term because she kept flooding it. We managed to avoid her until we ran into Peeves who yelled over to Myrtle to come over to us. Hermione and I instantly hesitated. We did our best not to set her off but Myrtle was so sensitive, she was in floods of tears in second.

I was so glad when we finally left the Deathday Party. We were only there for about an hour but all four of us were shivering by the time we left. We backed out of the chamber and headed back up to the Entrance Hall in hope that there'd still be some pudding left at the end of the feast.

'... _rip_ ... _tear_ ... _kill_ ...'

I froze. It was that cold voice again. Harry too had stopped beside me, looking around. He was standing with his ear pressed to the wall, looking up and down the passageway. Hermione asked what he was doing but he told her to shut up.

'... _soo hungry_ ... _for so long_ ...'

'Listen!' said Harry.

'... _kill_ ... _time to kill_ ...'

It was getting fainter. It seemed to be moving. Harry dashed off. Ron, Hermione and I followed. I couldn't hear the voice any longer as we reached the Entrance Hall because of the noise coming from it. Harry didn't stop. He continued all the way up the marble staircase to the first floor where Harry turned sharply into a corridor.

'Harry, what are we –'

'SHH!' He put his ear to the wall again. 'It's going to kill someone!'

OK, now this was getting weird, even for wizarding standards. Harry ran off again up another flight of stairs and round the entire of the second floor looking for this voice. We finally came to a stop in an empty corridor. Harry looked round avidly as if he was still searching for something. I looked down when I felt something soak into my socks to see we were standing in a large pool of water. There was something shimmering in its reflection. I peered at it while Ron asked what was going on but Hermione's gasp stopped him. She pointed at the wall where something was shinning on its stone, the same thing I'd seen in the water. Big, dripping, dark red words had been written between the two windows, shimmering in the torchlight.

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED  
__ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE_

'That's not paint,' I said nervously. 'That's been written in blood.'

But it was what was hanging underneath it which truly scared us. Frozen, hanging by its tail in a torch bracket was Mrs Norris, Filch's cat. She was as stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring. I stared at her unable to believe what I was seeing. We all just stood there until Ron had the idea to get out of there. It was the best suggestion I'd heard all night.

'Shouldn't we try and help –' said Harry.

'Trust me,' said Ron. 'We don't want to be found here.'

But it was too late. A rumble of footsteps told us that the feast had just ended and the students were making their way to the changing staircases to go back to their common rooms. From either end of the corridor where we stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs. Voices filled our ears as we tried to think how to get out of here before they found us. The noise they were making died out as soon as they saw us. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I stared around at all of them as they stared back at us and at the wall. The silence was awful.

'Enemies of the heir, beware!' shouted Malfoy's voice. I saw him craning round to see us. He had a smirk on his face. 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!'

'What's going on here? What's going on?'

Filch came pushing through the crowd, no doubt wondering what all the noise and commotion was about. He hated it when students blocked the corridors. He glared at the four of us before his eyes spotted his cat hanging by her tail in the torch bracket. His eyes shot to Harry and instantly he lunged at him in a rage.

'_Argus!_'

The four of us span round to see Dumbledore standing in front of the crowd with many of the other teachers. His eyes surveyed the scene before him.

'Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately!' he said loudly. We all turned to leave when he added, 'Everyone except you four.' Damn it! 'Come with me, Argus. You to, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Black.'

'My office is nearest, Headmaster,' said Lockhart.

'Thank you, Gilderoy,' replied Dumbledore.

We followed silently along the corridor to Lockhart's office. In there, Dumbledore examined Mrs Norris' body for a few minutes before standing up. It turned out Mrs Norris had been Petrified, regardless of whatever crap Lockhart was spouting as he floated around uselessly. By what, Dumbledore didn't know. Filch was in tears. I watched feeling immensely awkward. Of course, it didn't take long for Filch to point the finger again at Harry.

'He did it, he did it!' Filch spat. 'You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found – in my office – knows I'm a – I'm a – He knows I'm a Squib.'

What that had to do with the whole situation, I didn't know, nor how Harry even knew that. He instantly objected to the accusation.

'If I might speak, Headmaster,' said Snape, stepping out from the shadows. 'Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time,' he said smoothly. I stared at him. Was he serious? 'But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?'

We looked at each other.

'Because – because –' Harry struggled for an answer, 'because we were tired and wanted to go to bed.'

'Without any supper?' queried Snape. There was a triumphant tone in his voice. 'I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties.'

'We weren't hungry,' said Ron. His stomach disagreed though.

'We'd lost our appetite,' I added. 'The smell kind of put us off.'

Snape's smile widened.

'I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.

'Really, Severus,' said Professor McGonagall. 'I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong.'

McGonagall and Dumbledore were the only ones on our side and at long last we were allowed to leave. We didn't hesitated to leave and made our way quickly back up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower.

'D'you think I should've told them about the voices I heard?' asked Harry us on the way.

'No,' said Ron straight away. 'Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world.'

'You do believe me, don't you?' asked Harry.

'Course I do,' said Ron quickly. 'But – you must admit it's weird ...'

'I know it's weird,' said Harry. 'The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? _The Chamber has been opened_ ... what's that supposed to mean?'

'You know, it rings a sort of bell,' said Ron slowly. We stopped on the stairs. 'I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once ... might've been Bill ...'

'But what does it mean?' I asked. Ron shrugged.

'And what on earth's a Squib?' asked Harry. Ron snorted.

'Well – it's not funny really – but as it's Filch ... A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he might be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much. He's bitter.'

Just then, a clock chimed somewhere.

'Midnight,' Harry said. 'We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else.'

All that was talked about for the next week or so was the fact Mrs Norris had been Petrified and this "Chamber of Secrets" had been opened. No one could talk of anything else. Before every lesson and in the corridors you could hear people whispering about it. It didn't help people also thought Harry was behind the attack, increasing the stares. Many had been affected by it in different ways: you could tell who were the Muggle-borns in the school as they all edged away from Harry whenever they passed him; Ginny looked very pale whenever Mrs Norris was brought up in conversation around her; and Hermione, though it wasn't unusual to see her head in a book, was doing nothing but reading for the following week. It wasn't until Wednesday night when we were in the library with her doing our homework that we found out.

She'd been trying to find a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ so she could do what everyone else was doing and try to find information on the Chamber of Secrets. She'd read the book so many times but she couldn't remember what it had said about the Chamber. Ron let out a moan and asked Hermione if he could borrow her History of Magic essay so he could finish his. She wouldn't let him. The bell rang and we packed up our stuff to go to History of Magic.

History of Magic had to be the dullest subject ever. Professor Binns, the ghost who taught it, was the most monotonous person I'd ever met; he'd fallen asleep in his chair then got up to teach his next class leaving his body behind. He hadn't even realised he'd died. The most exciting that ever happened in class was when he entered the room through the blackboard. Today was no different and I spent most of the lesson watching my quill take notes. I'd bewitched it to do so, so that I didn't have to. Warlock Conventions didn't really spark my interest.

'... and so, the warlocks decided,' he droned on. 'This was the start of – er, yes? Do you have a question, Miss – er –?'

The entire class looked round to see Hermione sitting with her hand up. I think that was the first time that had ever happened.

'Granger, Professor,' said Hermione. 'I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets?'

Dean, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender's head came up off her arms and Neville's elbow slipped off the desk; my quill fell still on my parchment when I looked up and beside me, Harry and Ron stopped playing hangman on their parchment.

'My subject is History of Magic,' he wheezed. 'I deal with _facts_, Miss Granger, not myths and legends.' He attempted to resume his previous thread but Hermione put her hand up again.

'Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis of fact?'

Professor Binns looked at her in amazement.

'Well,' he said slowly, 'yes, one could argue that, I suppose.' He examined Hermione for a moment. 'However, the legend of which you speak is such a very _sensational_, even _ludicrous_ tale ...'

It didn't matter. All the class was listening.

'Oh, very well. Let me see ... the Chamber of Secrets ...

'You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.

'For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeing out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be education. But then disagreements sprang up between them. a rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more _selective_ about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.

'Reliable historical sources tell us this much,' continued Professor Binns, 'but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.

'Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and us it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic.'

A silence followed. Professor Binns looked at us.

'The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course,' he said. 'Naturally the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible.'

Hermione's hand went back in the heir.

'Sir – what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?'

'That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control.'

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I shared a look. After last year, we knew not to take legends and myth so lightly. We didn't know what to believe about the Chamber. In the end we went back to the corridor to see if we could find anything that might give us some clues. There wasn't much, only some scorch marks as if something had been burnt. The only other thing was a long trail of spiders escaping out of a window, not that Ron had a problem with that. I didn't know he was scared of them because Fred had turned his teddy bear into one when they were younger. We even went and had a look in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to ask if she'd seen anything but we didn't get much out of her. All we got was Percy reprimanding Harry and Ron for being in a girls' bathroom.

'Five points from Gryffindor!' snapped Percy. 'And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more _detective work_, or I'll write to Mum!'

Ron was in a mood for the rest of the day, his Charms essay getting the brunt of it when he accidentally set it alight. Hermione too was frustrated but for a different reason.

'Who can it be, though?' she asked. 'Who'd _want_ all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?'

'Let's think,' started Ron sarcastically. 'Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?'

'If you're talking about Malfoy –' said Hermione.

'Of course, I am!' said Ron. 'You heard him. "_You'll be next, Mudbloods!"_ Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him –'

'I heard him. But Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?'

'Look at his family,' said Harry, closing his book. 'The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin, he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough.'

'They could have had a key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!' said Ron. 'Handing it down, father to son ...'

'Well,' said Hermione cautiously, 'I suppose it's possible ...'

'Hang on, you guys,' I said. 'He's not the only one whose family could have been in Slytherin for generations. There's no evidence to point the finger at anyone.'

'Jenna's right,' said Harry. 'There's no evidence so how do we prove it?' He hadn't heard anything I said, had he?

'There might be a way,' said Hermione. She glanced over at Percy across the common room; he was in discussion with a fellow sixth year. 'Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect.'

'When's that ever stopped us before?' I asked.

'If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?' said Ron. Hermione glared at him.

'All right,' Hermione huffed. 'What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realising it's us.'

'But that's impossible,' said Harry.

'No, it's not,' corrected Hermione. 'All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion.'

Hermione was kidding, right? We couldn't do that! We'd get in so much trouble, even for our standards.

'What's that?' asked Harry and Ron.

'Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago,' explained Hermione. 'It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into three of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him.'

'This Polyjuice Potion stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me,' said Ron, frowning. 'What if we were stuck like three of the Slytherins forever.'

'It wears off after a while.' said Hermione, 'but getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called _Moste Potente Potions_ and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library.'

'Which means we've got to trick a teacher into signing a note for us to get it,' I said. There was no way we could pull this off. No teacher was going to give us permission to check out that book. Or at least, no teacher we couldn't suck up too ...

'Professor Lockhart?'

The four of us waited after class on Monday morning to speak to Lockhart. We waited for everyone else to disappear before we approached him. He was sat down at his desk humming merrily to himself. Hermione did the talking.

'I wanted to – to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading.' She held out a piece of paper. Lockhart took it. 'But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it – I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in _Gadding with Ghouls_ about slow-acting venom ...'

Lockhart was more than willing to sign our permission slip once Hermione poured on the charm (not that she didn't anyway) and he signed the paper with a flourish of his peacock quill. His writing was as flamboyant as he was. He hadn't even read it to see what book it was we were checking out; I was pretty sure _Moste Potente Potions _wasn't going to help us understand slow-acting venom. With the note signed, the four of us hurried out the classroom and up the stairs to the library. Ron had to wrench the note out of Hermione's hand so Madam Pince could check it. She disappeared behind the doors of the Restricted Section then came back a few minutes later with the book. Hermione carefully put it in her bag and we left the library, taking refuge in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where we knew we wouldn't be disturbed.

Hermione thumbed through the pages.

'Here it is,' she said excitedly. I glanced over her shoulder.

'"_The Polyjuice Potion_",' I read out loud. '"_Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another. A dangerous process, the Polyjuice Potion is restricted to human transformations only. _". It sounds painful if you ask me.'

'This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen,' muttered Hermione, reading the ingredients list. 'Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed and knotgrass. Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves. Oooh, look, powdered horn of a Bicorn – don't know where we're going to get that ... Shredded skin of a Boomslang – that'll be tricky, too – and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into.'

'Excuse me?' said Ron. 'What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking _nothing_ with Crabbe's toenails in it ...'

'We don't have to worry about that yet, though,' she said, 'because we add those bit last ...'

'D'you realise how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione?' said Harry. 'Shredded skin of Boomslang, that's definitely not in the student's cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't if this is a good idea ...'

'I may have lifted the odd chocolate bar from a cupboard before,' I said, agreeing with Harry, 'but even I never pushed it when I lived at The Refuge. Matron would have killed me if I'd stolen anything, not that she didn't think I couldn't do it if I wanted to.'

Hermione snapped the book shut.

'Well, if you three are going to chicken out, fine,' she said, her cheeks flushed. '_I_ don't want to break rules, you know. _I_ think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in ...'

'We didn't say that,' I retorted.

'I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules,' said Ron. 'All right, we'll do it. But not toenails, OK?' Hermione nodded.

'How long will it take to make, anyway?' asked Harry.

'Well, as the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days ... I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients.'

'A month?' gasped Harry. 'But Hermione, Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then.'

'We know,' I said bracingly. 'But it's the only plan we've got.'

Harry sighed, 'When do we start?'


	9. Snakes, Spiders and Secrets

Chapter 8

Snakes, Spiders and Secrets

The following Saturday was the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. It seemed a bit of a running gag now that Harry's first Quidditch match always left him worse for wear. Last year, it was Professor Quirrell (our old Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher) jinxing his broom. This year, it was a rogue Bludger which had decided to chase Harry all around the pitch no matter how many times Fred and George hit it at one of the Slytherin players. Slytherin managed to get an early lead by sixty points before Wood called a timeout. Ron, Hermione and I watched worriedly beneath Hagrid's pink umbrella from the stands as Harry flew about wildly to try and avoid the Bludger. We had to stop Ron using his wand to stop it. All of a sudden Harry shot off; it looked like he'd seen the Snitch floating behind Malfoy. Unfortunately the Bludger got him first and almost unseated him from his broom. Next second he flew straight at Malfoy who, in his utter stupidity, went careering in the opposite direction and Harry caught the Snitch with his unbroken arm. He landed with a heavy thud in the mud by the goalposts.

'Let's go!' I told the other two. We ran down the steps to the pitch with Hagrid and over to where Harry was. He was still dodging the Bludger. I drew out my wand and yelled, '_Finite Incantatem!_' The Bludger came to a sudden halt and fell with a splat on the ground, Fred and George instantly jumping on it to stop it moving.

'Harry, are you all right?' asked Hermione worriedly.

'No, I – I think my arm's broken,' he replied.

By now several others had run from the stands to see what was happening. Wood had to drag Colin away from getting a photo while Lockhart bent down beside Harry.

'Lie back, Harry,' said Lockhart, pulling out his wand. 'It's a simple charm I've used countless times.'

'Why can't I go to the hospital wing?' complained Harry.

'He really should, Professor,' said Wood, then adding, 'Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say.'

'Stand back,' commanded Lockhart in what I assumed was an impressive voice. He really was a complete idiot.

'No – don't –' said Harry.

Lockhart had done the spell before Harry had a proper chance to object. There was a slight glow but when it had stopped, Harry's arm did not look right; it was all ... floppy.

'Ah, yes,' said Lockhart, his voice not as confident as it had been. 'Well, that can sometimes happen.' He picked up Harry's arm. It instantly flopped to one side. Harry gawked at his arm. Lockhart took his hand and bent it back, the entire arm folding in half then springing back again. What had he done to it? 'But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind.'

'Broken?' growled Hagrid. 'There aren' any bones left!'

'Well, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing – ah, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Black –' Lockhart looked at us, 'would you escort him? – and Madam Pomfrey will be able to – er – tidy you up a bit.'

Ron and Hermione helped Harry stand while picked up his broom. We stopped at the changing room to collect Harry's clothes then walked all the way back to the castle and to the hospital wing. When we got there, Madam Pomfrey was not impressed, giving us a lecture on how he should have been brought straight to her. As Ron helped him get into some pyjamas he started to argue with Hermione again over her standing up for Lockhart's stupidity. She was still adamant about him. Madam Pomfrey came back a few minutes later with a bottle of Skele-Gro in her hand which I could tell didn't taste nice by Harry's face when he drank it. The rest of the team joined us a while later with some cakes and sweets but the moment Madam Pomfrey saw them she shooed us all out.

Instead of going back to the Gryffindor Tower with the others for the customary celebratory party that we'd won the match, I went to the library. Though I hadn't heard it recently, I was still worried about that voice I'd heard; both Harry and I had heard it but no one else appeared to, Harry being able to detect and follow it better than I could. Once there I went straight to the history section to search for anything on Feramorphs to see if it would give me any clues. I spent ages there flicking through numerous books. It was pitch dark when I gave up. I didn't find very much more than what Lupin had originally told me. The only information I found was that these people were supposed to be more in-tune if you want with animals, understanding and feeling emotion from them more than a normal wizard would. It still didn't explain it for me. That was when I heard it again.

'_Blood … I need blood …_'

It stopped almost as soon as it started. It was still the same though, a cold rasping voice. Seeing there were very few students left in the library I decided it was best to give up for the night and I returned to the Tower.

The next morning Ron, Hermione and I were already busy even though it was Sunday morning. We'd gotten an early breakfast while most of the students were still in bed before sneaking up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom while no one was around. Hermione and I began digging around in our bags for the various things we'd collected for the potion while Ron just watched.

'Enlighten me,' he said, looking at me and Hermione while she lit a fire under the cauldron. 'Why are we brewing this potion in broad daily … in the middle of a girls lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught?'

Hermione and I smirked at each other.

'No,' I said. 'No one ever comes in here. You know that, Ron.'

'Why?' he asked. Hermione and I looked at him; just poking her head out a cubicle door was Myrtle. She already had tears welling up in her eyes. 'I know this is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and such but she can't be that bad, can she?'

'Can't be that bad, can I?' she shrieked. Ron jumped and spun round. Myrtle floated over us and above the sinks. 'It's just like you boys! Humph! I wouldn't expect you to know me. Who would ever talk about ugly, miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle!'

With that, she let out a high-pitched scream and dived head-first back into a toilet, splashing water everywhere. Let's just say from then on, Ron was a little more cautious about her.

Harry found us in there about an hour later. Hermione and I were sitting round the cauldron we'd set up on the floor while Ron was poking around the cubicles when he found us. The first thing he said to was about last night; he started to tell us about Colin Creevey getting Petrified last night but Hermione cut him off, explaining we'd heard Professors McGonagall, hence why we were starting the potion. Ron believed Malfoy had taken Slytherin's loss at the match out on Colin. There Harry mentioned something else; apparently he'd gotten a visit from a house-elf named Dobby who had told him it had been his rogue Bludger that had chased Harry at the Quidditch match. Strange, I'd never heard of a house-elf doing that. They were meant to be very obedient creatures. He did have one interesting piece of information.

'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened _before_?' said Hermione curiously.

'This settles it,' said Ron triumphantly. 'Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's seen it sneaking round the school.'

'Maybe it can make itself invisible,' said Hermione. 'Or maybe it can disguise itself – pretend to be a suit of armour or something. I've read about Chameleon Ghouls ...'

'You read too much, Hermione,' said Ron. He then turned to Harry. 'So Dobby stopped us getting on the train and broke your arm ... You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life he's going to kill you.'

'I'm not sure it's a Chameleon Ghoul,' I said, going back to our previous conversation. I gave the potion a stir now Hermione had added the lacewing flies. 'A creature that Petrifies people and can somehow hide itself. Loads of creatures can disguise themselves as a defence mechanism but not many have the ability to Petrify someone.'

'How do you know so much about creatures?' asked Harry.

'My Uncle,' I shrugged. 'He's a bit of a creature fanatic. He did Care of Magical Creatures when he was here.'

'D'you think he'd know what creature's in the Chamber?' asked Ron hopefully. I shook my head.

'I doubt it,' I said. 'He wasn't at Hogwarts _that_ long ago. He's only thirty-two.'

'Wow, your uncle's young,' said Harry. 'I think my parents are meant to be about that age too. Maybe they knew each other.' I shrugged again.

'Maybe they did, who knows.'

The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the school by Monday morning. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though they would be attacked if they go separated. Fred and George didn't help the situation; whenever they saw Ginny in the corridor, they'd jump out at her with fur and boils over them, scaring the daylights out of her. Under the nose of the teachers, the students began selling various talismans and lucky charms to anyone who would buy them. Neville certainly had been taken in by them until someone pointed out that he was a pure-blood so the creature wouldn't go after him.

'They went for Filch first,' said Neville, 'and everyone knows I'm almost a Squib.'

December came and the four of us signed up for staying over the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately the potion was only half done. We still needed the Boomslang skin and the Bicorn horn. The only way to get them was steal it. That Thursday's Potions lesson, Harry and Ron created a diversion which gave us enough time to get what we needed. Hermione was to do it but I stopped her, assuring her I had a little more experience when it came to these things plus it was better if I got in trouble than her. I did; the number of times I'd snuck to the kitchens when I was at The Refuge, I lost count.

With Hermione's signal, I left my Swelling Solution simmering like it should and went over to the student store-cupboard at the back of the class near the door to Snape's office. I search around in it and waited for the distraction. From behind me I heard a loud bang telling me that Fred's Filibuster firework Harry had borrowed had exploded. In all the commotion that ensued Snape was too busy cleaning up the mess I quickly ran into Snape's office. The room was as dank as the dungeon with shelves and shelves of jars full of various pickled things. I managed to get the ingredients and snuck back to my seat as Snape roared, 'SILENCE!' We'd got the stuff. I had to hold in a laugh when I saw Malfoy with his swollen nose.

'If I ever find out who threw this,' Snape hissed, holding up the gone-off firework, 'I shall _make sure_ that person is expelled.'

'He knew it was me,' said Harry as we left class. 'I could tell.'

We went back to the bathroom. I gave Hermione the ingredients I'd pinched and we added them to the potion.

'It'll be ready in a fortnight,' said Hermione.

With that done we then had to sneak out of there being careful not to be caught by Filch who was lurking nearby.

The following week a notice was put up announcing that a Duelling Club was going to be started and all were invited to attend. It was to be that night after dinner at eight o'clock. Intrigued, the four of us decided to go. When we got back to the Great Hall the long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles. It looked like the majority of the school had turned out to come to the Club. Everyone was grasping their wands and talking excitedly with their friends. It was just our luck that Lockhart was doing it.

'Gather round, gather round!' he called, striding up and down the platform. 'Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!'

Hermione pulled me to near the front of the crowd so we had a better view. I reluctantly let her. Harry and Ron joined us. Lockhart pulled the cord holding his cloak and took it off and threw it into the crowd; several girls attempted to catch it, Angelina being the lucky one.

'Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works.

'Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape,' Lockhart continued. 'He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry – you'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him, never fear!'

When Lockhart said "short demonstration", he meant it. And it wasn't losing our Potions teacher we should have worried about, it was losing him. Once they'd bowed to each other, and a lot of twirling on Lockhart's part, they turned and walked away then raised their wands like a pair of swords. The moment Lockhart said "three" he was blasted back off his feet by Snape's charm. He smashed into the wall and slid down it, slumped on the floor.

'D'you think he's all right?' gasped Hermione. The Slytherins were laughing their heads off.

'Who cares?' said me, Harry and Ron at the same time.

'Well, there you have it!' said Lockhart shakily. He stumbled back to the centre. 'That was the Disarming Charm – as you see, I've lost my wand – ah, thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see ...'

_What a windbag_, I thought. Snape obviously thought the same thing.

'Enough demonstrating!' Lockhart then said. 'I'm going to come amongst you now and put you into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me ...'

Snape instantly approached where we were standing and split us up. Ron got paired with Seamus; Hermione got a large Slytherin in our year called Millicent Bulstrode; Harry was partnered with Malfoy; and I got the obnoxious Pansy Parkinson who spent most of her time going on about the "ridiculous length of my matted hair". Let's just say I flicked a rather nasty hex I'd learnt to cause her eyes to cross themselves and she had to go to the hospital wing. Had it been Snape, I would have lost points and gotten a detention.

'Now, now, Miss Black,' said Lockhart, 'we're only working on Disarming our opponents at the moment.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, Professor,' I said innocently, batting my eyelashes. If Harry or Ron had seen it, they would have thought I'd flipped my wand when I was merely doing an impression of Hermione. 'I honestly didn't mean to. It just slipped out when she and I were practicing.'

'Very well,' he said. 'Why don't you join Miss Patil and Miss Brown while – I say, what's going on over there?'

Over the other side of the room, Harry and Malfoy were really going at each other in their duel. They certainly weren't using the Disarming Charm. Jets of silver light were flying in all directions as they tried to curse each other.

'Stop! Stop!' screamed Lockhart.

'_Finite Incantatem!_' bellowed Snape. Harry's feet stopped dancing; Malfoy stopped laughing. The rest of the room had come to a halt too. Some were sporting various injuries: Neville and Justin Finch-Fletchley were both lying on the floor groaning; Ron was supporting an ashen-faced Seamus, apologising for whatever his broken wand had done; while Millicent Bulstrode had Hermione in a headlock who was whimpering in pain.

'Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students how to block unfriendly spells,' said Snape with a thin-lipped smile.

'An excellent suggestion, Professor,' said Lockhart. 'Let's have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?'

'A bad idea, Professor Lockhart,' Snape sneered. 'Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox.' Poor Neville flushed. 'How about Malfoy and Potter?'

Harry and Malfoy got up on to the stage. They stood and pointed their wands at each other. On Lockhart's count, Malfoy cried, '_Serpensortia!_' A long grey snake shot out of Malfoy's wand and landed on the stage. Everyone in the vicinity backed away. It raised its head and began to hiss, baring its fangs. It merely got angrier when Lockhart, instead of getting rid of it, sent it flying into the air. It hissed angrily and slithered straight towards Justin.

'_Leave him!_' I looked away from the snake to see Harry staring at it. He had spoken except it hadn't been his voice. It was all … hissy and low. '_Leave him!_' said Harry again. I looked at the snake to see it hiss one more time at Justin before slumping on the floor. Harry grinned over at Justin; Justin didn't grin back.

'What do you think you're playing at?' he shouted then ran off. Ermine Macmillan and Hannah Abbott followed.

All of a sudden the snake let out another hiss as Snape Vanished it. It turned to ash and vanished in a puff of black smoke. I felt a terrible pain go through me. Quickly, I disappeared out of the Hall and ran back to the Tower, completely spooked by the whole incident. What had that been about? What was with Harry's strange voice and why had I felt it when the snake was vanished? I looked up when I heard someone in the corner. It was Ginny. She was sitting hunched in the corner.

'Harry – snake – Riddle –' to herself. I approached her cautiously.

'Ginny, are you OK?'

I placed my hand on her shoulder causing her to jump. She looked startled at me. She didn't say anything. At that moment Harry, Ron and Hermione burst in through the portrait hole. When I turned back to Ginny she was gone. What on earth was she on about? Who or what was Riddle?

'You're a Parselmouth?' burst Ron.

'I'm a what?' asked Harry.

'_A Parselmouth!_ You can speak to snakes!'

'I know,' said Harry. 'I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once – long story – but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to. That was before I knew I was a wizard ...'

'A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?' Ron repeated faintly. He looked at Hermione and me.

'So?' said Harry. 'I bet loads of people here can do it.' He nodded.

'No they can't,' said Ron. 'It's not a very common gift, Harry, this is bad.'

'What's bad?' asked Harry. 'What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin –'

'Oh, that's what you said to it?'

'What d'you mean? You were there ... you heard me.'

'I heard you speaking Parseltongue, snake language. You could have been saying anything. No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was creepy, you know.'

Harry stared at him, 'I spoke a different language? But – I didn't realise – how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?'

'Parseltongue is one of the few animal languages that can be passed on from wizard to wizard,' I explained. 'Every animal has their own language but very few teach it to wizards, mainly because most wizards don't have the capacity or the necessary connection with the animal to learn it. Snakes are one of the few animals who are grouped as familiars to wizards which is how Parseltongue came about.'

'How do you know all that?' asked Harry.

'My uncle told me.'

'Whatever – the point is, what's wrong with it?' said Harry angrily. 'D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a dirty great snake biting Justin's head off? What does it matter _how_ I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?'

'It matters,' said Hermione quietly, 'because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is serpent.'

'Exactly,' said Ron. 'And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something ...'

'But I'm not,' said Harry. He looked at us in a way to ask us to tell him it wasn't true. 'I can't be ...'

'You'll find that hard to prove,' said Hermione. 'He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be.'

Though the whole situation had spooked Harry, it had partly explained something to me: Feramorphs could understand animals, which must've been why I had understood Harry because he was speaking snake language. This wasn't good. I could understand the language but did that mean I could speak it as well? And in turn, did that mean I could be the Heir of Slytherin? After all, apparently my father's family had been in Slytherin …

Snow fell heavily over night, so much so that our Herbology lesson was cancelled as it was impossible to get down to the greenhouses. That and Professor Sprout trusted no one to help her put scarves and socks on the Mandrakes as it was vital now for them to grow so Colin and Mrs Norris could be revived. Harry was still worried from last night to the point of irritation while Ron, Hermione and I played a game of wizard chess. He annoyed us so much that Hermione told him to go find Justin. He did. I decided to go with him as I needed to go to the library to find that book again with the information on Feramorphs. While I searched for the book Harry went over to the table of Hufflepuffs that were gathered in the corner. In a matter of moments I heard raised voices; I looked over to them, wondering what was going on.

'All I saw,' Ernie was saying, 'was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake towards Justin.'

'I didn't chase it at him!' snapped Harry. He was losing his temper again. 'It didn't even _touch_ him!'

'It was a very near miss,' said Ernie. 'And in case you're getting ideas,' he added, 'I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so –'

'I don't care what sort of blood you've got!' said Harry. 'Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?'

'I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with.'

'It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them,' said Harry. 'I'd like to see you try it.'

'Harry, I think it's time we leave,' I said, grabbing his arm. 'Madam Pince is starting to get fidgety.'

I pulled him away from the table of Hufflepuffs, picked up the book, and pulled him out of the library. When we were out the doors, Harry shrugged his arm free and strode off. I followed, shoving the book in my bag.

'Idiot ...' he was muttering.

'What was all that about?' I asked.

'Ernie Macmillan thought I was looking for Justin so I could go and Petrify him,' said Harry tersely. 'Then he got all huffy and went on about how he was pure-blood and how I wanted to hurt Justin with the snake.'

'Well, snapping at him probably didn't help,' I said. Harry gave me a sharp look. 'Don't even try that with me, Harry, you know that has no effect on me.' Harry rolled his eyes. 'Look, getting angry with everyone's not going to help your case about not being the Heir. It just proves that anyone who crosses you could be your next target.'

'I'm not the Heir!' shouted Harry.

'I know you're not,' I said bracingly. 'Trust me, I know.'

Harry stopped walking. I stopped too. He just stared at me.

'How? How can you be so sure?'

'Because I know what you said to that snake that attacked Justin,' I said quietly. Harry's irritated look changed. I looked away. 'Because I heard that voice too.'

'So I'm not crazy,' he said slowly.

'Only if we both are,' I said. I started walking again, Harry following.

'How long have you been able to hear it?' Harry asked. 'And why didn't you say anything about hearing what I said to the snake?'

'I didn't say anything because I couldn't explain why I could understand you,' I shrugged. 'I'm not a Parselmouth or at least to my knowledge I'm not. All I know is that when you were speaking it, it sounded scarily like the voice in the wall. I guess I was a bit freaked out. You weren't doing all this when we were at primary school.'

'Tell me about it,' sighed Harry. He ran his hand through his hair and ruffled it. 'Kind of wish I hadn't saved Justin.'

'You did the right thing, Harry,' I told him. 'It's just a pity it turned out to be a bad thing.'

'Yeah ...' Harry muttered. 'I need to clear my head. I'll see you later, Jenna.'

Harry walked off. I sighed and shook my head. Of all the talents Harry had to have, he had to have one that was associated with Dark wizards. I dug my book back out and took a seat on the windowsill to read it. I had nothing better to do until my next lesson. I found the small paragraph about Feramorphs and, to my relief, it didn't confirm my suspicion. While I could hear and understand snake language, I couldn't speak it. That put one of my fears to rest. What the voice in the walls was though still worried me.

'_Die … I want blood … they all must die … kill … kill … kill … time to kill …_'

I looked up. It was the voice again. That either meant someone was going to be Petrified or someone had _just_ _been_ Petrified. A shiver went down my back. I just hoped Harry wasn't anywhere near whoever had been attacked. All of a sudden I heard a commotion come from the floor above. I closed my book and ran in the direction of the noise.

'ATTACK!' Peeves was yelling at the top of his lungs. 'ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!'

Peeves went zooming past me. I ran the way he came into a corridor filled with people. I pushed my way through the crowd to see Nearly Headless Nick floating there lifeless, and just below him completely frozen and pale was Justin. They'd been Petrified. And much to my dismay Harry was standing right between them.

'_Caught in the act!_' yelled Ernie.

'That will do, Macmillan!' snapped Professor McGonagall. She pushed her way through the crowd, shooing them back to their classrooms. Peeves was still shouting in glee about the situation. 'That's enough Peeves!' barked Professor McGonagall and he zoomed off.

I watched as Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra floated Justin away. Professor McGonagall conjured a fan and gave it to Ernie to blow Nearly Headless Nick after them. She then led Harry away. He caught my eye as he passed. I looked back and gave him a small smile for whatever use that did. I then turned away to go to our Transfiguration lesson. When I got there the entire class was waiting for Professor McGonagall including an anxious Ron and Hermione.

'Jenna, what's going on?' asked Ron. 'Where's Harry, I thought he was with you?'

'He was,' I said quietly. 'But there was another attack –' Hermione gasped.

'Don't tell me –'

I nodded, 'And Harry was caught by them. Professor McGonagall's taken him somewhere.'

'Who got attacked?' asked Ron.

'Justin and Nearly Headless Nick.'

'Oh, this isn't good,' breathed Hermione. 'This isn't good at all. We need to hurry and get that potion finished.'

At that moment Professor McGonagall swept down the corridor and let us into her classroom. The three of us tried to ask where Harry was but she dismissed it to start the lesson.

It wasn't so much the attack on Justin but the attack on Nearly Headless Nick that caused a panic amongst the students. It was quite strange that whatever was attacking the students could also do that to a ghost. It had certainly got a lot of people worried that a there was almost a stampede of people trying to book seats on the Hogwarts Express. No one wanted to be around Harry and as most knew he stayed over during the holidays, everyone else wanted to go home. Only Fred and George seemed to be the only ones treating this as a big joke, much to Percy's annoyance nor did Ginny.

'Make way for the Heir of Slytherin!' they'd shout, marching in front of Harry. 'Seriously evil wizard coming through!'

Harry didn't find it that funny, though he said it was good they too thought the whole thing was ludicrous. Malfoy wasn't helping things though who in retaliation kept making things worse by reminding Harry of the snake incident.

'Harry, he's only doing it to antagonise you,' I said. Ron, Hermione and I followed him out into the snow in the courtyard.

'But maybe he's right!' he snapped at me. 'I didn't know I could speak Parseltongue. What else don't I know about myself?' He paused then sighed. 'Maybe you can do something, even something horrible, and not know you did it.'

'You don't believe that, Harry,' I told him. 'I know you don't. And if it makes you feel better, Malfoy's staying for the holidays, too.'

'Why would that make him feel better?' asked Ron. 'All Malfoy wants to do is annoy us. I bet it's because he's _bursting_ to say it's really him. You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work.'

'I wouldn't call it "credit", Ron,' I muttered, folding my arms.

'He won't be for long,' said Hermione. 'The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now.'

Finally school finished, and about time too. It was such a relief to have peace and quiet with no mention of Harry being the Heir constantly. The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and I had the run of the Gryffindor Tower but I unfortunately had other things to worry about. I received an Owl from Lupin a couple days after school finished. The Wizard Social Services had visited Lupin expecting me to be there as it was the holidays. They'd wanted to speak to me. They'd found out a werewolf had a child in its care and it meant that Moonlake Cottage had to be checked to see if it was a suitable place for me to live in and that Lupin was safe to bring up a child. This had me worried. It meant if they deemed Lupin unfit to look after me, I would be taken away. I didn't want to go back into an orphanage again or go to yet another foster home. Lupin was forced to collect me so that they could assess our situation. I left the others with Hermione telling me she'd get something from a Slytherin for me to transform into.

On the Wednesday of Christmas week I was taken by Professor Dumbledore down to train station where Lupin had arranged to collect me. He wished us luck and Lupin Disapparated us both back home. We had only a few hours to clean the house before the wizards from the Social Services appeared. Lupin was remarkably calm regardless of the prospect of me being taken away from him. I had a feeling it was just to reassure me. At three o'clock three wizards wearing purple robes knocked on our door. Lupin sat us all down in the living room then left so they could talk to me alone. I sat there facing them wondering when Lupin was going to be allowed back in.

'Now,' one of them said. He had a quill and notebook with him. 'In your own words, tell us what it is like living with the were―' he cleared his throat, 'with Mr Lupin.'

The three wizards were very patronising as they asked me various questions about living here. I found it intriguing every time they went to refer to Lupin they kept slipping and almost calling him "werewolf". After about an hour they finally allowed Lupin back in. They had a quick word with him then left through the fireplace to avoid the snow. Once they'd gone, I told Lupin about how they kept stumbling when they brought him up.

'It's not uncommon, Jenna,' sighed Lupin. 'Unfortunately werewolves, like myself, don't have a good reputation. Many wizards and witches are prejudice against werewolves, believing us to be violent and vicious creatures. Some even react to this. A man named Fenrir Greyback shamelessly promotes the fact he's a werewolf. He even looks like one, even when it's nowhere near the full moon. Most attacks these days can be linked back to him somehow.'

'Is ... is he the man who bit you?' I asked. Lupin visibly flinched.

'Yes,' he sighed. He took a sip of his tea. 'He bit me when I was a boy. He almost ruined my life ...'

Lupin got up to put his mug in the sink. He stopped though when he felt me wrap my arms round his waist. Lupin smiled down on me, his hand stroking my hair.

'I don't want to be taken away,' I mumbled into his robes. They smelt of wood, like the forest by our house.

'You won't be. I promise.'

Lupin took me back to school the following day on my request. The Polyjuice Potion was so close to being ready that I had to go back to school regardless of it being Christmas. I got back late on Thursday night as I spent the day with Lupin so we had some time together and returned straight to the Tower. I didn't see Harry, Ron and Hermione until the following day. All three were in good moods as it was Christmas day. I, however, couldn't get the dreaded thought of what the Social Services' report was going to say. They hadn't been clear on when they were going get back to us. It could be a couple of days to a couple of weeks. To make things worse I got a second letter from Lupin saying that they had been back to talk to him without me. Because of that I turned up late for the Potion. When I got there I came face to face with Crabbe and Goyle. I didn't realise it was Harry and Ron so I pulled out my wand.

'What are you doing here?' I snarled at them, pointing my wand threateningly at them.

'Cool it, Jenna, it's us.' That was Harry's voice coming from inside Goyle. Freaky! 'We've just had the Potion but there's none left. You'll have to stay behind with Hermione.'

'Where is she?' I asked, putting my wand back in my pocket.

'In the toilet,' answered Ron.

'You'd better get going,' I told them. 'You've got to find Malfoy.'

They disappeared, thumping away. I walked up to the aisle to the cubicle with the closed door. I knocked on it but Hermione didn't reply. Curious I called through the door. The reply I got was a muffled sob. The door opened and a face appeared in a gap. I caught barely a glimpse of her before she slammed it shut again but it was enough to tell me what had happened. I took a seat in the toilet to wait for Harry and Ron to return. I looked up when I heard footsteps approaching. Harry and Ron came running in, the Slytherin robes hanging off them. They asked me how Hermione was but I hadn't got a word out from her. She'd remained locked in her cubicle. I told them she'd refused to come out. That was when Moaning Myrtle appeared. She floated up from the cubicle next to Hermione's, an awful smile on her face.

'Ooooooh, wait till you see,' she laughed nastily. 'It's _awful_!'

She floated away. The lock on the door slid back and Hermione emerged. Her robes were pulled up over her head.

'What's the matter?' asked Ron carefully. 'Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?'

'Do you remember me telling you that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations?' I asked them. They shook their head. Hermione pulled down her robes revealing black fur and the pointed ears that came out of her hair. A pair of yellow eyes looked helplessly at us. It was pretty awful.

'It was a c-cat hair!' she wailed. 'M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the P-Potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformation!'

'You'll be teased something _dreadful_,' teased Myrtle.

'Oh, go float down a drain,' I snapped at her. Myrtle merely sneered at me then dove down a toilet.

'It's OK, Hermione,' said Harry. 'We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions.'

'No, but she will get a very strange look,' I said. I coaxed her out and put my jacket over her head to hide her ears.

Hermione remained in the hospital wing for several weeks creating more rumours around those who were still left at school. She was still there when school restarted in January. Every so often you'd see students try to catch a glimpse of her but Madam Pomfrey had put curtains around her bed to spare her some embarrassment. Despite the furry face, Hermione was still herself. She insisted that Harry, Ron and I had brought her homework to her each day which I thought was ridiculous. It was quite sad thought that she'd hidden a get well soon card from Lockhart under her pillow. Smarmy git. One afternoon when we were visiting her, Harry and Ron told us what they'd found out about the Chamber which didn't end up being much, only that when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago a Muggle-born had died and that the person was expelled for it. Who it was, we didn't know.

When we left the hospital wing and went downstairs for lunch we heard Filch muttering to himself about more mopping up to do or something. Harry, Ron and I went and had a look. Moaning Myrtle had flooded her bathroom again. She'd gotten all upset because someone had thrown a book at her.

'But it can't hurt if someone throws something at you,' said Ron. I cringed. 'I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?' I braced myself for the inevitable outburst Myrtle would have. She'd didn't fail to live up to her name.

'Oh sure!' she shrieked. 'Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because _she_ can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach!' She punched Ron in the stomach; he jumped when her hand went through him. 'Fifty points if it goes through her head!' She did the same to Ron. 'Well, ha ha ha! What a lovely game, I _don't_ think!'

'Who threw it at you, anyway?' asked Harry.

'I don't know ...' she said, a lot calmer than before. Wow, she had mood swings. 'I didn't see. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head. It's over there, it got washed out.'

Myrtle floated off whimpering.

'Fifty points if you can get it through her nose,' Ron whispered to us. I sent him a look.

Harry walked over to where Myrtle had pointed. A small, thin book lay soaked in a puddle of water, its black cover completely worn. Harry picked it up much to Ron's alarm. It appeared to be a diary of some sort. Harry opened the cover where the words 'T. M. Riddle' had been almost washed out. The name rang a bell to Ron and he told us that Riddle had won a special award for the school some fifty years ago. Harry flipped through the pages but there was nothing in it. All we managed to work out was that Riddle had been a Muggle-born, judging by the address the book had been bought from. Despite Ron's warnings, Harry pocketed the diary.

Hermione was very intrigued by the diary when we showed her the day she got back from the hospital wing. We were sat huddled in our favourite chairs in the Gryffindor common room and Harry was showing her the diary. Ron was still all for getting rid of it again but Harry wouldn't when it still might be able to tell us something. Hermione too seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

'The Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it?' said Harry. 'That's what Malfoy said.'

'Yeah ...' said Ron slowly.

'And _this_ diary is fifty years old,' said Hermione excitedly. Ron still didn't get it. 'Oh, Ron, wake up,' snapped Hermione. 'We know the person who opened the Chamber last time was expelled _fifty years ago_. We know T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school _fifty years ago_. Well, what if Riddle got his special award for _catching the Heir of Slytherin?_ His diary would probably tell us everything: where the Chamber is, and how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in it. The person who's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want that lying around, would they?'

'That's a _brilliant_ theory, Hermione,' said Ron, 'with just one tiny little flaw. _There's nothing written in his diary_.'

Hermione had an answer to that. She pulled out her wand and tapped the diary three times and said, '_Aparecium!_' Nothing happened though; the diary was still blank. She then tried a Revealer that she'd bought in Diagon Alley but still the diary remained blank. It couldn't help us.

A few days later Harry still had the diary having ignored Ron's advice to get rid of it. Every now and then I was see him flicking through it in the common room or at break time even though he knew there was nothing there. To try and settle his curiosity, we went to the trophy room to have a look at Riddle's award. It didn't tell us much. The only thing we found out was he'd also received an old Medal for Magical Merit and his name was on a list of all the old Head Boys. We were none the wiser to who Riddle was.

As the term progressed there was a definite change in atmosphere in the castle. As the snow melted away in the sun, so did the students' fears about the Heir of Slytherin. There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood. Who knew plants could act like humans? This was a good bit of news for Filch though not for us as it meant Mrs Norris would soon be prowling the corridors for troublemakers again. While some had finally given up avoiding Harry in the corridors, others, like Ernie, were still convinced that Harry had been behind the attacks. Of course, Lockhart couldn't resist taking the opportunity to boast that he'd been the one to make the attacks stop.

'It was only a matter of time before I caught them,' he said when he passed us in the corridor, in deep conversation with a very uninterested Professor McGonagall. 'Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on them.'

The only thing he could come down hard on was a bottle of shampoo.

'You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing ...'

Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February the fourteenth: Valentine's Day. When Hermione and I walked into the Great Hall for breakfast that day we came face-to-face with a horribly pink room. The walls had been covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. I couldn't believe what Lockhart had done to the place. My eyes just scanned the Hall with a look of horror on my face. Lockhart himself was also dressed in pink sitting quite happily with what he'd done up at the teacher's table. Judging by their faces, none of the other teachers were as pleased as he was.

'Happy Valentine's Day!' Lockhart called from the table. 'And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all – and it doesn't end here!'

Lockhart clapped his hands. I looked round to see the doors of the Great Hall open and in marched several surly-looking dwarfs all dressed with gold wings and carrying harps. Oh Merlin, help.

'My friendly, card-carrying cupids!' beamed Lockhart. 'They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!'

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

'If one of those dwarfs dares come near me with a Valentine, I'll hex them,' I said, glancing furtively at the threatening-looking cupids as we passed them on our way out of the Hall.

'Oh come on, Jenna,' said Hermione, 'it'll be so exciting to get a Valentine, don't you think?' I looked at her as if she was mental.

'Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six,' said Ron. Hermione didn't answer, instead becoming interesting in searching her bag for something. I cringed.

The dwarfs were the most untactful cupids ever. They just barged into classrooms without much consideration for the teachers nor the student who they were delivering the Valentine too and read or sung them out in front of everyone. Even Harry fell victim to them as one chased him away from us after we left History of Magic. He didn't get far as the dwarf tackled him round the legs and sat on his ankles to stop him getting away while he sang the song that had been written for him. I watched completely gobsmacked. Percy did his best to disperse the crowd but some decided to rub it in, namely Malfoy. He picked up the diary Harry had found in the bathroom and began jeering at Harry about it.

While Percy attempted to sort it out, as Harry had decided to Disarm the diary from Malfoy instead of waiting for Percy to get it back from him, something caught my eye. At the far end of the corridor Ginny was watching us. I couldn't mistake her red hair anywhere. She had a terrified look on her face as if something had spooked her. Her eyes were wide and her face was white. In fact, now that I think about it, Ginny had been quite pale for a long time, since the snake incident at the Duelling Club. As Harry and Percy started to argue, I walked over to her.

'You all right, Ginny?' I said. 'You look like you've seen a ghost. Not that you wouldn't around here.' I thought she'd laugh at my joke. She didn't. I changed tack. 'Look, is something bothering you?' She shook her head very fast. 'You know, you can tell me,' I told her kindly. 'I won't tell your brothers.' She looked at me cautiously. She had all the right to. She didn't know me that well at that time. 'Promise.'

Ginny seemed to think about this for a second.

'W-what had Malfoy take from Harry?' she asked eventually. 'What was it?'

'Oh, just some old diary Harry found a few weeks ago,' I said casually. Looking back, I wish I hadn't. I didn't know this was what had been making Ginny act all funny that year. I didn't notice Ginny jump when I said this. 'It belonged to some guy called T. M. Riddle.' Ginny paled even more. 'Are you sure you're all right?' I asked again. 'Do you want to go to the hospital wing?'

'I don't think Potter liked your Valentine much!' shouted Malfoy suddenly. I glared at him. Beside me, Ginny burst into tears and ran off leaving me quite stunned. I didn't know she had a crush on Harry.

Over the next week was when my suspicions started. After the rather embarrassing episode with the Valentine song, Harry had gone straight to bed to avoid Fred and George's renditions of it in the common room. The next day Harry told us when we outside during lunch about how he'd been sucked into Riddle's diary and that Hagrid had opened the Chamber fifty years ago. I couldn't – wouldn't! – believe it was Hagrid. This Tom Riddle was wrong.

'Riddle _might_ have got the wrong person,' said Hermione. She didn't sound very certain though. 'Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people ...'

'How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?' said Ron.

'We always knew Hagrid had been expelled,' said Harry dismally. 'And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award.'

'But why would Hagrid do that?' I said. 'He doesn't seem the type to set a monster loose on someone.'

But as much as we wanted to not believe it, all the evidence did point towards Hagrid. Our only option was to go and ask him if it was true or not. But Ron was right, that wouldn't be a wise idea.

'That'd be a cheerful visit,' he said. 'Hello, Hagrid, tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'

'Mad and hairy?' The four of us jumped and spun round to see Hagrid behind us. 'You wouldn' be talkin' about me, now would yeh?'

'No!' the four of us said at once.

'What's that you've got, Hagrid?' asked Harry, changing the subject. He pointed to the can in Hagrid's hand.

'Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent,' said Hagrid. 'For the Mandrake, yeh know. Accordin' ter Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit o' growin' up ter do, but the moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature.' He looked at us for a second. 'In the meantime, you four had best be lookin' after yerselves, all righ'?'

We nodded. Hagrid took another look at us then walked away. That was close.

In amongst all this, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had other things to think about. With the end of the year approaching, we had to start thinking about what we wanted to study in our third year. We had to choose two or more out of five subjects to study from third year through to our OWLs during fourth and fifth year. The choice was between Arithmancy, the Study of Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies and Divination. Looking through the list the only one that interested me was Care of Magical Creatures. I didn't want to do Muggle Studies as, like the title suggested, you studied Muggles; Divination was fortune telling which sounded very unreliable; Ancient Runes was a lot of work and involved learning translations and reading ancient texts, not quite my thing; and Arithmancy meant I'd have to learn a whole new way of adding that was a very ancient method. In the end I chose the same ones as Harry and Ron: Care of Magical Creatures and Divination while Hermione signed up for all of them.

Harry soon became busy again as Wood began piling up Quidditch practices as the match against Hufflepuff was only a few days away meaning once again Riddle was pushed from Harry's mind. Not for long though. We'd been on our way back from dinner so Harry could get changed for practice when a panicked looking Neville came running down the boys' staircase to us. Apparently something had happened in the boys' dormitories; Harry's things had been riffled through or something. While Harry, Ron and Hermione went upstairs with Neville to see what had happened, I was more concerned about something else. At the same time we'd got there, Ginny had just gone running up the stairs to the girls' dormitories and by the looks of it she was crying. I followed. Cautiously, I put my head round the door of the first year dormitory to see her on her bed, indeed crying. There were feathers over it.

'Ginny?' She jumped up and looked at me, startled, before hastily picking up all the feathers and shoving them and a book in her draw. 'Is everything OK?'

'Yeah, everything's fine,' she said quickly. She sounded very jumpy. 'I guess Errol's been malting on my bed again.'

'Here, let me help you.' I went and helped her pick up the feathers, except they weren't owl feathers. 'Ginny, these feathers are from chickens,' I said, looking at them. 'What are they doing in here?'

'Er, Jenna, I think someone's calling you,' said Ginny hastily. She dropped the feathers and pushed me out of the room. 'I'll see you later.'

The door closed. That was weird. I stared at it for a moment then went back down to the common room and up the boys' staircase to find the others. Harry's things had been gone through; his bed was a mess, his clothes had been thrown out of his trunk, his books had been riffled through and were lying bent on the floor. I couldn't believe someone would do this. But whatever the person had been looking for they'd got; Riddle's diary was gone.

Harry was very concerned the next morning about who now had the diary. He spent breakfast muttering to himself about it barely eating his toast. Hermione and I tried to get him to concentrate on the match but nothing would get through to him. Then to make matters worse, when we returned to the Gryffindor Tower so Harry could get his Quidditch things the voice in the wall spoke again.

'_Kill this time … let me rip … tear …_'

'The voice!' Harry shouted. It made me jump out my skin. 'I just heard it again – didn't you?'

Ron shook his head, wide-eyed. However, something had just clicked in my mind: the voice was like a hissing sound, just like Harry's voice had been when he'd spoken Parseltongue to that snake at the Duelling Club. And by the looks of it, Hermione was thinking the same thing.

'Harry – I think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!'

And she dashed off. I just looked at the other two before racing after her. I thought between the two of us we could work out exactly what the thing was that had been hiding in the castle. I managed to catch up with her just outside the library.

'Hermione, what is it –' I panted, '– that you understand?'

'The thing Harry's hearing,' said Hermione quickly and quietly as we went in, 'it _must_ be a snake! That's why he can hear it and we can't.' It made sense. I could hear the voice as well and if it was a snake, that's why I could hear it. 'But what a snake's doing in the castle, I don't know.'

We search every book we could think of which might tell us something about the snake living in a castle. Nothing seemed to have any information, not even _Hogwarts: A History_. But as we searched, I realised something: Hermione was looking at the situation from the completely wrong direction. We didn't need history books; we needed a book about creatures. As quickly as possible I found a copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and flicked through its pages.

'Hermione, I've found it!' I said suddenly. She quickly ran over to me and looked over my shoulder. I pointed at the middle passage on the page. The creature attacking everyone was a Basilisk.

'Jenna, are you sure?' she asked me.

I was positive. It explained why Harry (and I) could hear it; it explained why people were being Petrified but not killed. A Basilisk was known as the King of Serpents that was hatched from a chicken egg placed under a toad; its fangs were very venomous and its stare could kill you; spiders flee from wherever a Basilisk might be and the crow of a rooster was one of few things that could kill it. But more importantly to me, it explained the reason why there had been rooster feathers on Ginny's bed; Hagrid kept roosters at school. Ginny must have done something to them. I felt my stomach sink when everything clicked into place. Ginny was behind it all! But how, I still wasn't sure.

'But how is it getting round the castle?' I asked. Hermione was pensive for a moment. Then it hit her.

'The pipes!' she said. 'The pipes in Hogwarts are huge! A giant snake like that's using the plumbing to get around. That's why Harry hears the voice in the walls. Jenna, quick,' said Hermione, ripping out the page on the Basilisk, 'we've got to find Ron and Harry.'

Hermione dashed out of the library before I could tell her about Ginny. I followed as quickly as I could but had to replace all the books we'd used due to Madam Pince catching me. When I finally got out and was chasing after Hermione, I stopped to check the corridors. It was then I saw something that made my blood run cold.

'Hermione!' I ran up the corridor and knelt on the floor next to her. She'd been Petrified along with a Ravenclaw girl. She had a mirror in her hand. She must have used it to check round the corners. 'Someone help!' I shouted. 'There's been another attack! Help!'

I heard footsteps approach me. It was Professor Flitwick. He squeaked in fright when he saw Hermione and the Ravenclaw girl's frozen forms on the floor and told me to get them to the hospital wing while he went to tell Professor McGonagall. I got Hermione and the girl to the hospital wing as soon as possible with the help of Flitwick's Body-Moving Charm. Madam Pomfrey took charge and laid them on a bed each. As I watched I couldn't help but start crying; my best friend had been attacked right under my nose. I felt so bad but there was nothing I could have done to stop it. I heard footsteps enter the hospital wing and McGonagall's voice behind me.

'I warn you,' she was telling someone. I looked up to see it was Ron and Harry. 'This will be a bit of a shock. There has been another attack … another _double_ attack.'

Instantly I got up and ran over to them. I flung my arms round Harry, tears still in my eyes.

'Jenna, what's wrong?' asked Harry.

'I couldn't stop it,' I cried quietly. 'I'm sorry.'

Harry and Ron looked round me as I turned round to see Hermione lying frozen on the bed. Their reactions mimicked my own. They were devastated.

'They were found nearly the library,' said Professor McGonagall. 'I don't suppose any of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them …'

She held up the mirror. None of us said anything; I was so shocked that everything we'd just discovered had been pushed from my mind.

'I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower,' continued McGonagall heavily. 'I need to address the students in any case.'

With the second double attack new rules were put into force immediately meaning all free time we had was spent in the Tower. We were all really shocked about it, especially Percy. Turned out the Ravenclaw was Penelope Clearwater, a prefect in his year (Percy was a bit full of himself, thinking the monster never would attack a prefect). I was still in shock being the one who found them. People were asking me what happened; if I saw what or who did it; why it didn't get me too. I couldn't face it and so I just went to bed.

That very same night, Harry and Ron apparently snuck down to Hagrid's to ask him whether he knew how to open the Chamber but before they could, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and Dumbledore turned up, with Lucius Malfoy following. That night, Dumbledore left the school and Hagrid was taken to Azkaban. According to Harry and Ron he didn't want to go. I don't blame him. Azkaban was a horrible place. Before he left though, Hagrid gave them a hint to "follow the spiders". When Harry and Ron told me all this I wasn't interested. I was wrapped up in my own thoughts.

Summer came and still no answers. If I'd had just snapped out of my own reverie about Hermione then it would of stopped sooner. There hadn't been any more attacks for a good month or so but the only good thing that seemed to come out of it all was that Harry was no longer believed to be the Heir as it was Hermione who'd been Petrified and never in a million years would Harry attack his own friend. Even Ernie apologised to him in Herbology which surprised me as he'd been an avid "Harry is the heir" supporter. I, however, didn't believe that everything was over, regardless of what Lockhart said.

'Come now, why the long faces?' he said. 'Don't you people realise, the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away!'

I wasn't the only one unconvinced. Harry and Ron were as sceptical as I was about the danger being gone. Harry was still adamant about finding the spiders, sending a note to Ron and me during Defence Against the Dark Arts to go tonight to find the spiders. I told him after class I didn't want to go and that they shouldn't either but it didn't stop them. I could have killed those two for going after them but they did find two pieces of vital information from it all. One) Hagrid never opened the Chamber, and two) the girl who'd died last time died in a bathroom.

The next morning they told me what they'd found out. When they told me about the girl died in a bathroom and that it was Moaning Myrtle, Ron was kicking himself for never asking her. I just said, 'Oh, that's nice. She's already sensitive about appearance. Let's just go and ask her how she died. That's a real nice subject.'

'Do you have any better ideas?' asked Ron. I shook my head and went back to my breakfast.

To make matters worse we then had the bombshell dropped on us about exams. Harry, Ron and I had been so preoccupied with the Chamber that we'd completely forgotten about out end of year exams. Ron's main worry was about his wand. He still hadn't got a new one. The only good news we received after that was about the Mandrakes. Professor McGonagall made an announcement on Saturday morning that they were ready to be cut up and all those who'd been Petrified in the hospital wing would be all right by that night. I was definitely relieved about that. Things just weren't the same without Hermione around. The entire Hall broke into cheers (all apart from the Slytherins) at this news.

'It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!' said Ron happily. 'Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go mad when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't revised. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over.'

Just then, Ginny came and joined us. She was very tense and nervous. I watched as she tried to tell us something but she seemed very reluctant to do so.

'Spit it out,' asked Ron, annoyed.

'I've got to tell you something,' she mumbled.

'What is it?' asked Harry.

Ginny's mouth opened but no sound came.

'_What?_' said Ron.

'Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets?' asked Harry quietly so only we could hear. 'Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?'

At that moment Percy appeared asking if he could have the seat Ginny was in and she vanished. When Ron got mad at him, he said it was just something about him Ginny had seen. But I'd finally remembered what Hermione and I had found out _and_ what I had noticed from Ginny. Without any warning to Harry and Ron, I dashed from the Hall after her. She'd already disappeared. I hurried back to the Tower and up to the girls' dormitories to find her crying on her bed.

I took a deep breath and said, 'Ginny, I know it's you.'

Her head snapped up and she looked at me.

'How?' she asked.

'The rooster feathers, the fact that you're really jumpy all the time, that there are no spiders in this room. Why didn't you tell us?'

'Because I couldn't!' cried Ginny. 'I didn't know! I didn't want to attack them! I didn't want to write those messages! Riddle made me do those things!'

'Riddle?' The diary! 'Tom Riddle? You stole the diary back from Harry!'

Ginny stopped crying. She just stood up and walked over to me. She seemed to be in a trance, her eyes were unfocused and her mouth slightly open.

'Ginny,' I said worriedly. 'Ginny, are you OK?'

Next thing I remember was Ginny's hands clasped around my throat. She'd just – ran at me and thrown me against the door. She didn't seem to know what she was doing. I tried to throw her off but her grip was too tight. I could feel myself lose consciousness. When she finally released me I fell to the floor. I'd passed out.

I woke up to find myself lying on a cold, wet, stone floor. I didn't know where I was. To my left was a large, deep pool of water, a huge head behind it. I could hear a sniffling behind me. Ginny was sitting against one of the many snake-head pillars further up the room. I could hear her muttering.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jenna. I'm sorry.'

My neck was still sore but I got up and walked over to her.

'Ginny, where are we?' I asked her urgently. 'What did you do? We need to get out of here!'

She didn't answer. She just pointed behind me. I turned round to see a boy of sixteen standing there. He was blurred round the edges. He was approaching us. I quickly drew out my wand and levelled it with him. I didn't have a clue what to do though.

'Who are you?' I demanded of the stranger.

'A mere memory,' he replied, 'brought to life by the silly ramblings of an eleven-year-old witch.' I heard Ginny let out a sob. 'Her soul making me stronger as she gets weaker.'

'You're Tom Riddle,' I said slowly. He just smiled. 'You're the one behind all those attacks.'

'Yes,' he said, still smiling. 'I must say, you were very clever to work out who it was I was getting to do my bidding. And what the monster was. I couldn't let you blab so I attack that Mudblood friend of yours.' I watched as he paced around me. 'It seemed to deter you for a while but no, you had to go stir it by confronting Ginny.'

I glanced at Ginny, then back at Riddle.

'I realised you were a danger and I had to do something about it,' continued Riddle. 'You could have told Harry Potter at any moment what was going on so I ordered Ginny to strangle you and bring you here, to the Chamber of Secrets. I even got her to write your farewells on the wall before she left for here too.'

'Let her go, Riddle,' I said. 'She's just a first year.'

'I can't do that. As she grows weaker, I grow stronger. And now, I'm afraid I'll have to bid you goodbye. Potter will be on his way and the two of you make very good … bargaining tools.'

'Riddle, please!' shouted Ginny. 'Don't hurt her.'

I saw Riddle draw his wand and point it at me. If Harry was on his way, I had to get to him and warn him. Knowing Riddle wouldn't hurt Ginny if he needed her, I turned and ran up the long tunnel. I heard Riddle shout a spell at me and I fell to the ground. I didn't remember anything else after I hit the floor. Whatever spell Riddle threw at me had rendered me unconscious.

I felt a hard thump on my chest and a rush of water come from my throat. I turned over from my back so I was holding myself up on my arms, coughing up the rest of the water I'd apparently swallowed. I was soaked, my wet hair sticking to my face, my eyes stinging from the water.

'Jenna, are you all right?'

I looked up to see Harry kneeling beside me. He looked worried and very beaten up. I have to say I was very glad to see him. Ginny was just behind him. She was looking much better now.

'What happened?' was the obvious question for me to ask.

And so Harry told me about how he and Ron had seen the farewell message Ginny had written; found out Lockhart was a fraud and forced him to come with them down to the Chamber; him trying to erase Harry and Ron's minds, Ron's wand backfiring on him and him losing _his_ mind and causing a cave in; Harry fighting with Riddle and stabbing the Basilisk in the head with a sword that came from the Sorting Hat which Fawkes the phoenix had brought; and how Ginny and I had been unconscious through it all, me landing in the water when the spell Riddle was using to hold me up stopped when he disappeared.

I didn't miss much, did I?

The three of us made our way back up the tunnel to where Ron had managed to make a small hole in the stone wall. He pulled me and Ginny through first, hugging Ginny madly when he saw she was all right, and Harry followed. I saw what he'd meant by Lockhart losing his mind; he was staring around quite happily, not having a clue what was going on.

We managed to get out of the pipe by using Fawkes to fly us back up to the top where we came out at Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle was quite surprised to see us all alive. Her expression said it all. Fawkes then led us away from the bathroom and we found ourselves outside of Professor Dumbledore's office. It was the first of quite a few trips to his office I'd have over the next few years.

The moment we entered the office Mrs Weasley, who'd been sitting at the desk, hurried forward and hugged both her children and Harry. I moved back as she did this; I still wasn't use to being treated with kindness from other people, only Lupin. I noticed he wasn't there. It felt strange to me to see how families interacted with each other.

Once Mrs Weasley had released Harry and Ron, Harry laid the sword and Sorting Hat on the desk before going on to tell all those gathered how he heard the voice; how Hermione had realised it was a Basilisk (I didn't mention that I'd helped though Dumbledore, who had been observing me, seemed to know); the two of them going into the forest and about Aragog, whoever or whatever that was; and finally what had happened in the last two hours or so. Mrs Weasley was in tears when he finished.

'What interests _me_ most,' said Dumbledore after all this, 'is how Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania.'

That was a good question but I already knew the answer. The diary. Riddle had told me before he'd knocked me out or whatever he did. And as expected, Harry explained this to the others. Dumbledore seemed very impressed, bewildering the rest of us.

'Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle,' he said. 'I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving school … travelled far and wide … sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here.'

'But Ginny,' said Mrs Weasley, 'what's our Ginny got to do with – with – _him?_'

'His d-diary!' Ginny sobbed. 'I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year –'

'_Ginny!_' said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. 'Haven't I taught you _anything_? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself _if you can't see where it keeps its brain_.'

Dumbledore promptly saved Ginny from anymore embarrassment by sending her to the hospital wing.

'Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing straight away,' he said. 'This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort.' Dumbledore walked over to the door and opened it. 'Bed rest and perhaps a large mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. Miss Black shall accompany her. I believe you'll want to remove the marks on your neck.' I subconsciously put my hand over my throat, covering them up as eyes turned on me. I'd remained silent throughout. 'You will find Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out the Mandrake juice – I dare say the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment.'

That was the best news I'd had all day. Hermione would be waking up soon. Without any objections I left his office, walking at a distance behind Ginny, Mr and Mrs Weasley. I didn't want to intrude on their reunion. However, Ginny stopped and spoke to me.

'Thank you for trying to help, Jenna,' she said to me. I looked at her curiously. Mr and Mrs Weasley were looking at me. 'I'm sorry I strangled you and taking you down there.'

I felt uncomfortable, especially with her parents' eyes on me. Finally I found my voice and said, 'It's all right, Ginny. I'm just sorry I didn't think about it sooner, what with Hermione being attacked. I'm just glad you're OK.'

'But I –'

'But nothing,' I told her sternly. 'It's what friends do.' Ginny looked up and grinned so I grinned back.

'I think you both need a good night's rest,' said Mrs Weasley. She bustled up to us and got us walking again. 'Come on, to the hospital wing, both of you.'

'I think I'll just go back to the Tower,' I said uncomfortably but Mrs Weasley wouldn't have it.

'Nonsense, dear, the both of you have been through quite a bit. Bed rest and a cup of hot chocolate for you both.'

I didn't have the heart to argue with her. Mrs Weasley was someone you couldn't argue with but she was also an uncommonly kind woman, one I was pretty glad to meet, though as I'd heard she could really shout if she put her mind to it (Ron's Howler). She and Mr Weasley took the pair of us to the hospital wing where those who'd been Petrified were sitting up in bed.

'Hermione!' I saw her sitting up with a drink at the far end of the room. She looked as bright and cheerful as ever. I ran up to her and gave her a massive hug which she returned. 'Everything's over,' I told her, 'the Heir's gone.'

'I'm so glad Harry and Ron managed to solve it,' said Hermione happily.

'Well, we gave them a lot of help, especially you, finding out what was in the Chamber.'

'We _both_ found it,' corrected Hermione. I just smiled.

'When will you be out?' I asked her.

'Apparently there's going to be a feast tonight to celebrate so, as soon as possible,' she said. 'I guess we'll all be let out seeing as there's nothing wrong with us.'

I just grinned before Madam Pomfrey took me away to heal the marks on my neck and give me something to perk me up.

The feast that night was huge. Hermione and I joined Harry and Ron in the Great Hall after seeing Justin Finch-Fletchley leave from apologising. Everyone was in their pyjamas. At around half past three that morning Hagrid appeared, returning from Azkaban, complaining that the "some ruddy bird named Errol" got lost delivering his release forms. Harry, Hermione and I all looked at Ron. The best bit though was that all exams were cancelled. Only Hermione was upset about that.

As the end of the summer term came, things were completely back to normal. Malfoy had stopped strutting around as if he owned the place and Ginny was back with us as cheerful as ever. On the last day, me, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny all sat in one compartment on the train playing Exploding Sap or watching the last of George's Filibuster Fireworks going off. Also, the thing that Ginny had seen which Percy didn't want people to know was that he had a girlfriend, that girl I found Petrified with Hermione, and she'd caught them snogging somewhere in Hogwarts.

The Hogwarts Express pulled up in the station and the seven of us got off the train. I couldn't see Lupin straight away so I stuck with them until he turned up. Harry had taken out a quill and ripped some parchment into three to give us all his telephone number, telling Ron how to work it. That's when I heard Lupin calling me and I said goodbye to them and see you next year.

As I walked away, I was already wondering what new adventures would happen in a mere two months from then.


	10. Summer Challenges, part 2

Chapter 9

Summer Challenges Part 2

The summer before third year had to be my worst so far but not because something bad happened. Well, not something bad for me at least or so I thought so initially. The holidays with Lupin were great. OK, yes he hadn't been happy to hear I'd gotten in trouble again, and sure the training was getting quite annoying, but he was just doing what my Mum would have done. He was my family, that's all that mattered to me as the Wizard Social Services were unable to deny that he was safe for me to live with. Back to the point, it's what happened at the end of July that made my summer bad. It was all over the _Daily Prophet_. A prisoner had escaped from Azkaban but I'll get to that later. Something else happened at the start of the holidays; Lupin had got a job. It had been ages apparently since he last had one but then a letter came from Dumbledore asking him if he wanted the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts! How brilliant was that? I was so excited when Lupin agreed to it; I'd get to spend time with him during school and the holidays.

The first two weeks of the summer were devoted to more training, this time on transforming separate parts of my body at a time. Until now I'd only transformed into whole animals so it was much harder than a full transformation. I had to concentrate on both the animal body part and which part of me I was changing. I have to say I did have a few accidents which Lupin found highly amusing. I didn't find it funny. It was painful. Lupin and I had lots of fun together, especially during the full moons even if it did mean I got scratched up a bit. Because of this Wolfsbane Potion he took in the week leading up to it, it made him safe by allowing him to keep his mind so he knew who I was. Once he'd transformed, I'd changed into a wolf, one of my favourite animals to change into, and accompany him outside our home, roaming the fields. It was really fun.

But that summer, Animagus training wasn't the only thing on Lupin's mind. Mid-way through the summer for some reason Lupin thought it was essential that I learnt how to cast the Patronus Charm. When he told me, my instant reaction was, 'But I can't do magic outside of school.' but he had the answer for that. He'd gotten permission, somehow, from the Minister for Magic himself for me to be taught it. Why though, I had no clue. And no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't do it. Lupin had got a Boggart which had been hiding in the attic and used it in order to teach me the Patronus Charm. I guess it made sense. When it saw me it changed into a Dementor. I feared that the most because what can be scarier than having all the happiness sucked out of you? I found it impossible to overcome the coldness I felt and try to create a Patronus but Lupin felt I could do it having seen me perform it before, even if accidentally, and wouldn't let up on me.

'Lupin, I can't do it,' I complained after the umpteenth try but he wouldn't stop. 'Why are you making me learn this?'

'You need to protect yourself, Jenna,' was all he said. 'Dementors are relentless and won't stop until you've no energy left to fight.'

By the end of it, I could face a Dementor without fainting so quickly but I still couldn't cast a Patronus. Looking back now, I'm glad Lupin taught me. But being nearly thirteen, it was magic way beyond my limits.

-o-

Lupin carefully opened Jenna's bedroom door and peered inside. She was fast asleep in her bed, dreaming no doubt. Lupin hoped of happy things. He stood there for a few minutes, just watching her, before sighing and leaving the room. He could never let her find out about Black. She was already curious about him. If she found out … Lupin didn't know what he'd do. He knew how much Jenna was capable of running away at any moment. If she learnt what her father was then he'd lose her for good.

While thinking of this, Lupin had returned downstairs and quietly walked out of the house. He drew out his wand and locked it with a strong spell. He continued to walk for a few more minutes down the road. He spared a glance at their home, then Apparated away. He reappeared in the courtyard of a castle, the sound of the sea echoing around him: Azkaban.

'I'm here to see Black,' said Lupin heavily to the guard at the gate to the castle. The man looked up at him through the thick darkness.

'Very well,' he replied gruffly. 'Doubt you'll get your answers this time. He's been silent for a while now he has. Only muttering the same thing – "He's at Hogwarts" – whatever that means.'

Lupin didn't care much for how Black was. All he wanted was the necklace so it could go to Jenna, to who it rightfully belonged. Stepping over the threshold Lupin entered the all too familiar corridor towards Black's cell. Black by now should be expecting his yearly visit. Maybe this time he would give up the necklace. Lupin didn't keep his hopes up. He dared not, especially with Dementors surrounding him, guarding the prisoners.

However, when Lupin reached Black's cell, it was empty.

'He's escaped,' Lupin muttered to himself. His heart sank. If in previous visits Black had assumed that Lupin had found Jenna he'd be heading straight for their house. If he wasn't there now he'd be there soon. 'He's escaped!' shouted Lupin, arousing the attention of the Dementors. 'Black's escaped!'

A ruckus ensued and a search of the castle was started. Lupin, however, ran straight out to the courtyard and Apparated straight back to Moonlake Cottage. When he got there Lupin ran up to the front door. It hadn't been forced open, nor was it unlocked. Quietly he stopped the Locking Spell on it and walked inside. Nothing had been turned upside-down or ransacked. Lupin continued up to Jenna's bedroom. His footsteps creaked on the floorboards ever so slightly. Jenna's door was still closed. He peered inside her room to see she was still there fast asleep. Lupin let out a sigh of relief. Black hadn't come. Returning back downstairs Lupin sat down tiredly in the sitting room. Jenna wasn't safe anymore. If he knew Black, he wouldn't stop at anything until he had Jenna back. Also, because of him being a high-security prisoner at Azkaban, the Dementors would stop at nothing until they had him.

'Those Dementors, they'll kill Jenna eventually,' Lupin muttered to himself. 'But why would Black escape? He wouldn't do so just to get his hands on Jenna. He doesn't even know for sure if she's alive.' He thought for a moment. 'There must be another reason to why he escaped,' concluded Lupin. 'But what?'

-o-

Despite Lupin's persistent nagging about learning things, the holidays weren't all that bad. On the last Friday of July I got a letter from Ron telling me to look in the _Daily Prophet_ the next day and that he'd tried to ring Harry a week ago and that it'd gone terribly wrong. Apparently he'd yelled down the phone when it was picked up by Harry's uncle. Ouch! I just hoped Harry was all right. Ron himself was in Egypt, enjoying a family holiday. Good for him. I wrote to Harry straight after I got Ron's letter saying I hoped he was all right and that his uncle hadn't killed him. I'd only caught glimpses of the man before and he didn't seem that nice. I also sent with the letter Harry's birthday card. I didn't have much money so I only sent him a card. Because of Lupin being jobless quite often I had to save most of the money we had for school equipment.

The next day I waited for the _Prophet_ to come as Ron told me to do so. At eight thirty that morning it arrived via a screech owl and I paid for its delivery. However, before I could even look at it Lupin had taken it from the table and started reading it. I just looked at him.

'I was going to read that,' I said, huffily.

'Age before beauty,' replied Lupin. He looked at me and smiled. We always had our little jokes.

'Dust before the broom,' I told him.

'Very funny, Jenna.' Lupin was silent for a few moments as he read the front page. His already tired face seemed to darken at it. Then he looked up and said distractedly, 'Jenna, I need you to go into London today and do some shopping. We need more ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion.'

I nodded and went upstairs to get dressed. When I came back down with my bag for shopping I saw Lupin still in the kitchen, now with a cup of tea, still reading the paper. I shook my head. He told me to get some gold out of Gringotts for the ingredients and handed me the key before returning to the _Prophet_. So I went to Diagon Alley.

After the bumpy Floo powder trip I arrived in Diagon Alley. Because it was still early in the morning there weren't many people about. Taking the key I went to Gringotts and got out enough gold for all the stuff I needed then headed to the apothecary. I was a regular customer there when it came to getting these things and so the owner knew what I was there for when I entered the show.

'Wolfsbane Potion ingredients?' he asked me. I nodded. Lupin usually pre-ordered the ingredients. From behind the counter he pulled out a small box and handed it to me. 'Five Galleons and nine Sickles please.' I handed him the money and left the shop.

But something happened when I left the shop which both scared and confused me. I was on my way back to the Leaky Cauldron so I could Floo back to Moonlake Cottage when I felt something or someone grab me round my waist. They put their hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream. I was dragged into a nearby alleyway and thrust up against the wall. I had my eyes closed out of fear.

'Scream and I'll cut your throat,' said a voice. It was deep but it sounded like it hadn't been used in years. 'Now give me all the gold you have.'

I opened my eyes to look at my attacker. He had very long, matted black hair reaching down to his elbows. His face was very near to mine. I could see his grey eyes had sunken into his skull and skin was all waxy with dark circles round them as if he hadn't slept in ages. He looked a bit like a zombie. However, the moment I opened my eyes, the man backed away, dropping the knife he'd been holding to my throat.

'It's not possible,' I heard him breath.

I looked at him strangely. It was like I reminded him of someone. But before I could say anything, he disappeared down the alleyway, leaving the knife behind. I went deeper into the alley to see where the man had gone but he'd completely vanished. He was nowhere to be seen. I guess he must have Apparated out of here or something. Behind me was the man's knife. I walked over to it and carefully picked it up.

Suddenly a pain started in my head and I saw images flash over my eyes.

_An alleyway, a person lying dead on the ground, a man crying by her side … a park, a man shouting someone's name, looking in the bushes …_

I dropped the knife and stumbled backwards. What just happened? In the space of a split second I'd seen two different places where two separate events happened. And yet, the same man had been in them … the man who'd just attacked me only younger by about twelve years or so. But what confused me was that those images I knew. The first had been my Mum's death, the other of the park I was left in. But ... why would I see those images? What did that man have to do with me? A thought suddenly occurred to me. It couldn't be, it wasn't physically possible, but something inside me told me it was. I picked up the knife again and left the alley.

Immediately I returned home. I placed the package on the table and searched the kitchen and living room for Lupin. As I dumped the shopping I saw the _Prophet_ was still on the table. I stopped and read the article on the front page.

_BLACK STILL AT LARGE_

_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is  
__still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today._

_'We are doing all we can to recapture Black,' said Minister for Magic, Cornelius  
__Fudge, this morning, 'and we beg the magical community to remain calm.'_

_Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Federation of  
__Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis._

_'Well, really, I had to, don't you know,' said an irritable Fudge. 'Black is mad. He's a  
__danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's  
__assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's  
__face it _– _who'd believe him if he did?'_

My heart lurched. The man on the front, it was the same man who'd attacked me, I was sure of it. But that wasn't what I was upset about. His name … Sirius Black, I knew it beside the fact he had the same surname as me. I ran upstairs and quickly found the letter from my Mum. I knew it! But still I didn't want to believe it. Going back to my original train of thought, I ran outside to find Lupin. He was busy in one of the fields. It looked like he was preparing another training course for me. I had more important things on my mind though and I ran over to him.

'My father's Sirius Black!' I said straight out. Lupin instantly stopped what he was doing and looked worriedly at me. I'd never seen him look so troubled before. But I didn't care. Lupin had kept something important from me and now I wanted the truth. 'You knew all along! How could you not tell me?'

'Jenna, listen to me,' he began but I stopped him, shouting, 'All those times you took me to Azkaban and you never let me see him! You stopped me every time I wanted to know who he was, hiding my own father from me!'

Lupin sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

'Because I didn't want you to know what he was,' he said heavily. I looked at him curiously. He didn't look at me for a few minutes. Eventually he faced me. 'Jenna, I didn't want him to find out I'd found you. I spent ten years looking for you after he abandoned you. I didn't want to risk losing you again.'

'But why was he in prison?' I asked. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes. 'Why didn't you want me to know who my father was?'

'Because he's a murderer.'

I didn't know what it was but when Lupin said that I felt like my world was falling apart. My father was a – a murderer? It couldn't be. I felt Lupin lead me inside the house and sit me down in the sitting room. I just stared into space. I didn't notice Lupin disappear then reappear with a drink for me in his hands. I looked at him.

'I want to know what he did,' I said quietly. 'Tell me what happened.' Lupin took the seat opposite me and sighed again.

'As you know, twelve years ago, Voldemort was defeated when he attempted to kill Harry,' said Lupin. I nodded. 'Your father was one of Voldemort's supporters, said to be in his inner circle. I had no idea he was, not even when your mother was murdered. The night Lily and James, Harry's parents, were murdered Black lost everything. Next day, he was tracked down and he killed twelve Muggles and the wizard who found him. He was arrested and has been in Azkaban ever since.'

'Why did you go to Azkaban when it's obvious you don't like him?' I asked.

'To get something back from him which is rightfully yours, something he's had for years: your mother's necklace.'

'And why has he escaped?' I asked.

'According to the article in the _Prophet_, he wants to finish what he started … and kill Harry.'

A stab went through my heart and I gasped. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't! I didn't want to believe my father was some maniac who'd escaped prison in order to come after my best friend. And for some reason I didn't believe it. Something in my head was telling me that it _wasn't_ true. I didn't mention this to Lupin. He'd kept who my father was from me in order to protect me from being hurt. But at the moment, I couldn't even face him.

The rest of August was terrible for me. I read the _Daily Prophet_ every day in case there was anything about Sirius Black in there. I wasn't physically able to acknowledge him as my "Dad". There always was but nothing told me about his past or any more of what he'd done. I'd only got the shortened version of what had happened as I found out when I was back at school. Each day I looked at the picture of him being held back and his prison number. There was such a crazy look in his eye. I found it hard to believe I looked so much like a person I never knew.

My thirteenth birthday came as did my letter from Hogwarts, this year with an extra form allowing third years into Hogsmeade. I went to Lupin to get it signed but he refused. He said it was too dangerous if Black was near Hogwarts looking for Harry. I knew what his reasoning was: if Black saw me, he'd recognise me and try to take me back. Well he'd already seen me but turned tail and ran. I hadn't told Lupin though. The following day Lupin took me to Diagon Alley so I could get my things for the new school year. I saw a few people I recognised but I assumed most people had got their things already. Lupin tried to make me talk to him but I was still angry at him. To make up for it, he said he'd treat me to something of my choice.

'I want a haircut,' I said straight out. I'd been thinking about it for a while and had come to the conclusion that, besides the fact my hair was very boring anyway, it was that which made me most look like Black; we had the same neat black hair. With my mind made up Lupin took me down a street to the Hairspellers. He left me there with a plea to not do anything _too_ drastic then disappeared as he had to organise some things for his teaching post.

'Now, what would we like done today?' asked the woman in the shop. She sat me down in front of a mirror and was running her fingers through me hair. 'We've got some lovely new styles just in. Really liven up your hair.' She showed me a magazine of all sorts of styles. All of them were really showy and glamorous, something I wasn't.

'How about that?' I asked, pointing at one of the pictures. The lady in it had two-toned hair, the shades blending together with what must have been her natural colour. 'I like that.'

'Hmm, you're a bit young to get your hair spell-dyed,' muttered the witch. 'You're at Hogwarts, aren't you?' I nodded. 'I think we might be able to work around it.'

The witch took out her wand and next minute, my hair was covered in bubbles as she gave it a thorough wash. Just over an hour later she had finished whatever it was she had planned. My hair was still the same length (down to my waist) but was now in layers flowing down my back; my parting had changed from a central to a side one so I now had a sweeping fringe crossing over my eyes; but the biggest change was that I now had red streaks of hair hidden in amongst my natural black colour. I have to say it suited me pretty well. Lupin, however, was not pleased that I'd done it.

'Do you really think Professor McGonagall is going to let you get away with those?' he asked when we got home. 'Spelling your hair is not allowed at Hogwarts.'

'Lupin, there's a boy a couple years above me with bright green hair!' I argued. 'No one's told him off for it.'

'Jenna, is this about your father?' asked Lupin resignedly. He looked at me. 'Because you don't want people finding out? So Harry doesn't find out?'

I looked at Lupin, stunned, then said, 'OK, yes it is. Do you know how much he'll hate me if he found out that my dad is supposedly responsible for the death of his parents? How much anyone would hate me for having a so-called murderer as a father when I don't even know him?'

'Jenna, you shouldn't worry,' said Lupin. 'If Harry's your friend then he shouldn't judge you on who your father is. He probably doesn't even know Black's after him, let alone who he is. You've nothing to do with Black.'

'But his blood still runs in my veins.' I turned away from Lupin to go to my room to think, something I did a lot of though I was only thirteen. 'I'll always be a Black.'

The end of the holidays came and for once (and certainly not the last time) I was not looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, facing the greatest challenge of my life to date in hiding who I really was, deceiving my friends.

On the last day of the holidays Lupin booked me a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the night before returning to Hogwarts and I met up with Ron and Hermione at Diagon Alley where we also hoped to meet Harry as he'd apparently been staying at the Leaky Cauldron, according to Ron's dad. We'd met up quite early that morning to buy any things left we needed before school started, and because Harry still wasn't up we'd gone into Diagon Alley to have something to eat at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. It had been while we were there that we finally saw Harry and by the looks of he'd had a haircut. In fact, all four of us had changed a bit over the summer. While Harry had had a haircut it was still as messy as always, just hiding his scar; Ron's hair was a bit longer and gave him an even more bemused look than usual as it stood on end; Hermione had finally grown out her fringe while I had gained one and the streaks of course. Harry was certainly pleased to see us but was a bit confused as to how we knew he was here.

'Dad told us,' said Ron. 'As well as something rather interesting about your aunt.'

'Oh, you heard about that?' said Harry sheepishly.

'Did you _really_ blow up your aunt, Harry?' asked Hermione, a serious tone of voice.

'I didn't mean to,' Harry said. Ron and I burst out laughing. Well, it took my mind off Sirius Black. 'I just – lost control.'

'It's not funny, Ron,' said Hermione sharply. 'Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled.'

'So am I,' admitted Harry. 'Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested. You're dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?' he then asked Ron.

'Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?' shrugged Ron. 'Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to _me_ if I blew up my aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione and Jenna are there as well!'

Ron then showed us the new wand he'd finally got to replace his broken one from last year. It was about time too, his old wand had caused him so much trouble last year. It had been bought with the gold his dad had won from a competition in the _Daily Prophet_. Harry then saw the three massive shopping bags Hermione had with her from this morning's shopping.

'Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I?' she said. 'Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies –'

'What are you doing Muggle Studies for?' said Ron. 'You're Muggle-born!' He had a point.

'It'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view,' said Hermione.

'Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?' asked Harry. Ron sniggered. She ignored them.

'I've still got ten Galleons,' she muttered, looking in her purse. 'It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present?'

'How about a nice _book_?' suggested Ron. Hermione sent him a look.

'No, I don't think so. I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig, Jenna's got Gizmo and you've got Errol –'

'I haven't, Errol's the family owl,' said Ron. 'All I've got is Scabbers.'

Ron pulled out the grey rat from his pocket. He really did look pathetic, even for a rat. Ron said he'd been a bit ill while they'd been in Egypt so, as Hermione wanted to get a pet, we went to the Magical Menagerie across the street to have a look. It was where I had bought Gizmo two years ago and Harry had got Hedwig. While Ron and Harry went to sort out Scabbers, I helped Hermione look round for a pet for herself. We went straight over to where all the owls were kept. There were screech owls, eagle owls, elf owls, pygmy owls, barn owls, but none of them were quite what Hermione wanted. All of a sudden there was a commotion behind us. We looked round to see a giant ginger cat land on Ron's head and chase after Scabbers. The shop owner lunged forwards and caught the cat while Ron and Harry ran after Scabbers.

'Oh, Crookshanks, you naughty thing!' snapped the owner, holding him back as he tried to claw his way after them. 'What are we going to do with you?'

Beside me, Hermione's eyes lit up.

'Oh he's gorgeous!' she squealed. She walked over to the front desk to get a better look at him. I followed. The cat was still pawing at the air to get away but stopped when he saw her. Hermione raised her hand and gently scratched his ear. The purr that came from it was like a tank. 'You're gorgeous, aren't you?' she said. 'What did you say his name was again?'

'Crookshanks,' said the owner. 'He's been a right nuisance though. Hardly anyone wants to buy him, he keeps chasing everything.'

I looked at the cat, now purring happily in Hermione's arms. He was rather larger than a normal cat and had very bushy ginger-striped fur which was matted slightly in various places. His tail was very furry indeed. He looked kind of like a miniature lion. When Hermione placed him back on the counter I saw his legs were rather bowed and his face looked like he'd run into a door or something. Despite his appearance he seemed very affectionate. He kept running his head along Hermione's chest to get her to stroke him again. That's when I noticed something. Crookshanks' ears were much larger than a normal cat's.

'What kind of breed is Crookshanks?' I asked, curious. If he was what I thought he was, Crookshanks wasn't fully cat.

'He's a Persian,' said the owner, 'but we think he's got a bit of Kneazle in him. He always manages to get out of cage no matter how many times we lock him in it.'

Of course, Kneazles are known for their intelligence. And it certainly explained the ears.

'What d'you think, Jenna?' asked Hermione. 'Should I get him?'

'If he's what you want,' I said. 'He definitely seems to want you.'

In the end Hermione did buy Crookshanks, much to Ron's annoyance when we came out of the shop with him in Hermione's arms. He couldn't believe Hermione had bought him especially after what it had done to Scabbers, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. Hermione didn't listen.

'Poor Crookshanks, that witch she said he'd been in there for ages: no one wanted him,' she said, stroking his head.

'I wonder why,' said Ron. He turned away and we walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. 'You just keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cosy.'

'It's a cat, Ronald, what do you expect?' said Hermione. 'It's in his nature.'

'A cat? Is that what they told you? It looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me.'

Harry and I shared a look. Ron and Hermione couldn't go five minutes without arguing about something, could they?

We went through the stone wall that separated Diagon Alley and the pub and went in the back entrance. We took a seat in the main room, Harry thankfully changing the subject so we talked about Ron's holiday to Egypt. I was just thankful no one had brought up Sirius Black yet. Ron grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling out the newspaper clipping of him and his family outside a pyramid from the _Daily Prophet_.

'What's it like?' asked Harry.

'Brilliant,' said Ron. 'Lots of old stuff like mummies and tombs. Even Scabbers enjoyed himself.'

'You know the Egyptians used to worship cats,' said Hermione.

'Yeah, that along with the dung beetle.'

'Here we go again,' I said sarcastically.

Harry grinned at me; I smiled back. Just then in came Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George.

'Not flashing that clipping again, are you, Ron?' said George. He snapped it up off the table.

'I haven't shown anyone,' said Ron.

'No, not a soul,' said Fred. 'Not unless you count Tom –'

'– the day maid –' added George.

'– the night maid –'

'– the cook –'

'– the bloke who fixed the toilet –'

'– and that wizard from Belgium.'

'Come on, you two, behave.' Mr Weasley, a smiling balding wizard still with some red hair, had just walked into the bar and joined us. 'Harry, how are you?' He had a paper in his hand and I could see the photo of Sirius Black looking up at us, the mad glint still in his eye.

'They still haven't caught him, then?' asked Harry.

'No,' said Mr Weasley gravely, looking at the picture. 'They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far. Are you all right, Jenna? You look quite pale.'

I looked up to see Mr Weasley, Harry, Ron and Hermione all looking at me strangely. I hadn't realised I'd paled from mentioning Sirius Black.

'I-I'm fine,' I said, albeit nervously.

Luckily I was spared saying anything else seeing as Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Percy had just walked in and attention was drawn to Percy being Hogwarts' new Head Boy. Ginny blushed as she said hello to Harry while Percy pompously stepped forwards and shook Harry's hand. I had to hold back my laughs when Fred and George took the mick out of him.

'Harry!' Fred said, elbowing Percy out the way and bowing deeply. 'Simply _splendid_ to see you, old boy –'

'Marvellous,' said George, pushing Fred aside. 'Absolutely spiffing.'

Mrs Weasley didn't seem to see the joke, even more so when Fred tried it on her. It seemed that Percy's appointment of Head Boy had merely given the twins an excuse to rile him even more than they usually did. Mrs Weasley wasn't impressed, saying they were setting a bad example to Ginny. It continued on until during dinner when Percy asked about the Ministry cars that were going to pick us up tomorrow to go to King's Cross.

That night I learnt more about Sirius Black's history. I'd been outside the Leaky Cauldron after dinner when I was told the pub was closing by the bar-keeper, Tom. I went back inside and passed the parlour to get to the stairs only to hear a couple of voices. It was Mr and Mrs Weasley and they were arguing.

'Molly, please be reasonable,' I heard Mr Weasley say. 'The Ministry is being absurd. It makes no sense not to tell him. Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and –'

'Arthur, the truth would terrify him!' said Mrs Weasley shrilly.

As they continued to speak, I heard footsteps move on the opposite side of the room to me. Quickly, scared of being found eavesdropping, I changed into a cat and crept into the parlour to hide. I hid under the table near to where Ron's parents were standing so I could hear what they were saying.

'Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the _Daily Prophet_, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after –'

'But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts.'

I tensed. That had confirmed my earlier fears. Black was after Harry. Suddenly there was a thump on the table I was under and I jumped backwards slightly.

'Molly, how many times do I have to tell you?' said Mr Weasley irritably. 'They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: "He's at Hogwarts … he's at Hogwarts." Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that …'

I didn't want to hear anymore. I just crept through the open door to the staircase, passing somebody by the door as I did so, and ran up the stairs as quickly as possible. I just wanted to be alone in my room. As soon as I got there, I transformed back and shut the door before collapsing down on the bed, fighting back the tears. I couldn't believe it was all true. I still didn't want to believe it was true. After about ten minutes I finally calmed down and got up, walking over to my window. It was silent outside on both the Muggle and the wizard sides of London. On my left was a mirror. I looked at it.

'I look so like him,' I mumbled to myself. I could see something in me which had been in him in the picture of him and my Mum. 'He's got to be innocent; he's just got to be.'

'You're holding on to very few threads of hope,' the mirror said. I glared at it.

'What are you, a fortune teller or a mirror?'

It didn't say anything else.

My dreams were once again haunted by the death of my Mum but this time I was remembering more of what happened after that. Black had been crying by her side when he found her. I couldn't help but wonder if those tears were real and at that moment I thought I'd never find out.


	11. Deceiving My Friends

Chapter 10

Deceiving My Friends

I was woken the next morning by Mrs Weasley shaking my shoulder. I got up, dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. I joined Mrs Weasley, Hermione and Ginny who were talking about a Love Potion. I just rolled my eyes. Percy was ranting about a picture of his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater which had got ruined by Ron and Mr Weasley was reading the front of the _Prophet_.

At quarter to eleven we took Ministry cars to King's Cross station and headed straight for the barrier to platform nine and three-quarters. Mr Weasley was keeping a very close eye on Harry all the way. In a seconds notice we were on the platform and the familiar red gleam of the Hogwarts Express was in front of us. Percy instantly went off to see his girlfriend.

We stowed our trunks and various pets on to the train before getting off again to say goodbye and thank you to Mr and Mrs Weasley. She gave each of her children hugs and kisses before doing the same to Hermione, Harry and me (she did Harry twice). It was such a strange feeling. Then, as she gave us all sandwiches that she'd made, I noticed Mr Weasley call Harry over. I couldn't help but know what it was going to be about. I just watched as Mr Weasley and Harry spoke before Mrs Weasley got us on to the train. The whistle went and Harry managed to get on the train just in time.

We waved goodbye to Mr and Mrs Weasley as train pulled out of the station. Once it was moving Harry turned to us saying he had to tell us something. Ron told Ginny to go away then the four of us made our way down the train with our trunks and pets to find an empty compartment. There were barely any free except for one right at the end of the train. It had only one occupant. My eyes lit up when I saw him. It was Lupin and he was fast asleep. Well, the full moon had only been a few nights ago.

'Come on,' said Hermione. 'Everywhere else is full.' We went in and stowed our trunks on the shelves above.

'Who d'you reckon he is?' hissed Ron, sitting down opposite Lupin.

'Professor R. J. Lupin,' I said at once. I felt quite proud saying it too.

'How d'you know that?' asked Ron. 'How is it she and Hermione know everything?'

'It's on his suitcase, Ronald,' replied Hermione, pointing at the luggage rack. Lupin's old battered case was there. 'Jenna probably saw it there.'

'No,' I said, taking the seat next to Lupin. 'It's because he's my Uncle.'

'That's your uncle?' asked Harry. 'Is he all right? He looks a bit ... ill.'

'Yeah, he's fine. He's just a bit tired at the moment.'

'Wonder what he teaches?' said Ron, frowning at Lupin's pallid profile.

'That's obvious,' whispered Hermione. 'There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defence Against the Dark Arts.'

'Well, I hope he's up to it. He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway ...' Ron turned to Harry, 'what were you going to tell us?'

'Do you think he's really asleep?' asked Harry, glancing at him.

'Seems to be,' said Hermione. 'Why?'

Harry took another glance at him before standing up and closing the door to the compartment. He told us about the argument Mr and Mrs Weasley had last night, the one I'd also witnessed, and about Sirius Black being after him. Ron looked thunderstruck at the idea while Hermione had her hands over her mouth; I was the only one who didn't appear to be taking the news to badly, considering I already knew. They certainly seemed to be taking it worse than Harry had.

'Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to come after _you_?' said Hermione. Harry nodded. 'Oh, Harry ... you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble.'

'I don't go looking for trouble,' said Harry. There was a slight annoyed tone in his voice. 'Trouble usually finds _me_.'

'You said Black escaped Azkaban,' I then said. 'I thought Azkaban was meant to be inescapable so how could he get out?' That was something that had confused me since I first heard about him.

'No one knows how he got out of Azkaban,' said Ron. 'No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner, too.'

'But they'll catch Black, won't they?' asked Hermione. 'I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking for him too ...'

'Sure,' said Ron, 'except no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before and he's a murderous, raving lunatic.'

'Thanks, Ron,' said Harry. I let out a quiet snort.

'What's wrong with you?' asked Ron, looking at me. I avoided his eye. Just then, a faint, tinny sort of whistling started above me.

'What's that noise?' I asked.

It turned out to be Harry's Pocket Sneakoscope that Ron had given him for his birthday. It made such an annoying racket! Hermione was very intrigued by it but it was making such a noise that Ron shoved it in a pair of socks and back in his trunk to block it out. We didn't want to wake Lupin. Ron seemed to think that the Sneakoscope was broken as it had done the same when he sent it to Harry and suggested we get it checked in Dervish and Banges when we got to Hogwarts. It was one of the shops apparently that was in Hogsmeade, the village we were allowed to visit. Well, almost all of us.

'Won't it be nice to get out of the school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?' Hermione said to which both mine and Harry's faces fell.

''Spect it will,' he said. 'You'll have to tell me when you've found out.'

'What d'you mean?' asked Ron.

'I can't go. The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either.'

'_You're not allowed to come?_' burst Ron. 'But – no way – McGonagall or someone will give you permission –'

'Well then we better see if she can sign mine too,' I said. The other three stared at me. 'I can't go either.'

'I bet she would – or we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle –'

'Ron!' said Hermione sharply. 'I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose –'

'Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask for permission,' said Harry.

'But if _we're_ with him,' said Ron, 'Black wouldn't dare –'

'Yeah, like three teenagers can stop a murderer,' I said sarcastically.

'Don't talk rubbish, Ronald,' snapped Hermione. 'Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street, do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because _we're_ there?'

Hermione got up and reached up for Crookshanks' basket to let him out. Ron instantly objected and so that was the start of another argument until they remembered about Lupin in the corner. He remained asleep for most of the journey. He did have his advantages though. When Malfoy made his appearance with Crabbe and Goyle at his sides, after a somewhat rude comment about Ron's parents he noticed Lupin before stalking away, annoyed he couldn't start any trouble. I saw Malfoy had changed a bit over the summer as well even if he was as stuck up as ever; his hair was no longer slicked back like it used to be but instead falling around his face. While he couldn't cause trouble in our compartment, he did manage to get to me later on.

I'd been going back to our compartment from the toilet when he spotted me from his own.

'So daddy's broken out, has he?' I heard him say. I stopped and looked back at him.

'I don't know what you're on about,' I said coolly to him before turning away.

'Poor, poor, Potter,' continued Malfoy. 'Doesn't know his best friend's darkest secret. It'd be a shame if someone was to – er … let it slip out.' Now I knew he wasn't kidding. I faced him again. 'You may have managed to hide who you are from Potter and Weasel by adding those things to your hair but you won't be able to hide for long,' said Malfoy maliciously.

I glared at him, unable to speak. He had me cornered.

'Better watch your back this year, Black,' said Malfoy, grinning. 'Or someone might just tell Potter the truth.'

'You dare tell him,' I growled quietly, 'and I swear, I will get even with you.'

I stormed back off to my compartment. Outside the rain was hammering on the window as the train rattled down the track. The lights flickered on in the carriages. When I got back Harry asked where I'd been and I told them about my small run-in with Malfoy. It merely irritated Ron more than when he'd appeared earlier. We had to tell him to cool it otherwise he'd wake Lupin. I looked at my watch. We must have been getting close to arriving at Hogwarts soon. That is, until the train started to slow.

'We can't be there yet,' asked Hermione, checking the time as well.

Harry got up and looked out of our compartment. Voices could be heard all the way up the corridor. Suddenly the train jerked and Harry fell back into his seat next to me. The lights began to flicker above us until they completely cut out. We couldn't see anything through the darkness and all we could hear was the rain slamming the window.

'What's going on?' said Ron.

'Ouch, Ron, you stood on my foot,' hissed Hermione.

'D'you think we've broken down?' asked Harry.

'Dunno ...' Ron wiped the window with his sleeve. He peered through it, his hand placed on the glass. 'There's something moving out there.'

As I watched I noticed the water on the glass slowly start to freeze. It went all along the window to the next one; the water in Lupin's bottle also froze. I could even see my breath in front of me.

'Is it me or is it getting colder in here?' I said. I could feel myself shiver. Only one thing could make a place this cold and I hoped whole heartedly I was wrong.

The train shuddered. We jumped when someone suddenly fell into our compartment but it was only Neville. Harry pulled him up on to the seat we were on. Hermione made to go speak to the driver when we were joined by Ginny who'd also be fumbling about in the darkness looking for Ron. She almost sat on Harry then Neville causing him to shout out.

'Quiet!' hissed a voice. I looked up to see Lupin had woken up. In his hand were a handful of flames which illuminated the compartment. He glanced down at me, then said, 'Stay where you are.'

Lupin made for the door then stopped. A shadowy figure had appeared at the door. It was just a single ripped cloak floating in the air. It reached out its hand and opened the door, its hand holding the edge as it peered inside. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville all leaned away in their seats as Crookshanks hissed and Scabbers hid in Ron's jacket. I just stared at it, completely paralyzed from the cold. The thing looked towards me and Harry and the next thing I heard was the familiar long, rattling breath. It was a Dementor. Slowly I felt myself begin to lose consciousness as it drew in a long breath. It felt like a part of me was slowly being torn away from my body and I gasped for breath. In my head I could hear Mum's voice again.

Just before I passed out I saw the familiar glow of a Patronus illuminating the compartment and through the screams in my head I could just hear the faint howl of Lupin's wolf Patronus. After that I felt my body slump on to the seat and I passed out. I woke up ten minutes later to see Lupin looking down on me, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville just behind him. I sat up feeling very dizzy. We were moving again. Beside me, Harry was still unconscious. Lupin sat beside me to make sure I was all right.

'I'm fine,' I told him, not wanting to be fussed over.

'It's nothing to be ashamed of, Jenna,' he whispered to me before turning to Harry.

Harry woke about five minutes after me. He'd been out for about twenty minutes in total. I guess because we were older, we didn't get affected as much as I had the first time I encountered a Dementor. But Harry seemed and felt like I did then. He was disorientated and felt weak. Hermione gave him back his glasses as he sat up. He asked us about a woman who'd been screaming but I knew that that had only been in his head, like Mum's voice. A sudden loud snap made all of us jump.

'Here,' said Lupin. He had a large bar of chocolate in his hand and was breaking it into pieces. He handed one to Harry. 'Eat. It'll help.'

'What was that thing?' asked Harry.

'It was a Dementor,' said Lupin now handing the rest of us some chocolate. I instantly took mine and began to suck on it, feeling the warmth as my strength returned. Hermione followed suit but the others were still holding it. 'One of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now. It was searching the train for Sirius Black.' I tensed as Lupin said this. 'Eat,' he repeated, seeing the others weren't doing so. 'It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me ...'

Lupin left. It was silent in the compartment for a few minutes. I continued to keep silent, looking out the window, eating the chocolate. Hermione had got up off the floor and picked Crookshanks up before sitting beside Ron. Harry was still very confused.

'Are you sure you're OK, Harry?' she asked.

'I don't get it ... what happened to me?' said Harry.

'Well – that thing – the Dementor – stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face) – and you –'

'We thought you were having a fit or something,' said Ron. 'You sort of went rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching –'

'And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked towards the Dementor, and pulled out his wand,' said Hermione. 'And said, "None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." But the Dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned round and sort of glided away ...'

'It was horrible,' said Neville. I glanced at him to see he looked as pale as I did; so did Ginny for the matter where she sat with Hermione's arm round her. 'Did you feel how cold it went when it came in?'

'I felt weird though,' muttered Ron. 'Like I'd never be cheerful again ...'

'But did any of you – fall off your seats?' asked Harry.

'Jenna went really pale and fainted just after you while Ginny was shaking like mad ....' I glanced at Ron as he said this. I could feel Harry looking at me.

Nothing else was said about the Dementors for the rest of the trip, nor did Lupin return. I had the distinct feeling Harry didn't want to talk about him fainting any more. I wanted to tell him that it was natural for that to happen when you first meet a Dementor but the fact that Ron and the others hadn't fainted as well made me think it wasn't. But why had Harry and I fainted when the others hadn't?

At long last the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. We gathered our things and got off the train. In the distance we could hear Hagrid calling the first years. He called over to us but we were shunted away before we could wave back. We went over to the carriages and I saw the weird horse things again from the previous year; I'd done a bit of research after the first time I saw them and discovered they were called Thestrals. I didn't hang around as I didn't want to look at them and got into a carriage with the others. The carriage trundled up the track towards the castle. I looked out the window to see there were more Dementors flanking the main gates. The carriages climbed the sloping drive and pulled up outside the front doors. As soon as we got out of our carriage, we heard Malfoy come walking up to us to jeer at Harry for fainting on the train. Luckily Lupin appeared and saved us from another expectant fight.

'Is there a problem?' he asked, his voice as mild as always. Malfoy looked up and down Lupin. I knew he was looking at Lupin's shabby robes.

'Oh, no – er – _Professor_,' he said with a smirk then walked off with Crabbe and Goyle. I glared at his back.

That year I missed the Sorting. I'd barely got into the castle when Professor McGonagall came along and pulled Harry, Hermione and I away from the rest of the crowd. She led us up the stairs and to her office where Madam Pomfrey came bursting in minutes later. It turned out that when Lupin had left us on the train, he'd sent a message ahead to Hogwarts saying that Harry and I had fainted. Madam Pomfrey wasn't surprised to see it was us, instantly thinking we'd been doing something dangerous again as she poked and prodded us with her wand. We both insisted that we were fine but neither of the staff seemed to hear us.

'What does he need?' asked Professor McGonagall. 'Bed rest? Should they perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?'

'We're fine!' shouted Harry, jumping to his feet.

'Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very least,' said Madam Pomfrey.

'We've already had some,' said Harry. 'Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us.'

'Professor Lupin always carries chocolate on him,' I added. 'He never goes anywhere without it.'

'Did he, now?' said Madam Pomfrey. 'So we've finally got a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies.'

'As Miss Black's uncle, I'd be worried if he didn't considering what she and Potter get into,' said Professor McGonagall. She then turned to us. 'Are you sure you feel all right?'

'_Yes_,' said Harry and I firmly.

'Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her timetable, then we can go down to the feast together.'

Madam Pomfrey left the room, still muttering. Harry and I followed after her and waited outside. Harry was still a bit miffed that Lupin had told the teachers we'd fainted.

'Why did he do that?' he asked me tersely. 'I don't need to be babied!'

'He probably just did it to be sure,' I said. 'Dementors are nasty things from what I've heard. It's not the first time Lupin's faced them. That's why he always carries chocolate with him, in case he runs into one.'

Professor McGonagall was only with Hermione for a few minutes before they came out of her office and we went to the Great Hall for the feast. Hermione was quite upset that we'd missed the Sorting. As we took the seats Ron had saved for us, he asked us what McGonagall had wanted. We began to explain but were cut short when Dumbledore stood up. The Hall fell silent.

'Welcome!' said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. 'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast …'

The four of us looked at each other. Dumbledore had never done his "welcome back" speech until after we'd eaten. And if something was serious … I had a horrible feeling I knew what this was about.

'As you will all be aware after their search on the Hogwarts Express,' continued Dumbledore, 'our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.' He paused briefly. 'They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Now whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities, a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt and the ones that get in their way. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even Invisibility Cloaks.' Why did I have a feeling he meant us? 'It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving or understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the Prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs foul of the Dementors.

'On a happier note,' he continued, 'I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

'Firstly, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.'

There was a scattered round of applause through the Hall. I grinned happily about Lupin getting the job. He did stand out a bit though in his robes against all the other teachers in their smart ones. Just to Lupin's right though, Professor Snape was looking extremely sour about it, even more so than when Gilderoy Lockhart got the job last year.

'As to our second new appointment,' Dumbledore continued, 'well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties.'

The four of us looked at each other stunned. We joined in with the loud applause that went round the Hall, led mainly by the Gryffindors. Like Ron said, we should've known considering we had to buy a biting textbook. Hagrid was looking round the Hall, his black eyes glistening as he blushed with pride.

With all the announcements done, the feast began. While I ate though, I was still thinking about what Dumbledore had said about the Dementors. If Dementors couldn't be fooled by tricks or disguises or even Invisibility Cloaks then how could Black have escaped Azkaban? It sounded near gone impossible as nothing seemed to be able to get by the Dementors. How did Black do it? I couldn't figure it out. Maybe there was more to him than Lupin had originally told me. When we finished eating, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I went up to congratulate Hagrid at the teachers table on becoming the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. He was positively beaming. I was so happy he'd gotten the job. Who better to teach us than him?

We joined the throng of Gryffindors up to the portrait of the Fat Lady where Percy gave us the new password and we were allowed in. It was good to be back at Hogwarts. It was definitely like a second home for me. Saying goodnight to the boys, Hermione and I disappeared up the girls' staircase with Lavender and Parvati and went to our dormitories. We spent a couple hours catching up with each other before we turned in, ready for whatever the new school year would bring.

Harry and Ron met Hermione and I in the common room the next day and we went down to breakfast together only to find Malfoy doing impressions of Harry fainting on the train over at the Slytherin table. When we sat down George handed us our timetables and saw the sullen look on Harry's face. He asked us what was wrong and we explained about last night.

'That little git,' said George, looking over the Hall at him. 'He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were down our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?'

'Nearly wet himself,' said Fred.

Well that was nice to hear Malfoy had been more of wimp than we had; we hadn't gone running scared into someone else's compartment. I glanced over at him. He flopped down on to the table and started laughing. _What a twat_, I thought. He was all wand and no spell.

Fred and George managed to cheer Harry up with the reminder of the new Quidditch season and that they'd show Malfoy in the first match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Meanwhile Hermione had been looking at our new timetables. She was happy to see we were starting our new subjects today but when Ron looked at hers, he saw that quite a few of Hermione's lessons had been doubled up meaning she'd have to be in three classes at once which wasn't physically possible. Hermione just dismissed it. For me I had both my new subjects of Care of Magical Creatures and Divination which meant I'd be in Hagrid's first class along with Harry, Ron and Hermione as he pointed out when he walked past us on his way up to the staff table. I was curious to what we'd be studying but we had Divination first and we had to get to the North Tower.

That was easier said than done. The four of us had never been to the North Tower before so we had no idea where the Divination classroom was. We went all around the upper floors of the castle but we couldn't find it. It didn't help when a portrait of a knight in the corridor we were in began brandishing his sword at us asking what we were doing there. I just watched bemused as he toppled over and landed face down in the grass. I bit my lip trying not to laugh. The knight leant on his sword to get back up and it sank into the ground; he tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge and he gave up, slumping on the grass and lifting his visor to mop his brow.

'Listen,' said Harry, 'we're looking for the North Tower. You don't know the way, do you?'

'A quest!' The knight sprung to his feet, all previous animosity gone. 'Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!' He tried to pull his sword from the grass then tried to mount the fat pony that shared his portrait. 'On foot then, good sirs and gentle ladies! On! On!'

We chased after the barmy knight as he charged through painting after painting leading us to the North Tower. We came to a long set of stairs spiralling further and further upwards and we guess we were nearing where we needed to be. After climbing dozens of stairs we heard the voices of the other people in our class meaning we were almost there. We found them at the top of the spiral staircase. The knight bade us farewell and galloped off. We climbed the last few stairs and entered another corridor where we found our class gathered waiting to be let into the classroom. Above us was another door where a few minutes later a ladder was lowered.

We climbed the ladder to emerge in a large circular room full of old furniture. There were at least twenty small, circular tables crammed in the small space each surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little pouffes for us to sit on. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed making the room ridiculously hot. The fire didn't help things where it was heating a large copper kettle. There were shelves running round the entire room crammed with dust feathers, stubs of burnt-out candles, packs of tattered playing cards, crystal balls of varying sizes, and countless teacups. But there was no teacher.

From out of nowhere a voice spoke welcoming us. From out of the shadows, a woman wearing numerous shawls came and sat down in the chair at the front of the classroom. She looked at all of us through her large round glasses which had magnified her eyes to at least three times their normal size. I took a seat with the others and listened as Professor Trelawney, she introduced herself as, told us what we were to learn this term in Divination.

'So you have chosen to study Divination,' she said in a voice I guessed was meant to sound mystical and impressive, 'the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in this field ...'

Harry, Ron and I instantly looked at her Hermione. She appeared very startled at the news books could not help her with this.

'Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearing, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy,' she said suddenly, looking at Neville, who almost fell off his pouffe, 'is your grandmother well?'

I was already beginning to think that something about this class was going to be more than a little absurd. Trelawney herself seemed not to be entirely with it, even more so when she told Parvati to "beware a red-haired man" and she instantly edged away from where Ron sat. Something told me a great deal of superstition was involved in this subject.

'In the summer term, we shall progress to the crystal ball –' said Professor Trelawney, '– if we have finished with fire-omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever.

'This first term will be devoted to Tasseomancy or the art of reading of tea leaves and our journey into discovering if you possess the Sight will begin,' said Trelawney dramatically. 'Together, we will cast ourselves into the future; together we shall see if you possess the Sight; together we will look beyond –!'

She waved her arm over to the far end of the classroom. Virtually everyone including myself looked in that direction. Nothing was there.

Trelawney divided us into pairs and set us collecting a teacup each from her collection. When we each had one she poured us some scolding tea from the kettle over the fire which we had to drink so we could read the leaves. Hermione used a Cooling Charm on ours so we could drink it without burning our mouths. We were left with a soggy pile of tea leaves in the base of the cup. We were meant to read these? How? Hermione and I took out our copies of _Unfogging the Future_. I scanned the pages looking for what I gathered I saw in Hermione's cup.

'I think I can see a crescent moon,' I said, staring at her tea leaves. 'That apparently means that your trust will be tested. Maybe someone tells you a secret you've got to keep or something.'

Hermione didn't say anything. She was still staring at my cup. After a few minutes she put it down on the table.

'Oh, I can't see anything,' she muttered. 'This is ridiculous, how are you meant to see shapes in tea leaves? It's just a watery mess.'

Beside us Harry and Ron weren't having much more luck than us. After a while Professor Trelawney came round to see how we were getting on. She stopped at Harry and Ron's table and took hold of Harry's cup to examine it.

'The club … an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup …' muttered Professor Trelawney. 'The skull … danger in your path, my dear … the lock … a dark secret is kept from you …'

Trelawney turned the cup round then gasped, thrusting the cup back on its plate. Harry and Ron exchanged bemused glances.

'My dear,' said Professor Trelawney dramatically, 'you have the Grim.' Mutters went round the class.

'The Grin? What's the Grin?'

'Not the Grin, you idiot, the Grim.'

Turns out the Grim is some giant spectral dog which is supposed to bring death to all who see it. Now I was pretty certain that this class was a big hoax. I was pretty sceptical about the whole Grim thing as was Hermione when we left her class and went back down several floors for Transfiguration. Ron and the rest of the class, however, all appeared on edge about it.

'Death omens, honestly,' Hermione huffed to me as we waited outside the classroom. 'If you ask me, Divination's a very woolly discipline. Now Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject.'

'How could you have gone to Ancient Runes?' I asked. 'Didn't Ron say that was the same time as Divination? And anyway, not all aspects of Divination are as imprecise as something like tea leaves. Some people are just better at the subject than others.' At that, Hermione sent me a sharp look. I shrugged.

As we entered Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall noticed the glances everyone was sending in Harry's direction at the back of the class as she told us about Animagi. I listened eagerly, I was one after all. McGonagall even transformed herself into a cat and back again to show us. No one though appeared impressed.

'Really, what has gotten into you all today?' said Professor McGonagall, changing back. 'Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class.'

'It's not that, Professor,' I said. 'It was really good.'

'Please, Professor,' said Hermione beside me, 'we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and –'

'Ah, of course,' said Professor McGonagall. She frowned. 'There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?' Everyone stared at her.

'Me,' said Harry quietly.

'I see,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The you should know, Potter, that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at the school. None of them have died yet. Seeing death omens is her favourite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues –' She paused. 'Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney ...' Again she stopped. 'You look in excellent health to me, Potter,' Professor McGonagall added in a matter-of-fact manner, 'so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in.'

Hermione and I snickered at that.

Ron was still not convinced when we sat down for lunch no matter how much Hermione and I tried to tell him otherwise. I never knew he was so superstitious. The reason behind it seemed to be because of his Uncle Bilius; he had apparently seen the Grim years ago and died the next day. While they argued about it, I was looking at my copy of _Unfogging the Future _again to find out about this Grim. There was nothing about it which actually said the reason why people tended to die after seeing it. I looked at the picture. A giant black dog stared back at me every so often scratching itself or baring its teeth. For some reason I was reminded about Black when I looked at it. I didn't know why though.

'Divination is a lot of guesswork, if you ask me,' Hermione said to Ron beside me.

'There's nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!' snapped Ron.

_Here they go again_, I thought.

'You didn't seem so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep.'

'Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being rubbish at something for a change!'

I looked up from my book; Harry stopped eating, his fork poised in front of his mouth. We shared a cautious glance. Hermione glared at Ron then slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that it almost knocked over the jug of pumpkin juice. I think Ron had touched a nerve there.

'If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer!' she shouted. 'That lesson was absolute rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!'

She snatched up her bag and stalked off. Ron frowned.

'What's she talking about?' he asked Harry and me. 'She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet.'

Ron and Hermione still weren't speaking to each other as we walked down the slope to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures after lunch. It was only when we noticed three all too familiar backs ahead of us that we realised we were having the class with the Slytherins. In front of us Malfoy was talking animatedly to Crabbe and Goyle who were grunting with laughter. When we arrived at his hut, Hagrid was already waiting for us outside it. He called us round then led us to a nearby paddock just within the first band of trees of the Forest. While he went on he told us to open our textbooks.

'Just how exactly do we do that?' drawled Malfoy.

He had a point. When I first tried to open my book I'd almost lost my fingers. I'd kept the belt tied tightly round it ever since.

'Hasn' – hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?' asked Hagrid. The class shook their heads. 'Well, yer stroke the spines, o' course.' He demonstrated with Hermione's book.

'Oh, how silly we've all been!' sneered Malfoy.

'I ... I thought they were funny,' said Hagrid.

'Oh, tremendously funny,' said Malfoy. 'Really witty, giving us books that try to rip our hands off!'

'Shut up, Malfoy,' growled Harry beside me. I too was glaring at him.

Hagrid turned away and disappeared into the Forest.

'God, this place has gone to the dogs,' said Malfoy when he was gone. I looked back over my shoulder at him. 'That oaf teaching classes, my father will have a fit when I tell him –'

'Shut up, Malfoy,' repeated Harry.

The Slytherins looked at each other "Ooh"-ing at Harry. Malfoy cockily walked forward so he was level with Harry. I watched as his eyes looked behind Harry and he stumbled backwards.

'Dementor! Dementor!' he shouted. The whole class apart from me spun round to look. I just glared at him, knowing fully well there wasn't a Dementor behind us as it was still very hot here in the grounds. Malfoy's gang laughed again, lifting their hoods up and going "Ooh" like ghosts. Hermione pulled Harry away from them.

'You're all wand and no spell, Malfoy,' I said. Malfoy looked at me. 'You're just as much a wimp in the presence of Dementors as the next person.'

'Oh yeah? I am, am I?' Malfoy walked up to me. 'Prove it, Black.' I knew for a fact I couldn't. Malfoy smirked at me.

'You know, some day someone's going to wipe that smirk right off your face,' I told him, 'and believe me, the day that happens, you won't know what hit you.'

'And you're just the one to do it, are you, Liar?' he asked me. I hesitated. Malfoy grinned. Behind me, Harry had heard him and turned back round.

'Don't call Jenna a liar,' he growled at him.

'Why not?' asked Malfoy. 'It's what she is.'

'Just ignore him, Harry,' I said, turning away. 'He's just a fake.'

'A word to the not so wise, Potter,' said Malfoy. 'Watch what she does this year. She's not who you think she is.'

'Oooooooh!' squealed Lavender.

I turned round to see a dozen creatures being led into the paddock by Hagrid. They were half horse and half eagle. Hagrid told us they were called Hippogriffs. I think I'd read about them in my copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. They were meant to be really strong flyers. Hagrid pulled one forwards so the class could get a good look at it.

'Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is they're very proud,' Hagrid told us. 'Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do.

'Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk towards him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.

'Right – who wants ter go first?'

The entire class backed away at that suggestion. Those Hippogriffs didn't look entirely friendly. Even I was wary and I loved magical creatures. Eventually Harry volunteered, regardless of Lavender and Parvati reminding him about his tea leaves. I sent them an irritated look at that. I watched as Harry walked up to the grey Hippogriff named Buckbeak Hagrid had brought forwards. It pawed the ground as Harry approached it. When he was a couple of feet away Harry bowed. At first the Hippogriff didn't seem to respond but after a few moments it bowed back at him and allowed Harry to stroke its face. The class applauded. Harry then went off for a fly around the castle while the rest of the class waited back in the paddock for him to come back. It was so hot down there that when he finally returned the majority of us had taken off our robes.

Once Harry was back we were divided into groups with the other Hippogriffs. I was with Seamus, Dean and Neville with a black Hippogriff. Nearby was Malfoy with Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson, all gathered around Buckbeak. I could hear Malfoy talking loudly enough to Crabbe and Goyle. As I thought, he hadn't listened to a word Hagrid had said about the Hippogriffs.

'This is very easy,' he drawled to the other three. I glanced at him to see him stroke him quite roughly and Buckbeak was getting agitated. I could see it in his eyes, even just his movement told me he didn't like it. 'I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it … I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? Are you, you ugly great brute?'

What happened next happened so fast you would have missed it if you'd blinked. The moment Malfoy had said those words Buckbeak reared up and squawked angrily. Without even thinking I ran over there and pushed Malfoy down to the ground as Buckbeak's talon swiped down on his arm. I felt a horrible pain pass across my abdomen as I fell to the ground as well; Buckbeak's other talon had cut across my stomach. I instantly put my arms over it as I hunched up. I could hear Malfoy whining beside me. I don't know what made me do it. I just knew I couldn't stand by and watch as Buckbeak got more and more angry. But thanks to Malfoy's stupidity, I too had gotten injured.

'I'm dying!' yelled Malfoy beside me. The rest of the class was screaming around us. I just remained still, staring upwards at the trees. 'I'm dying, look at me! Its killed me!'

'Yer not dyin'!' said Hagrid above us. There was panic in his voice. 'Someone help me – gotta get him outta here –'

I saw Hagrid lift Malfoy up and carry away back up to the castle, Hagrid's footsteps thumping on the ground. I just remained there, keeping my arms wrapped around me. I could feel a small trickle of blood going down them.

'Jenna, are you all right?'

I felt a pair of hands take hold of my arm to pull me to my feet. I pulled against them not wanting to release the pressure I was putting on my stomach. Between them Harry and Ron managed to pull me up so I was standing. I kept my arms wrapped around my waist.

'Why did you do that?' asked Harry. 'Malfoy's not worth the trouble.'

'N-not the time, Harry,' I said. 'C-can someone get me to the hospital wing?'

'Why?' asked Ron. I sent him a look then reluctantly removed my arm from my waist. The entire lower half of my shirt and top of my skirt had been turned red by blood as well as my sleeves from covering it up; there were three long tears in my clothes beneath which were three long scratches. 'Ah ...'

I spent the next week in the hospital wing with my waist wrapped in bandages as Madam Pomfrey applied spells to heal the scratches from Buckbeak's talons. They weren't that deep but deep enough to warrant me having to stay there to have the spell applied twice a day to make sure they healed fully in the least amount of time. Across the hospital wing from me, Malfoy lay on his bed with his arm bandaged and in a sling, really milking his injury. Throughout the week I saw him boast to Crabbe and Goyle when they came to visit about how he was going to get Hagrid fired for sure now. I also got a couple of visits from Harry, Ron and Hermione and they let me know what I'd missed in class. I returned to class after lunch on Thursday once Madam Pomfrey had applied the spell a final time and changed my bandages to find Gryffindor had lost some points after Hermione had helped Neville out with his Shrinking Solution. I joined Harry and the others in the Great Hall where they were listening to Malfoy boast to Pansy Parkinson about how sore his arm was. He was being such an arsehole. There was nothing wrong with him. We'd been in the hospital wing for the same amount of time and we were both healed.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was after lunch and I was looking forward to it. Being Lupin's niece he'd told me while I was in the hospital wing that he'd got a surprise for the first lesson. I didn't know what though. When he got to class he told us we were going to have a practical lesson. That made us weary; our last practical lesson had been with Gilderoy Lockhart and a bunch of runaway pixies. We put away our books and took out our wands. When we were ready Professor Lupin led us out of the classroom. We just followed not knowing where he was taking us. On our way we ran into Peeves was stuffing gum into the keyhole of a nearby door. Peeves showed very little respect towards Professor Lupin like he did with all the other teachers, calling him 'Loony, loopy Lupin.' We watched as Lupin told him to remove it but Peeves merely stuck his tongue out.

Professor Lupin gave a small sigh then took out his wand.

'This is a useful little spell,' he told us. 'Please watch closely.' He raised his wand. '_Waddiwasi!_' The gum shot out the keyhole right up Peeves' nose. The class burst out laughing. Peeves zoomed away shouting and cursing.

Lupin led us down another corridor and stopped outside the staff room. He showed us inside. It was a long panelled room with loads of mismatched furniture. In one of the chairs sat Professor Snape, who looked up when he saw us come in. He eyed us suspiciously then got up to leave. He strode past us, his robe billowing behind him, but stopped at the doorway.

'Possibly no one's told you, Lupin,' he said in a low voice, 'but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.'

Neville went scarlet. Professor Lupin raised his eyebrows.

'I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation,' he said lightly, 'and I am sure he will perform it admirably.'

Snape's lip curled and he left, shutting the door with a snap. I glanced at Neville to see he was still bright red. With him gone, Lupin beckoned us over to where an old wardrobe stood. All of a sudden it gave a violent shudder. The class automatically stepped back from it.

'Nothing to worry about,' said Professor Lupin. He was always appeared so calm; the rest of the class, not so much. 'It is intriguing though, isn't' it? Would anyone like to guess what's inside?'

_Brilliant_, I thought. I knew exactly what was in that wardrobe.

'It's a Boggart,' I said.

'Very good, Jenna,' said Professor Lupin. He smiled at me. 'Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gaps beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks –' the wardrobe shuddered again. Lupin just glanced at it. 'I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. _This _one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the Headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.

'So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?' Hermione raised her hand. Lupin nodded at her.

'It's a shape-shifter,' she said. 'It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most. That's what makes them so –'

'So terrifying, yes, couldn't have put it better myself,' said Professor Lupin. 'So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.

'This mean that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?'

'Er – because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?' guessed Harry.

'Precisely. It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake – tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.

'The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind,' continued Lupin. 'You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is _laughter_. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.'

Before any of us could face the Boggart Professor Lupin got us to practice the charm without our wands. We stood there for a couple of minutes all just chanting, '_Riddikulus!_' When we had done that, Lupin called Neville forwards. The wardrobe shook again causing him to squeak a bit in fright. The first thing Lupin did was ask Neville what he was most frightened off. It was no surprise that he said Snape; he continually tormented Neville in class. There was a small laugh around the class when he said it. Lupin too seemed amused.

'Professor Snape, frightens all ... hmmm ... Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?'

'Er – yes,' replied Neville nervously. 'But – I don't want that Boggart to turn into her either.' The class laughed again.

'No, no, you misunderstand me. Now, I want you to picture her clothes,' Lupin instructed, 'only her clothes. Picture them very clearly in your mind.'

'She carries a red handbag –'

'You don't need to tell us, Neville. Whatever you see, we'll see. Now.' Lupin leant down and began to whisper something in Neville's ear. I wondered what it was as Neville gave him a startled look when he'd finished. 'Now, concentrate on what I've told you and when the Boggart appears, raise your wand and say the charm. If all goes well, we shall see what you see. If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to turn to each of us in turn,' said Professor Lupin. 'I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you the most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical ... While you all do that, Neville.'

Lupin positioned Neville before the wardrobe.

'Wand at the ready, Neville.' He raised it. 'One, two, three –'

Lupin flicked his wand at the wardrobe. The handle clicked unlocked and the door flew open. From inside the wardrobe came an exact replica of Professor Snape. Neville seemed to freeze at the sight of him. By the wall Lupin continuously told him 'wand at the ready'. Neville raised his wand and pointed it at Snape, saying the charm. All of a sudden Snape's black robes had been replaced by a vile dark green dress; a bright red handbag was clasped on his arm while on his greasy black hair sat a massive moth-eaten had with a vulture perched on top of it. The entire class burst out laughing. Even Neville cracked a smile. Professor Lupin then put on a record on this old Muggle gramophone he had and one by one each of us face the Boggart.

'Excellent!' shouted Lupin. 'Excellent! Parvati, forward!'

Parvati stepped before the Boggart. The Snape looked at her then all of a sudden vanished in a swirl of things, changing into a blood-stained mummy with a loud crack. Next moment, the bandage had unravelled at its feet causing it to stumble and lose its head. The class continued to laugh with each turn, making the charm more powerful. Seamus was next changing the Boggart from a mummy to a banshee and making it lose its voice. Next it was a rat chasing its tail, then a rattlesnake who'd tied itself into a knot, then a bloody eyeball.

'It's confused!' shouted Lupin. 'We're getting there! Dean!'

The eyeball became a severed hand.

'_Riddikulus!' _The hand became trapped in a mousetrap.

'Excellent! Ron, you next!'

Ron leapt forward to face the Boggart. It took one look at him and instantly became a giant spider. His hair almost stood on end, he was so scared. Seconds later it was rolling round on the floor as its legs had vanished. Harry, Hermione and I were the only ones left and Harry was first out of the three of us in the line. I watched as he drew out his wand and stepped forward when Lupin called him after Sally-Anne Perks had had her turn. He had a smile on his face watching the Jack-in-the-box but slowly it changed to a vacant look. I was watching him and so was Professor Lupin. I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. The Boggart changed and a large Dementor reared up before us. Professor Lupin instantly stood in front of Harry as I grabbed his arm; it was one thing fainting on a train with only three other people, another fainting in front of a class. The Dementor halted and changed into a floating, silvery orb amongst grey clouds: the moon. I swallowed, worried someone would recognise it.

'_Riddikulus!_' said Lupin lazily. The Boggart changed into a balloon letting off a loud squeal as it deflated. 'Forward, Neville, and finish him off!'

Neville charged forwards. Snape reappeared.

'_Riddikulus!_' Snape was back in his dress. With a loud 'Ha!' from Neville, the Boggart exploded.

'Excellent!' said Professor Lupin, turning back to the class. 'Excellent, Neville! Well done, everyone. Let me see … five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the Boggart – ten for Neville because he did it twice – and five each to Jenna, Hermione and Harry.'

'But I didn't do anything,' said Harry.

'You, Jenna and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry,' said Lupin lightly. 'Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarise it for me … to be handed in on Monday. That will be all.'

We all left the class. People were still beaming about it.

'Did you see me take that banshee?' shouted Seamus.

'And the hand!' said Dean.

'And Snape in a hat!'

'And my mummy!'

'I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?' I heard Lavender say out loud. I stopped walking, feeling uncomfortable. That was another secret I hadn't realised I'd got to keep; the fact that Lupin was a werewolf.

'Jenna?' I looked up to see Harry and the other two looking at me. 'Are you OK?' Harry asked.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' I replied, smiling. We carried on.

'Professor Lupin seems a very good teacher,' said Hermione approvingly. 'But I wish I could have had a turn with the Boggart –'

'What would it have been for you?' asked Ron, sniggering. 'A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?'

The start of term went quite quickly and Lupin's classes were definitely the best. Only Malfoy and his gang had bad things to say about them. Also, Snape's hate for him seemed to have increased since the Boggart Snape rumour went round school. Any free time me, Harry, Ron and Hermione had was either spent at Quidditch practices or doing homework. If I wasn't doing that, I found that I'd become more independent over the holidays and soon found it fun to go on regular jaunts round the castle as a cat just to practice this Animagus ability for whenever it was a full moon (I had permission to be with Lupin for them). I also regularly went to visit Lupin in his office. Of course, he found out about my jaunts round the castle.

'Jenna, I've warned you,' he said tiredly for the seventh time. 'You've got to be careful. If someone finds out about it, you'll be in serious trouble.'

We were in his office, having a cup of tea as we usually did. It was Saturday evening after supper.

'Lupin, I am careful,' I told him again. 'I never transform in front of people and I don't change into Mrs Norris so Filch doesn't get confused if he sees me then the _real_ Mrs Norris. And I never go out into the grounds.'

'I just don't want you in trouble,' said Lupin. He sat down at his desk and took a sip of tea. He was getting more and more tired. The full moon was approaching. Lupin looked up at me. 'You're all I've got and I don't want to lose you.'

'I know.' I felt uncomfortable talking about this but it had reminded me of something that I'd wanted to ask him. 'Lupin, what was Black like when you met him, before he went bad? You two must have known each other at school if he'd known Mum. ' Lupin shifted in his chair.

'Why the sudden curiosity?' he asked.

'I just want to know what he _was_ like, that's all.' Lupin sighed.

'Your father was one of my best friends,' he began. 'He and two other boys called Peter Pettigrew and James Potter.'

'You knew Harry's dad?' Lupin nodded.

'We were at school together, all three of us. We were known as the Marauders because we had, shall we say, a talent for trouble, particularly Black and James, much you and Harry do. Those two wouldn't be seen without the other no matter where we went, even became Animagi to help me with my werewolf problem. After our first year, your Mum joined and Black fell for her. They got together in our fifth year.

'After school finished, James and Lily Evans, Harry's mother, married and so did Tala and Black a little later. At the time there was a lot of suspicion between us though we never told each other so. James and Lily were marked down for death and it was discovered that Black had been the one passing information to Voldemort. He told him where they were hiding and he went after Lily and James. Peter was the one who tracked him down the next day and was killed along with twelve other Muggles. The Ministry covered it up by saying it was a gas explosion.'

'Do you have a picture of you all?' I asked. I had a feeling I knew the name Peter from somewhere. I'd never heard of Pettigrew, only a Peter and Marauders mentioned in the same sentence.

Lupin got up and searched through one of his drawers. A few minutes later he handed me a picture of four teenage boys and two teenage girls. I took it –

_An alleyway … a woman with her back to the wall and her baby in her arms … three men approaching her … one with white blond hair; one with short black hair; another short and squat … laughing_ …

I dropped the picture and opened my eyes. My head was hurting again. Looking up I saw Lupin staring at me.

'Are you all right?' he asked.

I nodded and picked up the picture again. The boy on the far left; he was short and squat with mousy brown hair. He even looked like a mouse.

'Who is this man, Lupin?' I asked, pointing at him.

'That's Peter,' said Lupin. He took the photo and looked at it. 'Black killed him mercilessly. He always needed James and his help with schoolwork and the Animagus transformation. It was a pity he died. All that was left was his finger.'

Something in my mind was spinning. Peter Pettigrew seemed familiar. He'd been in the alley the day Mum had died, I was sure of it. Had he been a Death Eater? If that was the case, either he had been passing information to Voldemort _or_ both he and Black had done so. I wasn't sure what to think now.

'Yeah, pity.'

A few days later we found out about the first Hogsmeade visit. A notice had been posted up on the notice board in the Gryffindor common room. Harry and I just stared at it. It was so unfair Lupin wouldn't let me go. Harry too was still really miffed his uncle hadn't signed his form. Ron tried to convince the two of us to go to Professor McGonagall about it but I knew for a fact she wouldn't sign my form.

'She's not going to sign mine when Lupin's teaching here,' I said, looking up from my star chart we were meant to be filling in. 'That would be going directly against his decision.'

'You can still try,' said Ron. 'Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade. Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry, the next one might not be for ages –'

'_Ron!_' said Hermione sharply. 'Harry's supposed to stay in _school_ –'

'He can't be the only third year left behind –'

'Er – hello?' I said, raising my hand. 'I'm not going.'

'Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry –'

'Yeah, I think I will,' said Harry. Oh dear.

Our attention was diverted away when Crookshanks leapt on to Hermione's lap. Ron still wasn't too fond of him. I didn't really blame him. Crookshanks kept going after Scabbers who at the current moment was asleep in Ron's bag. I returned to my star chart while Ron passed his to Harry so he could copy much to Hermione's disapproval. Crookshanks was staring unblinkingly at Ron. I watched as he just stared at him then seconds later he pounced. Ron leapt up and grabbed his bag which Crookshanks had sunk his claws into to hold on to. Ron swung his bag around to shake him off regardless of Hermione's cries not to hurt her cat, and Scabbers went flying out of the top of it.

It was utter chaos. Crookshanks had unattached himself from the bag and dodged George who had lunged at him. There were several screams as Scabbers ran under twenty pairs of feet and underneath an old chest of drawers. Crookshanks chased him, swiping a paw beneath it to try and reached the rat. Ron and Hermione ran over to them. Hermione pulled Crookshanks up while Ron fished a terrified Scabbers from underneath the chest of drawers. Crookshanks continued to paw for Scabbers in Hermione's arms. After yet another argument about their pet, Ron stormed off upstairs. Harry and I, who were still sitting at the table, just looked at each other and continued our homework.

The following day Ron was still in a foul mood and barely spoke to Hermione throughout Herbology. Things didn't improve when we got to Transfiguration. Outside the classroom, Lavender was being comforted by Parvati. Apparently her baby rabbit had been killed by a fox. She wailed loudly about how Professor Trelawney had been right about her dreading something on the sixteenth of October. Now hang on, she only got the letter this morning; it takes a couple of days for an owl to deliver a letter depending on how far apart the sender and receiver is. Her rabbit wouldn't have necessarily died today.

'Well, look at it logically,' Hermione told her, 'I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he, Lavender just got the news today –' Lavender wailed even louder, '– and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock –' I don't think that was helping.

'Don't mind Hermione, Lavender,' said Ron loudly, 'she doesn't think other people's pets matter very much.'

Professor McGonagall opened the door right at that moment, saving Ron and Hermione starting yet another argument. Harry and I ended up sitting in between the two of them. We worked solidly for the next hour. At the end of the lesson, Professor McGonagall reminded us about the Hogsmeade trip and that if we didn't have permission, we couldn't go. Yeah, don't remind me. With Ron's encouragement Harry went up to McGonagall's and asked her to sign his form. I wasn't surprised when she said no. Even this sparked up a rift between Ron and Hermione. Ron called Professor McGonagall a series of names to Hermione's annoyance; and Hermione's understanding nature about it being for the best irritated Ron. It didn't help either of our cases when we kept hearing everyone talking about the trip. I think Percy's comment was the icing on the cake.

'They make a fuss about Hogsmeade,' he said pompously at dinner, 'but I assure you, Harry, it's not all it's cracked up to be. All right, the sweetshop's rather good, but Zonko's Joke Shop's frankly dangerous, and yes, the Shrieking Shack's always worth a visit, but really, Harry, apart from that, you're not missing anything.'

We're still missing it in the first place though, aren't we?

Halloween finally arrived. That morning I saw Harry say goodbye to Ron and Hermione before I headed off for another wander. Later that day I saw him go into Lupin's office. I guess the Boggart thing was still annoying him. To keep myself entertained and my mind off Hogsmeade, I spent the day wandering around the castle and the grounds as an animal. It felt good to get some exercise. After lunch I went back outside to practice flying as a bird. I was in the courtyard when I transformed and headed over the bridge towards the grounds. As I flew over it, I heard voices and landed quietly on the roof, changing back to listen. It was Harry and Lupin.

'You know the very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately,' I heard Lupin say. 'Not by your scar, by your eyes. They're your mother, Lily's. Yes. Oh, yes, I knew her. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had the way of seeing the beauty in others, even and perhaps most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves. And your father, James, on the other hand he – he had a certain, shall we say, talent for trouble.' I grinned knowing Harry also had that. 'A talent, rumour has it, he passed on to you. You're more like them than you know, Harry. In time, you'll come to see just how much.'

Deciding now was the best time to appear, I took hold of the roof edge and bent down to look at them, my hair flowing down behind me, and said, 'Boo!' Both of them jumped. I smirked. _Perfect_.

'Jenna, get down from there!' said Lupin at once.

I pushed myself forward and swung in through the wood, standing up in front of them.

'Sorry, did I scare you?' I asked casually. Lupin took my arm and pulled me aside. I think he knew how I'd got on the roof.

'Jenna, you are not to do that here,' he told me sternly. 'I've told you time and again, you cannot abuse your abilities. If someone found out you'll be in a lot of trouble.'

'Oh come on, Lupin,' I hissed. 'Like you never broke the rules with your friends when you came here, huh? You've told me what you were like at school.' I'd got him there.

'That was completely different and you know it. Now I will not tell you again: you are not to do that here. Do I make myself clear?' I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly nodded. 'Good, I will not tell you again.' He walked off.

I watched after him and stuck my tongue out. He could be such a spoilsport sometimes.

'What was that about?' I turned round to see Harry looking at me.

'Oh, nothing,' I shrugged. 'He's just a bit tense at the moment.'

'How come?'

'He has his reasons.'

'You always say that,' said Harry. 'There's the reason why you don't talk about your parents, why you're not allowed to go to Hogsmeade, why Lupin told you off just now. You always have a reason.'

'Then why do you ask when you know the answer?' I grinned at his confused look. 'Come on, let's go find something to do, it's better than standing around.'

That night was the worst night ever. Harry and I had met Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall for the Halloween feast that night and they showed us all the cool stuff they'd bought from Hogsmeade. Ron went on and on about Hogsmeade for ages. It couldn't have been that amazing. Harry also told us about what had happened earlier in Lupin's office. Snape had appeared and brought Lupin a potion. I tensed, the full moon was in two days and that potion had been the Wolfsbane Potion. Harry thought he was trying to poison Lupin. When he asked me I just shrugged, saying it was probably a Pepper Up potion or something.

After the excellent feast as usual, the Houses divided and we headed up to the Gryffindor Tower along with the rest of the third years. But when we got there, there was a hold up on getting inside. Percy was barking orders for us to get out the way. Next moment there was a silence before he shouted for someone to get Dumbledore. What was going on? Professor Dumbledore appeared in seconds with Professors McGonagall, Lupin and Snape behind him. I strained to see what was happening. The portrait of the Fat Lady had been slashed and she'd disappeared from her portrait.

'We need to find her,' said Dumbledore. 'Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady.'

'You'll be lucky!' said a cackling voice. Everyone looked up. Peeves floated happily above us, cackling madly.

'What do you mean, Peeves?' asked Professor Dumbledore.

'Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between trees. Crying something dreadful.' Peeves sounded very happy about this. 'Poor thing.'

'Did she say who did it?' asked Dumbledore quietly.

'Oh, yes, Professorhead,' laughed Peeves. 'He's got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black.'

I felt my heart skip a beat and I swallowed hard. Black had got into the castle and, what was worse, had tried to get into the Gryffindor Tower.

'Secure the castle, Professor McGonagall,' ordered Dumbledore. 'The rest of you; back to the Great Hall.'

I spent most of that night lying awake, thinking about how Black could've got into the castle. People around me were coming up with all sorts of various versions as the teachers walked around us and told us to be quiet. At one point I even heard Dumbledore and Snape talking and how Snape had been against the appointment of someone. I lay there completely still to listen to their conversation.

'I did express my concerns when you appointed –'

'I don't believe a single person in this castle would have helped Black enter it,' said Professor Dumbledore, 'least of all the person to whom you are referring to. You are forgetting; he too has something valuable here which could interest Black.'

I swallowed. Did he mean me?

'I must go down to the Dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete.'

'Didn't they want to help, Sir?' came Percy's voice.

'Oh yes,' said Dumbledore. 'But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle when I'm Headmaster.'

I heard Dumbledore's footsteps walk away. Sighing, I turned over and went to sleep.

Talk of Black continued for the next week or so. All around I'd hear wild stories of how he could have got into the castle, none of them sounding plausible but I wanted to know how other people thought he'd gotten into the castle and past the Dementors a second time. The day after the attack, the portrait of the Fat Lady had been replaced by that barmy knight, Sir Cadogan, who took great delight in changing the password to the Gryffindor Tower at least twice a day. It annoyed virtually every Gryffindor when they went to a lesson with one password only to come back at break or lunch to find it had changed. Neville took to keeping a list just be safe as he kept forgetting it.

Black's attack on the Fat Lady also had an adverse effect on Harry. One day after class Harry had to go see Professor McGonagall. We had no idea why as none of us had gotten into trouble all term so far. He came back to the common room an hour later to tell us that he'd almost been banned from Quidditch practice as it wasn't safe for him to be out in the grounds with only other students around. He'd been lucky he'd managed to convince Professor McGonagall to allow him to practice but so long as a teacher was present if Black appeared again.

The weather worsened as the first match approached which meant Harry returned numerous times from practice soaking wet. He was always very grateful when Hermione or I performed a Hot Air Charm to dry him out and warm him up quickly enough so he didn't catch a cold. That would be the last thing he needed on top of everything else. After his final training match, however, Harry came back in a bit of a mood. When we asked him what it was, he told us that Slytherin had pulled out from playing the first match against Gryffindor, with Hufflepuff playing in their place.

'What a bunch of Flobberworms,' said Ron when Harry told us. 'They just don't want to play because they know they'd lose.'

'They said it was because Malfoy's arm wasn't healed,' said Harry.

'That's a complete load of crap,' I said. 'He got off much lighter than I did. Buckbeak slashed me right across my stomach. It took me nearly two weeks to be able to bend over properly again. There's nothing wrong with his arm now.'

'Wood didn't believe them either,' said Harry. 'He said they just didn't want to play us in the bad weather because it would damage their chances.'

'I still say they're a bunch of Flobberworms,' muttered Ron.

Despite this, I had other things on my mind to think about. The first Thursday of November was the full moon. That night I'd gone to bed early so that when Hermione came to bed she'd think I was already asleep. At just gone midnight I got out of bed and crept over to the window, still in my clothes. I opened it and transformed into a bird. I flew out the window right into the howling rain. I did my best to fly through it and round the castle to where Lupin's classroom was located. He said he'd left his light on so I'd know which one it was. After a few minutes I found it and flew quickly inside, transforming back. Lupin turned round when he heard me.

'Jenna, you're soaked,' he said. He conjured a towel and handed it to me. 'What have you been doing?'

'I flew round through the grounds,' I said. I lifted the edge of the towel so I could see him. 'How else was I not going to get caught?'

'Jenna, there are Dementors out there,' said Lupin. 'They could have hurt you if you'd flown near them.'

'I didn't see any.'

'You wouldn't in the darkness.' I gave Lupin back the towel and it vanished. He then pointed his wand at me and dried me off. 'Next time, I'll come and get you as long as you can get to the portrait hole at midnight.'

Lupin turned and looked out the window. The moon was hidden just behind a cloud. While he did this, I looked round his office. In the far corner there were two chains attached to the wall. I wondered what they were for.

'Jenna, it's time.' I looked round. Lupin looked at me and nodded. 'You'd better transform.'

I nodded then closed my eyes. I cleared my mind and thought of a wolf. That was what I usually transformed into when it was the full moon as a werewolf would recognise it to be similar to itself. Plus it was one of my favourites. I felt my body change and I fell forwards on to my front paws. I raised my head and looked at Lupin. I watched as he crossed the room to where the chains lay on the floor. He picked them up and, to my surprise, locked them around his feet. Behind me the moon shone in through the window. I stared at it. That small thing caused Lupin so much pain every month. I only turned round when I heard a sudden snarling behind me. I looked round to see a grey wolf much large than me with ragged fur glaring at me with yellow eyes. Its long tail swung behind it and it let out a low growl, baring its sharp teeth.

_Lupin,_ I said cautiously. _Lupin, it's me. You know it's me._

The werewolf seemed to hear what I'd said. It approached me, stopping when it felt the chains tug on its back legs. Cautiously I moved forwards. The werewolf stood much taller over me. It raised its paw and placed it on my face, pushing it away. Its claws cut into my skin creating a small cut on my cheek. I knew it would be healed in a few days but it meant I would still get a few questions about it the next day. Next it bent its head and sniffed my fur. It trailed its nose over my neck and the top of my head. It let out a growl.

_I know your scent_, said a voice. I looked up at the werewolf. For a creature so vicious, there was still an element of grandeur in this particular one. I'd seen it before. The werewolf looked down on me. It usually took Lupin a couple of minutes to recognise me when he'd just transformed and I was in animal form. _What is your name, cub?_ Lupin's voice was always gruffer when he was transformed.

_Jenna_.

The harsh yellow eyes that had been staring at me slowly changed to take on a kinder look. Braving it, I ran my head along Lupin's chest. At first he didn't respond but then I felt his head brush mine. Lupin licked my face to show he knew it was me then lay down on the floor. I lay down beside him and rested my head on my front paws. I felt Lupin rest his head on my neck, similar to how dogs do, and settled down. I glanced at him out the corner of my eye. It was so unfair he had to deal with this. At least when he was at school he had his friends to help him. It was nice of them to become Animagi for him, even Black. I sighed. He must've been good at some point. Why did he have to turn bad? I closed my eyes and settled down, eventually falling asleep.

I woke up before the sun was up the next morning to see Lupin had transformed back, his clothes torn and hanging off him. He lay beside me curled up on the floor. The couple of scars on his face had become visible again from the transformation. Though I knew it was early and that he wouldn't be teaching today anyway, I got up and transformed. I padded quietly over the floor in bare feet and knelt by his side. I gently shook him awake. He had to get some food in him now otherwise he wouldn't eat for the rest of the day because he'd be too ill. The recovery was always worse than the build up. Lupin woke up and I helped him into his chair. In his trunk he had a box of cereal and in the corner was his travel kettle. I made him something to eat and a cup of tea before I left him to return to his sleeping quarters. I flew back out of the window into the darkness and back up to the Gryffindor Tower. I inched the window back open and flew inside, landing on my bed. I transformed back and collapsed on to it for the few hours' sleep I'd get before class was due to start.

Because of the full moon, Lupin was unable to take our Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson on Friday. I got to class with Ron and Hermione (Wood had pulled Harry aside yet again to give him another tip about the upcoming match) to see Snape standing at the doorway waiting for us. I started when he looked directly at me.

'And how is Professor Lupin this morning?' he asked in a low voice. A thin smile turned up the corners of his lips when he saw the cut on my cheek. I didn't say anything but walked into the classroom.

'What was that about?' asked Ron, taking the seat beside me. 'And where's Professor Lupin?'

'I don't know,' I said, shrugging.

Ron wasn't the only one wondering where Lupin was. The entire class was confused as to why Snape was taking his class. When Harry turned up, he was the only one bold enough to ask where Lupin was and what was wrong with him. He took a seat beside Hermione and glanced over at me to ask the same thing. I avoided his gaze.

'As I was saying before Potter interrupted,' Snape continued, 'Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far –'

'Please, sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas and Grindylows,' said Hermione, raising her hand, 'and we're just about to start –'

'Be quiet,' said Snape coldly. 'I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organisation.'

I remained quiet in my seat. I had a feeling today's lesson was one it was best I stayed silent in. I wasn't wrong either.

'Lupin is hardly over-taxing you – I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and Grindylows. Today we shall discuss –' He flicked through the textbook to the very back, '– werewolves.'

I froze, my eyes wide. He wasn't –

'But, sir,' said Hermione again, 'we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start Hinkypunks –'

'Miss Granger,' said Snape, in a voice of deadly calm, 'I was under the impression that I was taking this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page three hundred and nine-four.' He glanced around. '_All_ of you! _Now!_'

I did as we were told and turned to the back page. I stared at the picture of the man transforming into the werewolf. The class began to whisper when they looked at the book. Ron was lazily turning the pages next to me but I'd gone straight there. Werewolves. He was bemused when Snape turned his book to it.

'Which of you can tell me how to distinguish between a werewolf and a true wolf?' Snape asked, walking back to the front. None of the class raised their hands. I determinedly stared at my textbook. 'Anyone?' said Snape, ignoring Hermione. His twisted smile appeared again. 'Or can Miss Black tell us?'

Every pair of eyes turned on me as I looked up. Snape stared at me with his cold eyes but I calmly said, 'No, sir.'

'Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between –'

'We told you,' said Parvati, 'we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on –'

'_Silence!_' snarled Snape. 'Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third year class who would even recognise a werewolf when they saw one, especially with a student who lives with animals in the class.' His eyes turned on me again; only I knew what he meant by that. I glared back at him. 'I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very far behind you all are ...'

'Please, sir,' said Hermione, the one time I would have gladly made her shut up, 'the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf –'

'That is the second time you have spoke out of turn, Miss Granger,' said Snape coldly, his black eyes turning on her. 'Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all. Five points from Gryffindor.'

Hermione went very red. It was the one time I actually had no sympathy for her. It was Lupin's neck she was putting on the line there and I kind of wanted Lupin to keep his job. If anyone found out he was a werewolf and told their parents he'd be fired. Ron, though sticking up for her, didn't help things when he answered back at Snape and he received detention. For the rest of the lesson, Snape set up making notes on werewolves from the textbook while he examined our previous work. When he looked at mine, he stopped at where I sat next to Ron and said, 'Very disappointing ... One would have thought Professor Lupin's niece would at least be able to answer the most basic of questions. Particularly on werewolves.'

I was very glad when the bell rang. With homework to write an essay on how to recognise and kill werewolves, I stormed out of the classroom without waiting for the others. I fought back the tears in my eyes and came to a stop in the next corridor. I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes. I always hated it when people mentioned killing werewolves. I jumped when I heard Ron's voice shouting and he, Harry and Hermione came round the corner. They saw me, my eyes red, and instantly ran over to me.

'It's nothing,' I insisted, smiling as best I could. 'Really, I just didn't get much sleep last night.'

Harry stared at me. I could tell he didn't believe me.

'What about those scratches on your cheek?' he asked. 'Are you going to tell us where you got those? You certainly didn't have them yesterday.'

I placed my hand over them.

'Oh, they're nothing. Um, we should really be getting to our next lesson.' I turned and walked off, leaving the others to catch up.

On Saturday morning I had breakfast with Ron and Hermione then the three of us braved the stormy weather with the rest of the school and walked down to the Quidditch pitch. We were all dressed in our coats and scarves. It was so rainy and windy out there I couldn't believe that people actually played Quidditch in this weather. We took our seats in the stands and waited for the match to start. The teams proceeded on to the pitch then, on Madam Hooch's whistle which we could barely hear, they flew up into the air and the balls were released. I hugged my coat and hood to me as I watched the match, doing my best to cheer on Harry when I saw him. It was so hard to see anything through the rain. Flashes of lighting lit up the pitch every so often. I glanced into the sky thinking how much the flagpoles on the top of the Quidditch stadium would be great lightning masts when something in one of the top stands caught my eye. A black figure was sitting there; a flash of lightning illuminated it briefly before it vanished.

Suddenly I felt a cold start deep in my bones and the storm seemed to cut out though it whirled around the stadium. I looked down to see a swarm of Dementors had flown into the pitch. I felt myself begin to faint and I had to grab on to Hermione to stay standing. I looked around the pitch to see Harry too was being affected by them. His broom slowed to a complete stop and he swung off it. All of a sudden a bright white light filled the stadium which I knew straight away wasn't lightning. A large thing swooped over the pitch, glitters of red and gold melded in with the silver, and the Dementors fled the scene. The same thing then caught Harry as he fell from his broom, softening his landing on the ground. Ron, Hermione and I saw Madam Pomfrey rush on to the pitch to assess him. We quickly made our way through the crowd and down the stadium stairs as Harry was taken to the hospital wing.

'He looks peaky, doesn't he?' said Ron. Ron, Hermione and I along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team minus Oliver Wood were gathered around his bed. He was still unconscious. We were all still soaked to the skin and shaking from the effects of the Dementors. Madam Pomfrey had all given us some chocolate and I was still currently sucking on mine.

'What do you expect?' asked George.

'He fell over a hundred feet,' said Fred.

'Yeah, Ron, let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower.'

'And see how you look.'

'Probably a right sight better than he normally does.'

We all looked down to see Harry smiling vaguely up at us. I let out a sigh of relief when he sat up.

'What happened?' he asked.

'You fell off your broom,' said Fred. 'Must've been – what – fifty feet?'

'We thought you'd died,' said Alicia.

'But the match,' said Harry. 'What happened? Are we having a replay?' We all looked at each other. None of us said anything. 'We didn't – _lose_?'

'Diggory got the Snitch,' said George. 'Just after you fell. He didn't realise what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a re-match. But they won fair and square … even Wood admits it.'

'Where is Wood?' Harry then asked.

'Still in the showers,' said Fred. 'We think he's trying to drown himself.'

Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred shook his shoulder.

'C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before.'

'There had to be one time you didn't get it,' said George.

That wasn't the worse news for Harry. After he fell, his Nimbus Two Thousand blew into the Whomping Willow and was smashed to pieces. He was devastated when Hermione, Ron and I told him after the others had gone. Talk about unlucky.

The first term overall wasn't a complete disaster and I'd still managed to keep my secrets about Black being my father and Lupin being a werewolf secret though there were close calls, especially since every time Black was mentioned I went pale with Harry, Ron and Hermione picking up on this.

But what happened just before the end of term made me realise something: you can never pick sides between your friends and your family. I couldn't be Harry's friend without abandoning my somewhat ludicrous loyalty to Black, believing he was innocent because I felt obligated to with him being my father, and I couldn't trust everything I believed to be true about Black without appearing to be on his side to Harry, ruining my five year friendship with him.


	12. Magic Maps, Animagi and the Truth

Chapter 11

Magic Maps, Animagi and the Truth

For once Harry didn't argue about being kept in the hospital wing which must have been a record. Normally he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He kept the remnants of his broken broom on his bedside table. It was still there when I visited him a few days later to see how he was. He still couldn't understand why the Dementors were affecting him so badly. I sat on the end of his bed and listened to him but then he asked me something I didn't know how to answer.

'How come you're able to hold up against them?' Harry asked, staring at me. 'You get affected as badly as I do. Why is it I always faint when they're around me?'

'I don't know, Harry,' I said. 'I don't know why they affect some people more than others. All I know about Dementors is that they feed on your happy memories until you're nothing left. That's why they guard Azkaban. Maybe you should ask Lupin about them. He knows more about them than I do.'

Harry sat back in his pillows.

'Jenna,' he said next, 'd'you believe all that stuff Trelawney said about the Grim?'

'Why d'you ask?'

'It's just – don't tell Ron or Hermione I said this – but I saw something in the stands during the Quidditch match. It looked like a giant black dog. I think it was the Grim.'

I blinked. 'And?'

'You're not worried?' asked Harry.

'I have no reason to be,' I shrugged. 'These death omens and things, they're only as true as people make them to be. If you believe you saw the Grim, so be it. Start surrounding yourself with safety spells. If not, then you don't need to be constantly watching your shadow.'

I wasn't entirely sure if Harry had taken my advice. He returned to class on Monday morning only to once again have to endure Malfoy's, now bandage free, impressions of him falling off his broom. I watched him unimpressed across the Hall at breakfast wondering if I could fire a Trip Jinx at him without anyone noticing. That would make his "act" much more believable. His imitations continued into our Potions lesson later that day, this time doing Dementors. Ron finally lost it and flung a crocodile heart at him across the classroom. Snape took fifty points from Gryffindor because of it. We left to go to Defence Against the Dark Arts with Ron in a bad mood.

'If Snape's taking Defence Against the Dark Arts again, I'm going off sick,' he said. We turned the corner to Lupin's classroom. 'Check who's in there, Hermione.'

Hermione and I both went ahead and peered round the classroom door. I knew full well Lupin would be back in class today and so wasn't surprised to see him. I walked inside while Hermione gave the all clear to Ron. Lupin's eyes met mine as I took my seat. His robes were hanging off him more than usual and he had dark shadows beneath his eyes. Hadn't he gotten any sleep in the last few days? As he looked at me, I saw his eyes focus on the faint scratches on my cheek. I looked away so my hair covered them. By now the rest of the class had arrived and they instantly started complaining about Snape. Like always, Professor Lupin merely smiled.

'Don't worry, I'll speak to Professor Snape,' he told us. 'You don't have to do the essay.'

'Oh _no_,' said Hermione, looking disappointed. I glanced at her. 'I've already finished it!'

Oh, brother.

The class soon cheered up when Lupin showed us today's creature. He brought out a Hinkypunk, a creature made entirely of smoke holding a lantern which causes people to follow it because of the light into marshes and bogs. When the bell rang, I gathered up my stuff to leave when Lupin appeared at my desk side. I looked up at him.

'When did you get those cuts?' he asked quietly.

I didn't say anything. Lupin never remembered what happened during a full moon, even if he drank the Wolfsbane Potion which allowed him to keep his mind. A part of me believed he repressed the memories as they were too painful to remember. I never contributed to it by telling him what he did to me during them. I picked up my bag and turned away. Lupin didn't stop me, instead calling Harry back. I glanced back at them then walked out of the classroom.

Things finally began to pick up as the term came to an end. Gryffindor received good news when Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the end of November which meant we weren't out of the running yet for the Quidditch Cup. Meanwhile, the weather finally began to improve and the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling, opaline white and the grounds got covered in a glittering frost. Wherever you went you could tell the students were preparing for Christmas. Professor Flitwick had already decorated his classroom with lights which were in reality a bunch of fairies he'd caught. I signed up with Harry and the others to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas as Lupin had decided to stay here as he could get the Wolfsbane Potion from Snape again if he was here.

Just before the end of term we found out there was to be a second Hogsmeade trip before it ended. On Saturday morning, I watched as the rest of the school departed before heading back inside the castle. As I headed in from the courtyard I noticed Harry standing at the window of the clock tower. Intrigued, I changed direction and walked up the stairs. Harry was staring at the window, watching everyone else leave.

'How come you're up here?' I asked him, standing beside him.

'I'm going to Hogsmeade,' said Harry defiantly. 'I don't care what McGonagall says, I'm going. And you can't stop me either, Jen.'

By now, out of habit, Harry had started to call me Jen occasionally. I didn't object to it.

'I wasn't going to,' I said. 'But if you do, can I come?' Harry looked at me.

'What about Lupin?'

I shrugged, 'He'll give me a detention if he found out. But what's one detention if it means I can go to Hogsmeade?' Harry rolled his eyes. 'So how are we going to do this?'

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a long, silvery piece of material: his Invisibility Cloak. Harry looked back out the window. The courtyard was virtually empty now.

'Right, let's go,' he said. 'The courtyard's clear enough to sneak though.'

Harry threw the Cloak round the both of us and we hurried down the stairs from the clock tower and towards the courtyard. We didn't pass anyone. There was one thing we hadn't counted on though. As soon as we stepped outside our footprints showed up in the show. Instantly I pulled us back into the shelter of the courtyard and pulled the Cloak off us. There was no way for us to get into Hogsmeade without someone spotting two pairs of footprints appearing with no one there.

'Psst – Harry!'

Harry and I looked round to see Fred and George peering at us from behind a door leading to a stairway. They waved us over to them. No one else was in the corridor so we quickly walked over to them.

'What are you doing?' asked Harry. 'How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?'

'We've come to give you a bit of festive cheer before we go,' said Fred, with a mysterious wink. 'Come in here ...'

We walked through the door into the stairwell. George closed it behind us. The twins turned to us, both with broad grins on their faces. I didn't like the look of this; if I'd learnt anything about those two, a shared grin was never a good thing.

'Early Christmas present for you, Harry,' said Fred. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a large square of folded parchment. He handed it to Harry. He stared at it.

'What's this rubbish?'

'"What's this rubbish" he says,' laughed Fred.

'That there's the secret to our success,' said George. He patted the parchment.

'It's a wrench, giving it to you,' said Fred, 'but we decided last night, your need's greater than ours.'

'Anyway, we know it off by heart,' said George. 'We bequeath it to you. We really don't need it any more.'

'And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?' said Harry.

'A bit of old parchment!' said Fred, mortally offended. 'Explain, George.'

'Well … when we were in our first year, Harry – young, carefree and innocent –'

'Since when were you two innocent?' I asked sceptically.

'– well, more innocent than we are now – we got into a spot of bother with Filch.'

'We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason –'

'So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual –'

'– detention –'

'– disembowelment –'

'– and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous._'

Harry and I looked at each other before he said, grinning, 'Don't tell me –'

'Well, what would you've done?' asked Fred. 'George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open and grabbed – _this_.'

'It's not as bad as it sounds, you know,' said George. 'We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it.'

'And you know how to work it?' I asked.

'Oh yes,' said Fred, smirking. 'This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school. George, if you will.'

George took out his wand and tapped the parchment, '_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._'

At once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point George's wand had touched the parchment. They joined each other, they criss-crossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly black words. Harry opened the parchment. The parchment was showing every little detail of the Hogwarts castle and the grounds. Tiny footprints with labels at each of them traced the parchment in different places showing the students walking around in that exact area. My eyes flicked to where Harry, Fred, George and I would be and sure enough, four pairs of feet stood still in a small stairwell just off the courtyard, exactly where we were. This was incredible. Harry folded the parchment over again to look at the front.

'"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Hooves, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present the Marauder's Map",' I read aloud.

_The Marauder's Map__? No way._

'Hang on,' said Harry, looking more closely at the map. 'This is Hogwarts. And that – no, is that really –?'

'Dumbledore,' said Fred.

'In his office,' said George.

'Pacing. Does that a lot.'

'So you mean this map shows –' I started.

'Everyone.'

'Everyone?' Harry couldn't believe it.

'Everyone.'

'Where they are –' continued Fred.

'– what they're doing –'

'– every minute –'

'– of everyday.'

'Brilliant!' said Harry.

'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Hooves,' said George reminiscently. 'We owe them so much.'

'Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers,' added Fred solemnly.

_Men?_ I thought. _Not all of them …_

'I've heard of them,' I said slowly. 'They were the greatest mischief-makers of their time.' Or at least they were according to Moony, or as I knew him – Professor Lupin. I had to hold in my laughs.

'Now listen,' said Fred. 'There are seven secret passageways out of the castle. Now, Filch knows about these four –' he pointed them out, '– but we're sure we're the only ones who know about _these_. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in – completely blocked. And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. We'd recommend –'

Both of them pointed at the map and said, '– this one.'

'The One-Eyed Witch passageway,' explained Fred. 'It'll lead you straight to Honeydukes cellar. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is through that one-eyed old crone's hump. You best hurry. Filch is heading this way.' He showed Filch's footprints.

'Right,' said George briskly, 'and don't forget. When you're done, just give it a tap and say –'

'_Mischief Managed_,' they both said, George placing his wand tip on it again. 'Or else anyone can read it.'

'So young Harry, Jenna,' said Fred, in a very good impersonation of Percy, 'mind you behave yourselves.'

Fred and George left us in the stairwell. After a few minutes thought, Harry stuffed the Map into his pocket and we hurried out of the stairwell and towards the statue of the One-Eyed Witch on the third floor. We ran to the Entrance Hall and up the marble staircase. We ran all the way up to the third floor on the changing staircases and turned into the corridor with the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. We hid behind the statue where Harry pulled the Map out again. Our footprints were now right next to the statue on the map. Beside it there was a word written. Harry took out his wand.

'_Dissendium!_' he whispered, tapping the statue with his wand.

At once the statue's hump opened wide enough for someone to slip through it. Checking the coast was clear, Harry folded up the Map and then helped me climb into the hole. I slid a considerable way down and landed with a dull thump on solid earth. Harry followed quickly after me. We lit our wands to see we were in a long, narrow passageway. Harry quickly cleared the Map and we started off down the passageway. After about ten minutes we found some worn stairs and begun to climb them, stopping eventually when Harry's head hit a trapdoor and we climbed out in Honeydukes' cellar. With the Invisibility Cloak on, we snuck into the shop where we found Ron and Hermione. We gave them a little surprise when we snuck up behind them and Harry answered Ron's question if he wanted some Cockroach Cluster.

The four of us left the shop and we told them about the Map Fred and George had given Harry. Ron was annoyed they hadn't given it to him but Hermione was more concerned that we should hand it in. If we did that, we'd have to say where we got it which would mean Fred and George would also get in trouble.

'But what about Sirius Black?' Hermione hissed. 'He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!'

'He can't be getting in through a passage,' said Harry. 'There are seven secret tunnels on the map, right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. And the other three – one of them's caved in, so no one can get through it. One of them's got the Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it. And the one I just came through – well – it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in the cellar – so unless he knew it was there –'

'Can't we for once not bring up Sirius Black?' I asked. It'd be nice to just go one day without him being mentioned.

That was not likely to happen as moments later Ron pointed out a notice up on a doorway warning the village about Sirius Black. Dementors were patrolling the village after dark too. Hermione still wasn't convinced though. Pulling off the Cloak, Harry and I wandered around Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione, them showing us the different shops while we had the hoods up on our jackets to remain inconspicuous. As nice as the village looked in all the snow, I was soon getting very cold. When Ron suggested we went to The Three Broomsticks, I more than jumped at the chance. It was incredibly warm in there and we took a table at the back of the room while Ron got the drinks. He came back with four mugs of foaming Butterbeers. One sip and I was instantly warmed. It was gorgeous. However, a few minutes after we entered, so did Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, Hagrid _and_ the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Instantly Harry and I were forced under the table to hide by Ron and Hermione (we weren't meant to be there, were we?) and Hermione moved a tree in front of our table as we listened in.

'So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?' asked Madam Rosmerta, the pub's owner.

'What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?'

I instantly looked up when I heard Black's name, banging my head on the table above me. I was then kicked in the back by Hermione's foot so I had both a sore back and head.

'Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?'

'I'm sure of it,' replied Fudge shortly.

Cautiously I glanced at Harry. He was listening avidly to their conversation. Their footsteps walked past us and sat at another table. Madam Rosmerta's feet then joined them when she brought them their drinks.

'Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,' she said. 'Of all people to go over to the Dark side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought … I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead.'

'You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta,' said Fudge. 'The worst he did isn't widely known.'

'The worst? Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?'

'I certainly do.'

'I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?'

'You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta,' murmured McGonagall. 'Do you remember who his best friend was?'

'Naturally,' chuckled Madam Rosmerta. 'Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here – ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter.'

I tensed. Beside me, Harry dropped his tankard.

'Precisely,' said McGonagall. 'Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course – exceptionally bright, in fact – but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers –'

'I dunno,' chuckled Hagrid. 'Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money.'

'You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!' said Flitwick. 'Inseparable! Must run in the family!'

I swallowed. I had a horrible feeling I knew what that meant, even if Harry and the others didn't.

'Of course they were,' said Fudge. 'Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him.'

'Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?' whispered Madam Rosmerta.

'Worse even than that, m'dear ...' Fudge dropped his voice. 'Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm.'

Flitwick explained how the Fidelius Charm worked to the group. It involved the knowledge of where the hiding place was being kept by a single person or a Secret-Keeper and the only way for someone to find out where the people were hiding was if the Secret-Keeper told them. I closed my eyes, praying that what I thought that meant hadn't been what happened. But Black had indeed been their Secret-Keeper. I was finding it increasingly hard to breathe as they went on to mention James had insisted that they used Black as their Secret-Keeper despite Dumbledore having reservations about it because someone had been leaking information to You-Know-Who. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest while my head was saying "It's not true! It's not true!" And what was worse was that they had mentioned he had a daughter. I could only pray no more was mentioned about it.

'Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!' Hagrid said loudly, causing me to jump slightly. McGonagall ssh-ed him. 'I met him!' growled Hagrid. 'I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead … an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!'

I jumped again. I was still saying to myself, "It's not true!"

'How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says, "Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him with me daughter –" Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. "I won't need it anymore," he says.'

I really wished they'd stopped mentioning Black having a daughter or at least hoped that the others would think she died from neglect, not that she was sitting right beside them.

'_But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? _I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. Even dumped his own daughter the same night! She wasn' with him when he tried ter get Harry off me. His bes' friend's son! But when a wizard goes over ter the dark side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to 'em any more ...'

There was a long silence before Rosmerta asked, 'But he didn't manage to disappear did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!'

'Alas, if only we had,' said Fudge. 'It was not we who found him. it was little Peter Pettigrew –' I looked up, '– another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself.'

I listened carefully, regardless of how hard it was to do so, trying to pick out anything which wasn't right. Pettigrew apparently had never been as talented as Black and James and had followed them around when they were at school. He'd gone after Black and cornered him, crying about their death. Wands were drawn and Black blew up the street. Hagrid once again voiced his hatred for Black, saying he'd have ripped him to pieces. But it wasn't that that got to me most.

'Do you know who I also feel sorry for?' said Professor McGonagall, diverting the conversation away from Pettigrew's "tragic" death. 'One of Harry's best friends, Jenna. I'm surprised no one's caught on yet. The similarities between her and her father are beyond belief. Real luck favoured her when she was found by those Muggles and they got her to that orphanage, saving her the pain of knowing her father's past. All I can say is I pity her when she learns the truth.'

I froze. I barely heard any of what was said after that. I just sat there, completely frozen. It was only when I heard the scraping of chairs and four pairs of feet walked past our table that I snapped out of it. I looked to my right to see Harry staring at me. I swallowed. I opened my mouth to say something but Harry got out from under the table and stormed out of the pub. Hermione and Ron immediately followed. Slowly I got out from under the table and followed, pulling my hood up so my face was hidden. I got outside to see Harry walk off in the direction of the Shrieking Shack. Hesitantly I followed. I walked through the trees and climbed up a small hill to see him, Ron and Hermione in an opening in the woods. I remained on the hill as Hermione tried to comfort him.

'He was their friend,' said Harry, 'and he betrayed them. HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!' Harry's voice echoed around the empty forest. 'I hope he finds me,' said Harry darkly. 'Because when he does, I'm going to be ready! When he does, I'm going to kill him!'

That was it. I had to say something even if it risked everything I had. I ran down the hill towards him and said desperately, 'Harry, it's not true! He didn't do it!' The three of them looked at me having not realised I was there.

'You knew!' said Harry, getting up and walking over to me. 'How could you not tell me? I thought you were my friend!'

'I am your friend,' I said. 'I didn't tell you because I only found a few months ago myself. Harry, please, I've never lied to you once since I met you. You have to believe me. He didn't do it.'

What Harry did next, I didn't expect. I thought he would shout, accuse me of things, but no, what he did was worse. Everyone knows you should never hit a girl and that's what he did. He slapped me … clean across the face. I recoiled backwards, placing my hand on my reddening cheek, looking away. I heard Hermione gasp. I knew Harry thought I deserved it but I couldn't say anything to defend myself.

'Get out of here, Jenna,' growled Harry, 'before I do something I might regret!'

I didn't need any more telling. With one last look at them, knowing that I'd ruined the friendships I had made with them, I thought of the phoenix's escape tactic and disappeared into a ring of fire back to a secluded place of Hogsmeade. I needed to get back to the castle. Once there, I transformed into a wolf and ran off up the street. I ran all the way back up the snowy footpath towards the castle. I hesitated though when I got to the main gains. Two Dementors I hadn't realised were patrolling there swooped down when I approached them. I felt the chill they created as they stared at me but for some reason, they didn't attack. They seemed to examine me but that was all. Carefully I snuck round them then ran off back to castle. I made it back safely, transforming in the grounds so it seemed I'd been there all along. I walked through the courtyard and all the way back to the Gryffindor Tower. When I got there, I headed straight for the girls' dormitory and slumped down on my bed.

I blinked, a tear falling down my cheek. Harry knew Black was my dad now and he thought I'd lied to him about knowing. He'd never asked me who my father was, how could I have lied? You can't lie about something you've never mentioned and I've never lied to him for as long as I've known him. I sighed. Harry knew who my dad was. What was I going to do now?

I finally braved leaving the dormitory for dinner. The common room was pretty much empty when I came down the stairs. Everyone was already in the Great Hall eating when I got there. My eyes scanned the Gryffindor table. I spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione about halfway down. I made to go sit with them but then hesitated when they looked up at me so instead I took the seat nearest to me. They left the Hall before me. I noticed them get up to leave and made to say something when they walked past me but Harry didn't even stop. Ron, Hermione and I shared a look but neither looked happy either; Ron followed quickly after Harry while Hermione just shook her head before catching up with them. I turned back round and looked down at my soggy desert. It was going to be a long Christmas.

I'd originally thought Christmas this year was going to be great: my three best friends and my Uncle all under one roof allowing me to spend time with both of them during the winter vacation. I turned out to be very wrong. The holiday was hell for me. I spent virtually all my time either hiding in my dormitory as almost everyone had gone home; wandering about the castle and ending up in places I'd never been before; or spending time with Lupin in his office. The only time I saw the others was on the first day of the holidays; I'd been in my dormitory all morning and was on my way down to lunch when I heard Harry, Ron and Hermione talking in the common room. I hesitated, not wanting to look like I'd been eavesdropping on their conversation when I appeared but I couldn't help listen in to what they were saying.

'You won't, will you?' said Hermione's voice, making me stop on the stairs.

'Because Black's not worth dying over,' said Ron.

'D'you know what I see and hear every time a Dementor gets too near me?' Harry then asked. 'I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. And if you'd heard your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if you found out someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her –'

'There's nothing you can do!' said Hermione. 'The Dementors will catch Black and he'll go back to Azkaban and – and serve him right!'

I started at what Hermione said; it sounded so mean coming from her. Unfortunately I'd blown my cover. I'd stepped back at the same time causing me to lose my footing and I fell down the remaining three stairs into the common room. I looked up to see Harry, Ron and Hermione staring at me. I swallowed. I got up but didn't approach them.

'Been eavesdropping, have you?' asked Harry. I tensed at the tone in his voice.

'I didn't mean to hear,' I muttered, looking down. 'Couldn't really help it when the common room's empty.'

'No, you could,' Harry said, 'you're just nosy. It's none of your business what we're talking about.' He turned back to the others.

'You know, you're not the only one who Black hurt,' I said, gaining their attention again. They looked at me. 'What about me? And Lupin? He lost his sister; I lost my Mum and my childhood. You know better than anyone what that orphanage was like, Harry.'

Harry got up. He walked across the common room to where I stood at the foot of the stairs. I stood my ground though inside I was worried what Harry would do now.

'So you lost out on your childhood, big deal,' said Harry spitefully. 'Black wasn't the reason you lost your parents!' he shouted.

'I lost my parents too, Harry!' I said. 'My Mum died before I even got to know her! At least you had a year with your parents!'

'That doesn't mean I can remember them! Thanks to your father, my parents died and he was meant to be their friend! Just like you were meant to be mine and you didn't even tell me you were related to him!'

'Because I knew you'd react like this! I didn't lie to you –'

'You know, I bet it wasn't even just my parents he betrayed,' Harry then said. 'How did your Mum die again, Jenna? You never did say. Perhaps she knew he was the traitor and he killed her to stop her from telling Dumbledore. And what was it you said yesterday? Oh yeah, that he didn't do it!'

'Black didn't kill my Mum, he was the one who found her!' I said. 'And if he was your dad's best friend, he wouldn't have betrayed them either, I know it. If I'm anything like Black like McGonagall said I was –'

'– then it would be a matter of time before you stab me in the back too,' said Harry.

'He wouldn't have done anything to hurt his best friend,' I finished, 'just like I wouldn't. Harry, you know me better than anyone. You were my first friend –'

'Yeah, I was,' said Harry. 'I can't believe I'm saying this but Malfoy was right; you _are_ a liar, Jenna. You're just saying all this.'

'No, I'm not –'

'I don't understand why Lupin bothered to find you,' Harry stopped me again. 'If you're anything like Black is, you don't deserve my friendship, not after what he did.' Harry turned away. 'Just get lost.'

After that confrontation made it clear Harry wasn't going to forgive me, I kept well out of his way. It wasn't my fault who my parents were. I didn't ask for them and I wasn't responsible for whatever Black did. That didn't stop Harry blaming me though. I did anything I could to keep away from him not that that became a problem as he, Ron and Hermione spent most of the holidays in the library. Hermione, the only one of the three of them who was still speaking to me, told me they went down to Hagrid's after mine and Harry's argument to find Buckbeak was being put on trial. I offered to help but Hermione said it was best if I didn't. I knew she was right.

My sombre mood didn't even lift when Christmas arrived. The castle had been decorated beautifully as always but I couldn't get in the Christmas spirit. On Christmas morning I had a small pile of presents waiting for me at the end of my bed but nothing from Harry and Ron. The only thing that made me feel slightly better was seeing Hermione's present. At least I still had one friend. That morning I heard the usual row about Crookshanks and Scabbers when I went to breakfast. Something about that rat bothered Crookshanks; he wouldn't keep going after him if it didn't. I spent the rest of the day out of the Tower and with Lupin in his office. It was the full moon again so we had Christmas dinner brought up there. But there was something on his mind of which put me in an awkward position.

'Jenna, not that I don't enjoy your company,' he said, 'but why have you been spending so much time here when Harry, Ron and Hermione have all stayed over as well?'

I hesitated before answering him.

'I just needed a break from my friends. I would have gone home for Christmas even if you hadn't been teaching.' I glanced up to see Lupin looking at me suspiciously.

'Now you can tell I don't believe that,' he said resignedly. 'Jenna, you _can_ tell me if something's happened. You don't have to keep things bottled up.'

I sighed and gave in. 'Harry knows Black's my dad.'

'And this is bad because …?'

'Because I believe he's innocent,' I muttered, looking away. I knew this would stir up more trouble.

'You believe he's innocent?' repeated Lupin almost in disbelief. 'Jenna, how can you think he's innocent after all that happened? All the evidence that pointed towards him.'

'I have to,' I said. 'He's my father, no one else is loyal to him so I have to be until he's proven guilty to me.'

Lupin had stood up and was now kneeling in front of me in my chair. I glanced up at him from behind my fringe.

'He abandoned you,' said Lupin slowly. 'Black left you for dead a year after your mother was murdered, betrayed his best friends and handed them over to Voldemort, killed twelve people the very next day. You said yourself you saw a man with black hair in your memory, confirming it was him at your mother's death.'

Bells started ringing in my mind.

'Hold on,' I said suddenly. 'He wasn't at Mum's death or at least not until later. A man with black hair was but it wasn't Black. It didn't even look like him, his hair was too short. The other man though, I recognised. It's the man from that photo you showed me, the one who looked like a mouse.' I took a deep breath and said it. 'Peter Pettigrew was there and he jeered Mum, laughing at the mention of the Marauders, your old gang.'

'Peter's dead,' said Lupin bluntly. He stood up and stared down on me. 'Black killed him, all the evidence shows it. Black was even James and Lily's Secret-Keeper. Only he would have been able to tell Voldemort where they were. He was a Death Eater.'

'He was not a Death Eater!' I said angrily. 'You said yourself that you were all suspicious that one of you was giving information to Voldemort. What if you were wrong? What if he and Pettigrew switched or something but never told anyone? What if Pettigrew never died –?'

'Jenna, that is enough!' said Lupin sharply. 'Peter was killed by Black and I will not hear any more of this. I will, however, have a word with Harry about your situation and see what I can do. I suggest you return to the Tower.'

'But tonight's the full moon,' I said.

'No, you're to stay in the Tower,' said Lupin. 'This time, you're staying out of this.'

I had to do as he said so I returned to the Tower only to come across an argument which had just happened; Harry had apparently got a Firebolt for Christmas from an anonymous sender and Hermione had got it confiscated because she thought it was sent by Black. I just went straight to bed.

The rest of the holidays and beginning of the spring term I spent alone. I didn't visit Lupin anymore because I knew his views on me believing Black was innocent and I was never near Harry, Ron or Hermione. I didn't even hear about Buckbeak's hearing until I overheard Malfoy jeering about it. I did find something out though; Hermione had gotten suspicious as to why Lupin kept falling ill every month without fail and, to my horror, managed to work out what was wrong with him. She'd said ages ago she'd already finished Snape's essay on werewolves and so when I entered the dormitory after dinner on Christmas Day, I saw she had it sprawled out on her bed as she checked what she'd written.

'The lunar chart, his symptoms, his Boggart, it all fits!' I overheard her say. 'Professor Lupin's a werewolf!'

Instantly I ran to her bed and begged her, 'Hermione, please, promise me you won't tell anyone.' She just looked at me suspiciously. I sighed. 'Lupin hasn't had a job in over three years. If you tell anyone that he's a werewolf it will ruin his career. I beg you, please don't tell anyone.'

'Why should I?' she asked me. 'Werewolves are some of the most untrustworthy wizards in the wizarding world. You had Harry's trust and you betrayed it. So has Lupin and what's to say he's not betraying Harry too?'

'Because I know Lupin,' I said. 'And he would never do anything to his best friend's son. Please, Hermione. Please don't tell anyone.'

Hermione gave me her word but whether it would last, I didn't know. To my relief though, it appeared the secret was still safe as I saw Harry speak to Lupin after our Defence Against the Dark Arts class on the first day back. If he or Ron had known, then they wouldn't have gone anywhere near him on their own, I'd bet my wand on it.

By the second week of term I'd already managed to enrage Harry even more than intended but it completely wasn't my fault. The day before the Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw match, I'd been out on the Quidditch pitch by myself practicing flying on a broomstick to see if it was anything like flying like a bird. Anyway, Wood saw me flying on my broomstick (a Meteor two-thirty that Lupin had got me second hand for Christmas) and he asked me to come to practice the next day. Needless to say Harry wasn't pleased to see me there even though Wood said it was a temporary thing.

A few days before the match against Ravenclaw, however, Harry had got his Firebolt back. He and Ron returned to the common room with the broom to an excited crowd when they saw it. Only Hermione in the opposite corner didn't go over to them. Another thing that happened that night was Scabbers had vanished. After taking Harry's broom upstairs to their dormitory, Ron had come charging down to the common room shouting at Hermione that he'd gone and blood was found on the bed sheet he had in his hand along with several ginger cat hairs. This wasn't good. I'd never seen them argue so badly and it resulted in Hermione storming up to our dormitory. I didn't follow, knowing it wasn't my place to say anything.

The next day was the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match. Because Harry had his Firebolt and I wasn't needed, I went to sit in the stands, making sure I was away from Ron and Hermione who, because of their argument the other night, now weren't speaking to each other. The match was great and Lee Jordan's commentary was as entertaining as always. Several times Harry shot off on his Firebolt after the Snitch but the Ravenclaw Seeker, a Chinese-girl Wood said was called Cho Chang at the last practice, kept on his tail. The third time he went after it, I saw three hooded figures had appeared on the pitch. All of a sudden a bright white light I recognised to be a Patronus appeared and charged at the things. I didn't know Harry could do the Patronus Charm. The Dementors turned out to be Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Flint and it was very entertaining seeing Professor McGonagall berate them about it. When the Gryffindors engulfed him in celebration, I remained in the stands, just watching, knowing until I'd proven Black was innocent I'd never have my friendship back with him.

I was sure there was only one piece of the puzzle missing. I just couldn't find it. All I had was Black had been one of Lupin's friends at school, where he and James Potter had been best friends; they had become Animagi to help him with his werewolf problem; Peter Pettigrew, another of Lupin's friends, had been at my Mum's death and had laughed at the Marauders; there had been suspicion between the friends when the Potters had been marked for death; Black had been Secret-Keeper for the Potters; and Pettigrew had been killed, only his finger left, the next day along with several Muggles. Something just didn't fit. Why would Black do that if James Potter had been his best friend?

But that night something made me think about my sanity of believing him innocent. There had been a shout from the third year boys' dormitory, waking up everyone in the Tower. Hermione, Parvati and Lavender were the first downstairs. I followed at a distance. When I got down there everyone was gathered in the common room. Professor McGonagall was also there. I remained on the stairs and took a seat to listen.

'IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!' Ron yelled. 'PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!'

'Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have got through the portrait hole?' said Professor McGonagall.

'Ask him!' said Ron, pointing at the portraits. 'Ask him if he saw –'

'Percy, have you seen Sir Cadogan?'

Sir Cadogan was in a portrait in the common room, trying to woo a lady with some flowers. He looked up when Professor McGonagall called him.

'How may I serve you, Madam?' he asked.

'Excuse me, Sir Cadogan,' she said, 'did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower tonight?'

Sir Cadogan walked through three portraits and into another with a group of wizard around a chess table, thinking.

'Certainly, good lady,' he cried.

'You– you _did_?' said Professor McGonagall. She hadn't expected that. 'But – but the password!'

'He had 'em!' said Sir Cadogan proudly. 'He had the password. Checkmate!' He ran is arms over a chess game, ruining it. 'He had the whole week's, in fact, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper.'

As Sir Cadogan said this, he flung his arms out causing a wizard to fall out the window. McGonagall was not impressed.

'Which person,' said Professor McGonagall slowly, 'which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and then proceeded to lose them?' She turned round to Neville and sighed. 'Is it always going to be you, Longbottom?'

Neville nodded.

'Well, Sirius Black is gone tonight. But I think you can all safely assume that he will, at some future time attempt to return. Now, I speak for the entire staff when I say while we take every precaution to ensure your safety it is incumbent upon yourselves to act responsibly. Understood?'

There was a group "yes" and she left the common room. I remained sat on the stairs while people filed past me to go back to bed. Harry, Ron and Hermione, however, were still down there. I glanced round the edge of the staircase to see Harry sat on the sofa.

'I could have killed him,' he said. 'He was right there. He was close enough to touch. I could have killed him.'

I sighed and got up to go back up to bed.

The next week passed and security had been tightened around Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was back with security trolls guarding her because Sir Cadogan had been sacked for allowing Black into the Tower. That weekend was another Hogsmeade trip and again, Harry snuck off to go with Ron (I'd overheard them at breakfast) but I didn't do anything about it. I was still thinking about the attack; why would Black attack Ron's bed but scarper before he could get Harry? If he was able to wipe out a street of Muggles, four other teenage wizards weren't going to stop him. Again that day I spent wandering about the castle. I was still debating about telling a teacher that Harry had gone to Hogsmeade but I decided the less I was on the wrong side of him, the better. Still, Harry got into trouble with Snape so he sort of had it coming to him.

That night was also the full moon so I was with Lupin in his office again. The moon waned much quicker this time and so I was able to get back to the Tower before two in the morning while Lupin recovered. But as I was on my way back I noticed someone walking down a corridor with a lit wand. It was Harry. Knowing he'd just shout at me, I followed. He seemed to be following something or someone because he had the Marauder's Map in his hand. When he stopped I walked up to him. He jumped when he saw me. Both of us were in our pyjamas.

'What are you doing here?' he asked me rather angrily.

'I could ask you the same question,' I said calmly. 'If you're not careful, you're going to get caught.'

He just ignored me and continued a little further down the corridor. Behind me I could hear footsteps coming closer. I froze. I was meant to have gone straight back to the Tower and here I was arguing with Harry. Quickly, I changed into a mouse and climbed up Harry's trouser leg to hide in the pocket of his hoody. Harry seemed to have noticed too as a second later his wand light went out to be replaced by another.

'Potter,' said Snape slowly. 'Seems to be your day for being in places you shouldn't be. What are you doing wandering the corridors at night?'

'I was sleepwalking,' Harry said.

'How extraordinary like your father you are, Potter. He, too, was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch pitch made him think he was a cut above the rest of us, too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers ... the resemblance between you is uncanny.'

'My Dad didn't _strut_. And nor do I. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could lower your wand.'

'Your father didn't set much store by the rules, either. Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen –'

'SHUT UP!' Harry jumped when he shouted that, making it seem like an earthquake had happened to me in his pocket.

'_What did you say to me, Potter?_' asked Snape, his voice dangerously quiet.

'I told you to shut up about my dad!' Harry yelled. 'I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my dad!'

'And did the Headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life? Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter's delicate ears?' Harry didn't reply. 'I would hate you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter. Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you – your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had the joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts.'

_Geeze, what had they done?_ I thought. I jumped though when I heard Snape say, 'Turn out your pockets.' I froze. If Harry put his hands in his pocket I'd be found for sure. 'Turn out your pockets, or we go straight to the Headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!'

I felt Harry's hand go into his pocket and pull out the Map; I just managed to avoid it.

'What's this?' asked Snape suspiciously.

'Spare bit of parchment,' shrugged Harry.

I listened as best I could with mouse ears to what Snape and Harry were saying. I always hated listening as an animal as the voices were never as clear as they would be if I was human.

'Reveal your secrets.' Silence. 'Show yourself!' More silence. I swallowed in fear that Snape would be able to read the Map. 'Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!' Something must have happened as seconds later, he said, 'Read it.'

'"_Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and_" …' Harry paused.

'Go on.'

'"… _and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business_".' But it didn't stop there. '_Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git. Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor_".'

I was gobsmacked at what Lupin and his friends had written.

'"_Miss Hooves also adds she'd be surprised if he ever got a girlfriend_".'

My Mum wrote that?!

'"_Mr Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball_".'

Snape was not pleased. 'Why you insolent little –'

'Professor!' I froze again. That was Lupin's voice.

'Well, well. Lupin. Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?'

'Harry, are you all right?' he asked Harry.

'That remains to be seen,' said Snape. 'I have now just confiscated a rather curious artefact from Mr Potter. Take a look, Lupin. This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?'

I knew Lupin would instantly recognise that Map if he'd written it. He had been a Marauder and it was the Marauder's Map.

'Full of ark Magic?' he repeated mildly. 'Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who tries to read it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke-shop –' He laughed briefly. 'I suspect it's a Zonko's product. Nevertheless, I shall investigate any hidden qualities it may possess. It is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise. Harry, would you come with me, please? Goodnight, Professor.'

I felt Harry start to walk away. If I could do so, I'd remain there until he got back to the Tower. However, Lupin knows me and he knew I was there.

'Come in,' he said, letting Harry into his classroom I found out. 'Firstly, Jenna, you can come out now.'

I sighed and jumped out of his pocket, transforming back to my normal self. Lupin wasn't pleased. I'd never seen him so angry.

'I don't want to hear explanations,' said Lupin before Harry could say anything. 'I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map. Now,' said Lupin calmly, 'I haven't the faintest idea, Harry, how this map came to be in your possession but quite frankly I am _astounded_ that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back. Did it never occur to you that this, in the hands of Sirius Black is a map to you?' Harry didn't say anything but shook his head. 'No.'

'No, sir,' Harry muttered.

'Your father never paid much attention to the rules either. But he and your mother gave their lives to save yours and gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle unprotected with a killer on the loose seems to me as a pretty poor way to repay them!' That's when he turned to me. 'And you, Jenna, you know perfectly well that you cannot flaunt your abilities like that and if Black knows you're alive he will try to take you back and he will hurt you. I am not losing you again.

'Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry, either of you. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. I will not cover up for you two again. Do you hear me?'

'Yes, sir,' repeated Harry.

'Yes, Lupin,' I said. If he hadn't noticed, he'd just blown it for me in front of Harry, not that I hadn't already.

'Now, I want you to return to your dormitories and stay there.' Harry nodded and turned away. 'And don't take any detours. If you do, I shall know.'

Lupin tapped the Map and turned to his office. I waited a few seconds before following after Harry only to find he'd stopped.

'Professor,' he said quietly, 'just so you know, I don't think that Map always works. Earlier on, it showed someone in the castle. Someone I know to be dead.'

'Oh, really? And who might that be?' asked Lupin.

'Peter Pettigrew.' Lupin seemed to freeze and his eyes widened. I just looked between the pair of them. I'd found my final piece of the puzzle though now I'd just have to convince Lupin I was right.

'That's not possible,' said Lupin.

'It's just what I saw,' said Harry. 'Goodnight, Professor.'

As soon as he was gone, I turned to Lupin and said, 'I told you. I said what if he never died?' Lupin didn't say anything. He was still thinking. 'You said your best friends became Animagi for you and your werewolf thing. What did they change into?' I asked.

'James, a stag, Black, a dog and Peter, a rat,' said Lupin. 'The nicknames we had on this Map are enough of a clue: Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail. I was Moony and your Mum was Hooves. But it's not possible, Peter died, there were witnesses.' Lupin turned away. 'Go back to the Tower, Jenna.'

He didn't say anything more. I remained there for another minute, thinking, before saying loud enough, 'What if they didn't see what they thought they saw?' and leaving the classroom only to find Harry waiting outside for me but not for any pleasant remark.

'What are you?' I stopped walking and looked at him, then continued past him. 'What's this _ability_ Lupin keeps talking about?

'How long do you have?' I stopped again and looked at him; I wasn't going to lie to him. 'I'm an Animagus. Not the usual kind like McGonagall. A rare type I was born as which can change into anything. It's up to you if you want to tell everyone my secrets not that I'm not an outcast already.'

Before Harry could say anything, I disappeared into fire again and back to the Tower.

Now, I had all the evidence I needed and I knew that Dad was innocent. It was just a matter of proving it to everyone else.


	13. Innocent Lives Spared

**AN: hi people. just want to say, don't worry Hermione fans, she will hit Malfoy but the way she did in the film because I needed a reason for Harry to find out why Jenna was an orphan and having her slap Malfoy in defence of Hagrid seemed the best way. oh, and thanks to all the people who've reviewed, you're all brill! well, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12

Innocent Lives Spared

April and May passed for me without much notice. I had virtually no contact with Harry, Ron and Hermione now and classes were always a pain; knowing they knew who I was but no one else did put me in a difficult position if anyone else found out. I also learnt that Buckbeak had lost his case and was to be executed thanks to Malfoy gloating about it in Care of Magical Creatures. OK, yes I was angry at Harry and the others for not telling me but I was even angrier at Malfoy for jeering about it. And so I decided to do something about it.

Hagrid had just gone back into his hut and Malfoy was laughing outside it with Crabbe and Goyle. I'd never felt so angry in my life. Harry, Ron and Hermione were nearby. They all looked set to hurt him. I, however, got there first.

'Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?' Malfoy laughed as he walked into the castle ahead of me. 'And he's supposed to be our teacher!'

That had done it for me. I just marched right up to him, regardless of the other three being there, drew back my hand and slapped him as hard as I could, causing him to recoil backwards. Crabbe and Goyle stared dumbfounded while Harry, Ron and Hermione came running up behind me.

'Don't you _dare_ call Hagrid pathetic!' I shouted at him, drawing my hand back again.

'Jenna!' I felt someone grab my wrist though and stop me. It was Ron.

'Get _off_ me!' I growled at him. I snatched back my hand then pulled out my wand, pointing it at Malfoy. I found it amazing that he was still smiling.

'Well, well,' he said, 'Black's finally broken away from golden boy Potter? No longer part of his team? Found out your dark little secret, did he?' I just glared at him, willing him to say one more thing about my father and I would curse him. Instead, he just said, 'C'mon.' to Crabbe and Goyle and they left for the dungeons.

I pocketed my wand and was about to walk away when I heard Harry behind me.

'Following your father's footsteps?' I span round to look at him. 'Violence must run in the family.'

'He deserved what he got,' I said. I wasn't justifying what I did but it was true. 'I've got more right to do that to Malfoy then any of you have, even if I was defending Hagrid.'

'Oh? And why's that?' asked Harry, still glaring at me.

'You want to know why?' I asked in disbelief. 'Because his father killed my mother!' I shouted. 'I spent years in that horrible orphanage because of his father! Where's the justice in that? A man guilty of murder walks free when another is condemned for something he didn't do!'

It certainly shut them up. I'd never told any of them how my Mum died. They just stared at me.

'For the record, I am not on Black's side nor am I on yours,' I said. 'But as his daughter, I _have_ to believe he's innocent for the sheer chance of getting half my family back until I'm proven wrong. I'm just sorry my _friends_ can't understand my reasoning in it.'

And I stalked off to get to my Charms class. Behind me, I heard Hermione say, 'I'm not saying what Jenna did was right but if she hadn't of done that, I would have. You'd better beat him in the Quidditch final! You just better had, because I can't stand it if Slytherin win!'

I got to Charms before the others and took a seat between Lavender and Seamus. When the others entered I noticed Hermione had disappeared. It didn't faze me and I got on with trying to put a Cheering Charm on Seamus. I certainly could've done with one but unfortunately his didn't work that well and my mood didn't improve through the rest of the day. After lunch I had Divination and once again I sat with Lavender and Parvati. I had been for the last couple of weeks and it had to be the worst thing ever; each lesson those two were hooked on Trelawney's every word making the lesson even less bearable than usual. We'd started using crystal balls and so I spent the majority of the lesson staring into a lot of grey smoke. Nothing happened.

'Fine!' I looked up, startled, to see Hermione slam her textbook shut and stand up. 'Fine! I give up! I'm leaving!'

To the whole class's amazement, Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight. What happened?

'Ooooo!' squealed Lavender beside me. 'Oooooo, Professor Trelawney, I've just remembered! You saw her leaving, didn't you? Didn't you, Professor? "_Around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever!_" You said it _ages_ ago, Professor!'

Lavender didn't seriously believe all that, did she? It had been obvious from the first lesson that Hermione didn't like the subject. It was just a matter of time before she walked out of class.

'Yes, my dear, I did indeed know that Miss Granger would be leaving us,' said Professor Trelawney dramatically. 'One hopes, however, that one might have mistaken the Signs ... the Inner Eye can be a burden, you know ...'

'Signs, my wand,' I muttered under my breath.

Spring soon dissolved into summer and the exams began to loom. In the middle of April also was the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch final match to which we won spectacularly, winning two hundred and thirty to twenty. I went down to the pitch with the rest of the House but kept my distance, watching as Harry was lifted on to their shoulders as he held up the Quidditch Cup. I was thrilled for him but I couldn't face being there, knowing that I couldn't share his success. Despite that, nothing much really happened. As the weather improved I started to spend more time outside the castle while I did my revision. It was much quieter than the common room was where the rest of the House were revising and I hated being in the library as it was too quiet and I got easily distracted.

It was on a Wednesday afternoon I'd been outside when I noticed something strange. I knew there were numerous animals and creatures around the grounds and in the Forbidden Forest. I just wasn't aware there was a black dog wandering around, besides Fang but he was usually in Hagrid's hut. I'd heard something and looked up from my work to see this black dog sitting a few feet away from me. I stared back at it. It sat and watched me for a few minutes before trotting slowly up to where I was beneath a tree at the edge of the Forest. I watched as it sniffed me then looked up with a pair of grey eyes. Its ears suddenly twitched and it looked round before darting off into the trees. How strange.

Exams weren't that bad all in all. There were two each day, starting on the third of June for the whole week with Transfiguration in the morning and Charms in the afternoon. Being at the top of the register had its advantages; I was always finished in my practical exams before Harry, Ron or Hermione came in for theirs. They still weren't talking to me. I have to say by then I was used to it and contented myself with trying to work out all the threads I had about Pettigrew and Black. The written exams were directly after the practicals and lasted for about an hour each. Again, being at the top of the register, I was sat a good way away from the others and so I didn't have to go near them when I took my place in the classroom.

Defence Against the Dark Arts had to be my favourite exam. It was also one of our last on the Thursday morning. Professor Lupin had made us an assault course with all the creatures he'd taught us about during the year. It was great fun to get around with all the Grindylows and Hinkypunks and stuff. I almost failed the Boggart though. It no longer appeared as a Dementor; instead it changed to my shock into Sirius Black. He came at me laughing manically like he did in the pictures of him in the _Prophet_ and waving his wand. I only just managed to make him change into a clown. Lupin had to deduct a couple of points for that.

That afternoon was Divination which had to be my most dramatic exam. I'd got to the North Tower to see the rest of the class were there apart from Harry and Ron. They got there a few minutes after I did. One by one Trelawney called us up to her classroom for our exam. When people came back down the ladder, none of them said anything about what the exam entailed. After Lavender came down, all giggly and excited, I heard Trelawney call my name. I got up off the floor and headed up the ladder. I walked past Harry to get to it, my shoulder just brushing his as I passed.

_An old wooden house ... people gathered, a dog transforming into a haggard man ... a man arrested ... someone escaping ... a swarm of Dementors surrounding their target ..._

I stopped briefly as this happened, not looking at Harry, before continuing up to Trelawney's room. The smell of perfume in there was disgusting. I should have done as Hermione and walked out of the class back in Easter. Trelawney waved me to a seat in front of her, a crystal ball sitting on the table between us. _Great_, I thought, _gazing into a load of smoke again_. The ten minutes passed by and I was relieved to be able to leave the classroom. My exam went OK, I guess. I just made up a lot of stuff that related to what I'd seen when my shoulder touched Harry's, about someone being captured and the Dementors getting what they wanted. It seemed to satisfy her so I left.

The rest of the afternoon I spent with Lupin. I didn't want to go back to the Tower so I went to his office after my last exam, going back again after dinner. As I left the Hall, I saw Harry and the others head out of the main doors instead of going back to the Tower. I guess they were going to Hagrid's; I'd overheard Buckbeak was to be executed today by none other than Malfoy when we were waiting for our Potions exam a few days ago. He was still laughing about it even though I'd slapped him. Some people never learnt. Anyway, I'd returned to Lupin's office and once again, he was wondering why I was there.

'I'm here because I have no friends,' I said slightly tetchily to him.

'Well, as long as you believe Black's innocent then Harry's going to find it hard being your friend,' said Lupin "wisely". Sometimes he could be so annoying.

'Lupin, I've got to believe he's innocent,' I told him. He looked curiously at me. 'Do you ever get that feeling when you know something's not right and yet everything tells you it is?' Lupin nodded. 'Well, that's what I have with this. Of all the things you've told me, something just doesn't add up.'

'It's your choice, Jenna,' replied Lupin. Next, he pulled something out of his desk drawer. It was the Marauder's Map.

'That's the Marauder's Map,' I said, changing the subject. 'I liked how it insulted Snape when he tried to read it. "_Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business_" eh, Lupin?'

'Very funny, Jenna,' he said dryly. He took out his wand and tapped it, saying, '_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._'

'What are you doing?' I asked him.

'I have a feeling Harry and that lot are going to try and see Hagrid before his Hippogriff gets executed.'

'You're a little late. They've already gone.'

'Yes,' Lupin mused. He was silent for a moment as he watched the Map. 'They've just gone into his hut. Why don't you go down and offer your condolences?'

'I don't think Harry would appreciate me following him. I'll see Hagrid later.'

The next half an hour or so Lupin spent watching the Marauder's Map. He remained silent as I stared round his office until something happened which spooked him and me. He just let out a gasp causing me to look up at him curiously.

'What? What happened?'

'Pettigrew …' was all he said and I was off.

Instantly I ran out of Lupin's room and down from the third floor to the Entrance Hall. It seemed to take ages and so, making sure no one as around, I transformed into a wolf, the fastest animal on four legs I could think of first. I made it to the Entrance Hall and out into the grounds. To my dismay I found that Harry, Ron and Hermione were hidden under the Invisibility Cloak so I had no way of knowing whereabouts there were. I ran to a more sheltered area, an outcrop of rocks near the Whomping Willow where I could still see roughly where they'd be, to be safe. I waited for any sign of them. And I saw what had been missing in my mind; all of a sudden, something appeared out of nowhere in the grass. Scabbers, Ron's rat, was back … Pettigrew …

I crouched down on the rock, ready to catch the rat as it started to run away near to where I was. I got on to all fours, ready to catch him. I made to jump down from the rock when I saw both Ron, who'd appeared from nowhere, and Crookshanks running after the rat. He chased Scabbers and he caught the rat, just below the Whomping Willow. He kicked Crookshanks away who hissed loudly at him. Harry and Hermione had followed, leaving the Cloak somewhere behind them.

'Harry, you do realise what tree this is?' I heard Hermione ask.

'That's not good,' said Harry. 'Ron, run!'

'Harry, Hermione, run!' I glanced at Ron to see him pointing at something behind the other two.

A large, black dog with pale eyes came running at them from behind Harry and Hermione. It was the same dog I'd seen a few weeks ago. It leapt at Harry, pushing him to the ground, then rolled off him. It skidded round on its paws ready for a second try at him. But it wasn't Harry it was after; it was Ron. Without thinking, I leapt down from the rocks and landed in between the dog and Ron.

'_You hurt him and I'll hurt you!_' I growled at it, my teeth bared. It seemed to hesitate for a second before growling at me.

'_Move or you'll get hurt as well!_'

I stood my ground, growling back at the dog. We were in a stand off until the dog leapt forward and attacked me. It pushed me back so hard I fell against the rocky side of the outcrop. I shook myself and looked up to see it leap at the others again. Ron pushed Harry out the way as the dog lunged. It bit down on Ron's arm and started to drag it towards the Whomping Willow where there was a large hole between the roots. Harry tried to stop it but was only left with a chuck of its fur in his hand. I heard a loud crack and saw Ron's leg disappear into the ground. Quickly, I got back up and ran after Ron and the dog before they vanished, not caring that I jumped on Harry's back to get to them. I dodged a branch that swiped the ground by mere centimetres and jumped in after it.

I looked up to see I was in a tunnel, and a very long tunnel at that. I could hear Ron's pained yells ahead of me and the violent whipping of the Whomping Willow's branches above me. _Good luck getting through that_, I thought as Harry and Hermione no doubt were going to try and follow. I walked a few paces forwards and put my nose to the ground; Ron and the dog were definitely here, there didn't appear to be anywhere else they could go. Slowly and quietly, I followed. After a few minutes the tunnel began to rise. I sped up when I saw a dim light, finding myself in an old, wooden, torn up room; I was in the Shrieking Shack. I pulled myself out of the tunnel and looked around. There was a trail of blood on the floor. I followed it, being led upstairs to another room. I could hear voices from inside it so I hid in the shadows to listen.

'Get away from me!' Ron shouted. He sounded in a lot of pain.

A light appeared at the stairs then vanished. I backed into the shadows and watched as Harry and Hermione walked past me. They ran into the room.

'Ron – are you OK?'

'Where's the dog?'

'Not a dog,' Ron muttered. 'Harry, it's a trap –'

'What –'

'_He's the dog_ …_ he's an Animagus …_'

I crept out of my hiding place and saw Black standing in front of the other three. A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. His grey eyes, darkened as the skin was around them, shone out of their sockets. His waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, he looked almost skeletal. His yellow teeth were bared in a green. He had Ron's wand in his hand and managed to Disarm both Harry and Hermione at the same time. He caught them then stepped closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry. He had been the dog! That was what Lupin had said his Animagus form had been.

'I thought you'd come and help your friend,' said Black, his voice hoarse. 'Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful ... it will make everything much easier ...'

Ron and Hermione had to grab Harry when he lunged at Black.

'If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!' said Ron suddenly, standing up besides his broken leg, gripping on to Harry's arm.

'Lie down,' said Black quietly to him. 'You will damage that leg even more.'

'Did you hear me?' said Ron weakly. 'You'll have to kill all three of us!'

'There'll only be one murder here tonight,' said Black. I tensed at the manic tone in his voice.

'Why's that?' spat Harry. 'Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew ... What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?'

'Harry,' hissed Hermione. 'Be quiet!'

'HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!' bellowed Harry, and he broke free from Hermione and Ron.

Instantly I jumped in between the two of them, again growling and my fur on end. Harry stopped in his tracks. Black stepped back from me. I remained between them. Harry stared at me; behind him, Hermione and Ron too were watching me. Well, it had been a good secret while I'd kept it. I stopped growling then transformed back to my normal self. To say Ron and Hermione were shocked would be an understatement. Harry, however, was unfazed.

'Get out of the way, Jenna!' he growled at me. I stood my ground though I heard Black gasp quietly from behind.

'No,' I said defiantly, 'not until you listen to me!'

He didn't. Harry just grabbed my arm and thrust me aside. I fell against the wall and watched as Harry threw Black against the wall despite him being at least two foot taller than him. One hand kept hold of Black's wrist so that the wands in his hand were pointing in the opposite direction; the other hit Black square in the face. Both Hermione and Ron were shouting as the wands sparked in Black's hand. I got up again to try and pull Harry off him while Black tried to push him away.

'Harry, stop!' I shouted as Black growled, 'No, I've waited too long!'

Black's hand had grabbed Harry's throat. From nowhere Hermione's foot swung at Black and kicked him back. He released Harry, the pair of us falling backwards on to the floor. Ron too had thrown himself at Black who'd dropped their wands. Even Crookshanks joined in, leaping away when Harry tried to kick at him. I grabbed Harry's arm as he tried to get up but he threw me off. Black was slumped against the wall panting. Harry grabbed his wand and pointed it at him.

'Going to kill me, Harry?' whispered Black. I glanced at him; had he always been this reckless?

'You killed my parents,' said Harry, glaring down at Black.

'I don't deny it,' he said, very quietly. 'But if you knew the whole story –'

'The whole story?' Harry repeated. 'You sold them to Voldemort, that's all I need to know!'

'Harry, please!' I begged. 'Listen to him!'

'The girl's right,' said Black. 'You've got to listen to me. You'll regret it if you don't ... you don't understand ...'

'I understand better than you think,' said Harry. 'You never heard her, did you? My mum ... trying to stop Voldemort killing me ... and you did that ... you did it ...'

Before anyone could say anything else, Crookshanks leapt on to Black's chest, his squashed face glaring at Harry. Hermione let out a dry sob at her cat protecting him. Harry didn't seem to care and kept his wand pointing at them both. All of a sudden more rushed footsteps started beneath us. Hermione shouted at them that Black was with us. Black made a startled movement but he wasn't quick enough. The door burst open in a shower of red sparks. Harry span round. To my relief Lupin rushed into the room with his wand raised. His eyes took us all in, landing lastly on Black.

'_Expelliarmus!_' he shouted, and Harry, Ron and Hermione's wands flew out of their hands to their surprise. Slowly Lupin walked into the room. His eyes remained on Black, Crookshanks still lying on his chest. 'Well, well, Sirius,' he said quietly, 'looking rather ragged, aren't we? Finally the flesh reflects the madness within.'

'Well, you'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?' countered Black. The two stared at each other.

'Where is he, Sirius?' Lupin then asked, emotion suppressed in his voice.

Black's face remained neutral. All he did was raise his hand and point at Ron.

'But then …' Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently as if trying to read his thoughts, '… why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless –' his eyes caught mine; I nodded and his eyes widened, '– unless _he_ was the one … unless you switched … without telling me?'

Slowly, Black nodded. I let out a silent sigh. I'd been right! And now, Lupin believed what I'd been telling him. He lowered his wand and walked to Black's side, hauling him to his feet then embracing him like a brother.

'I DON'T BELIEVE IT!' screamed Hermione. I looked startled at her. Lupin did so too, letting go of Black. 'You – you –'

'Hermione –'

'– you and him –'

'Hermione, calm down –'

'I didn't tell anyone!' she shrieked. 'I've been covering up for you –'

'Hermione, don't do this –' I said.

'Hermione, listen to me, please!' shouted Lupin. 'I can explain –'

'I trusted you,' shouted Harry, 'and all this time you've been his friend!'

'You're wrong,' said Lupin. 'I haven't been Sirius's friend for twelve years, but I am now ... let me explain ...'

'NO!' screamed Hermione. I felt like I wanted to slap Hermione to shut her up. 'Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too – _he's a werewolf!_'

There was a ringing silence. I broke it after a few minutes only to say, 'Hermione, you promised ...'

'Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione,' said Lupin, now looking quite pale. 'Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead … But I won't deny that I am a werewolf.'

'Lupin –!' I got up and ran over to him. If this looked like I was taking sides, then so be it. Lupin would always come first.

'No, it's all right, Jenna,' Lupin said. 'It's time they knew.'

In the corner, Ron tried to get up but fell back down. Concerned, Lupin went to help him, but he snarled back, '_Get away from me, werewolf!_'

Lupin stopped dead, then looked at Hermione. 'How long have you known?'

'Ages,' whispered Hermione. 'Since I did Professor Snape's essay ...'

'He'll be delighted,' he said, his voice as calm as ever. 'He set that essay hoping someone would realise what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and realise I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realise that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?'

'Both. You're just lucky Jenna made me promise not to tell.'

Lupin forced a laugh as he glanced at me.

'You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met Hermione.'

'I'm not,' said Hermione. 'If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are.'

'But they already know,' said Lupin. 'At least the staff do.'

'Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf?' Ron gasped. 'Is he mad?'

'Lupin, don't do this,' I said, pulling his robe sleeve. 'Please, don't –'

'Jenna, calm down,' said Lupin. He looked at me. 'You don't need to protect me now.' He turned back to the others. 'Some of the staff thought so. He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy –'

'AND HE WAS WRONG!' yelled Harry. 'YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!' Harry pointed at Black who was now sitting on the bed in the room, hiding his face in his hand. Ron had edged away from him.

'I have _not_ been helping Sirius, not when I too had someone I could lose.' Lupin put his hand on my shoulder. 'If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look –'

He separated Harry, Ron and Hermione's wand and threw each back to its owner.

'There. You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?'

'If you haven't been helping him, how did you know he was here?' asked Harry.

'The Map,' replied Lupin. 'The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it –'

'You know how to work it?' Harry said suspiciously.

'Of course I know how to work it,' said Lupin, waving an impatient hand. 'I helped write it. I'm Moony – that was my friends' nickname for me at school.'

'You _wrote _–?'

'The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?'

I listened silently as Lupin paced the room as he recounted all that he'd seen on the Marauder's Map when I'd been in his office, confirming how I too knew about them being there, and how he'd noticed someone else accompanying them on the way back from his hut. Harry shouted that they weren't but Lupin and I both knew better.

'And then I saw another dot, moving fast towards you, labelled Sirius Black ... I saw him collide with you and knock another of you away, I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow –'

'One of us!' said Ron angrily.

'No, Ron,' said Lupin. 'Two of you.'

He stopped pacing, his eyes moving to Ron.

'Do you think I could have a look at that rat?' he said evenly.

'What?' said Ron. 'What's Scabbers got to do with it?'

'Everything,' said Lupin. 'Could I see him, please?'

Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his tail to stop him escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Black's lap and hissed at him. Lupin moved closer to Ron and looked at Scabbers.

'That's not a rat.'

'What d'you mean –' said Ron, baffled, '– of course he's a rat –'

'No, he's not,' said Lupin. 'He's a wizard.'

'An Animagus,' said Black, 'by the name of Peter Pettigrew.'

It seemed to take a few moments for this to sink in. Well, it was quite absurd if you thought about it, a pet rat turning out to be some thirty-odd year old wizard. When it finally seemed to be acknowledged, none of them believed Lupin. They all thought Pettigrew was dead. There was no way to prove it.

'He killed him twelve years ago!' shouted Harry, pointing at Black.

'I meant to,' growled Black, 'but little Petter got the better of me ... not this time though!'

Black lunged at Scabbers, throwing Crookshanks to the floor. Ron yelled with pain as Black fell on his broken leg.

'Sirius, NO!' shouted Lupin, grabbing Black's shoulders and pulling him back. 'WAIT! You can't do it just like that – they need to understand – we've got to explain –'

'We can explain afterwards!' snarled Black. He tried to throw Lupin off but he wouldn't let go. He reached for Scabbers who was squealing loudly in Ron's hands.

'They've – got – a – right – to – know – everything!' Lupin shouted. 'Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand! And Harry – you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!'

'Enough talk, Remus!' said Black. 'Come on, let's kill him!'

'WAIT!'

'I did my waiting!' shouted Black suddenly. He withdrew his attack and pushed Lupin off him. 'Twelve years of it in Azkaban! You of all people know how much I lost!'

I looked at Black when he said this. Was he talking about me? Or about James and Lily?

'They have the right to know why, Sirius,' repeated Lupin calmly. 'You owe them.'

Black and Lupin stared at each other stubbornly. Finally Black relented.

'All right, then,' he growled, not taking his eyes off the rat. 'Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for ...'

It wasn't an easy thing to convince Harry and the others that Scabbers was really the Animagus Peter Pettigrew. Ron was so adamant, he even tried to leave but Lupin made him stay. None of them would believe it though.

'Everyone thought Sirius had killed Peter,' said Lupin, answering Harry's statement about his death. 'I believed it myself – until I saw the Map tonight. You'd already mentioned seeing him on the Map and the Map never lies ... Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry.'

'But Professor Lupin ...' said Hermione, her voice shaking. 'Scabbers can't be Pettigrew ... it just can't be true, you know it can't ...'

'Why can't it be true?' asked Lupin. It was like we were back in the classroom.

'Because ... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework – the Ministry keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things ... and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have only been seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list –'

'Right again, Hermione!' said Lupin, laughing. 'But the Ministry never knew that there used to be four unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts, nor that one still is today.' Lupin indicated me beside him. 'Jenna inherited a rather rare gift which allows her to shape-shift into any animal of her choice. Feramorphs took the name Animagus to hide from prejudice, another just like her at Hogwarts along with three other Animagi when I was at school.'

'If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus,' snarled Black. 'I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer.'

'All right ... but you'll need to help me, Sirius,' said Lupin, 'I only know how it began ...'

Lupin broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. We stared at it. Then Lupin strode towards it and looked out into the landing. Ron instantly said that the Shrieking Shack was haunted. That was just a silly wizard superstition. The house had never been haunted. Not since Lupin had been at Hogwarts.

'The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me,' explained Lupin. He pushed back his hair. 'That's where all of this starts – with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten ... and if I hadn't been so foolhardy ...'

I looked at Lupin. I'd never seen him quite this distressed before. He never had told me what had happened when he got bitten.

'I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, even separated my younger sister from me to stop her getting bitten, but in those days there was no cure. The Potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform ... I am able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again.

'Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me.

'But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that, as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school ...' Lupin sighed, then looked at Harry. 'I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted _because_ I'd come to Hogwarts. This house –' he looked round the room, '– the tunnel that leads to it – they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous.

'My transformations in those days were – were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumour ... even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it ...

'But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black ... Peter Pettigrew ... and, of course, your father, Harry, James Potter. A year later, my younger sister also joined the school and we were reunited after being apart for a year much to our joy. Nothing could be better.'

Lupin continued by telling us how his friends had noticed him getting ill every month and figured out what was wrong with him, much like Hermione had. He'd been worried about them deserting him but they didn't. They became Animagi for him, like Lupin had mentioned to me earlier in the year. Harry was very surprised when Lupin said this. They'd been inspired by my Mum's ability to change into animals and so for the next three years worked out how to do the transformation.

'Lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong –' said Lupin, '– one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will.'

'But how did that help you?' asked Hermione.

'They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals, like my sister did when she joined the school, much to her risk,' said Lupin. 'She always was stubborn and had been stubborn enough to go through the full moons with me. A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed ... Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them.'

'Hurry up, Remus,' snarled Black. He was watching Scabbers now with an almost hungry expression.

Lupin continued to explain, even with Black's interruptions, about how he and his friends spent the full moon together as animals. After a while they began to leave the Shrieking Shack and roamed the school grounds as animals with James and Black keeping an eye on him as they transformed into animals big enough to control him; a stag and a dog. Harry had been about to ask what James transformed into when Hermione mentioned how dangerous it had been. Lupin didn't need reminding.

'A thought that still haunts me,' said Lupin heavily. 'And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless – carried away with our own cleverness.

'I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course ... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other Headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed ...'

I'd never known Lupin had felt so guilty about this. None of it was his fault; they made the decision to help him, didn't they?'

'All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me ... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job, when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using Dark Arts he learnt from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it … so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along.'

'Snape?' said Black harshly. He finally looked away from Scabbers at Lupin. 'What's Snape got to do with it?'

'He's here, Sirius,' said Lupin heavily. 'He's teaching here as well.'

I didn't understand. How did Black know Snape? Neither did Harry, Ron or Hermione.

'Professor Snape was at school with us,' said Lupin. 'He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons … you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me –'

Oh yeah, Snape had said so when he caught Harry out of bed. Black made a derisive noise.

'It served him right,' he sneered. 'Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to ... hoping he could get us expelled ...'

'Severus was very interested in where I went every month,' Lupin explained. 'We were in the same year, you know, and we – er – didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch pitch ... anyway, Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me towards the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be – er – amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot in the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it – if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf – but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life ... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden to tell anybody by Dumbledore, but from that time on he knew what I was ...'

'So that's why Snape doesn't like you,' said Harry slowly, 'because he thought you were in on the joke?'

'That's right,' sneered a cold voice from behind Lupin.

Snape appeared, pulling off Harry's Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointed directly at Lupin. My blood ran cold. Lupin instantly pushed me behind him. Hermione screamed. Black leapt to his feet. Harry jumped as well.

'I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow,' said Snape, throwing the Cloak aside. His wand never moved from Lupin's chest. 'Very useful, Potter, I thank you ...

'You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?' he then said. I could see the triumph in his eyes at the situation. 'I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your Potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did ... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight.'

'Severus –' Lupin began, but Snape overrode him.

'I've told the Headmaster again and again that you've been helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout –'

'Severus, you're making a mistake,' said Lupin urgently. 'You haven't heard everything – I can explain – Sirius is not here to kill Harry –'

'Two more for Azkaban tonight,' said Snape. He seemed almost mad with glee about it. 'I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this … he was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin … a _tame_ werewolf …'

'Brilliant, Snape,' said Black, walking round him. Lupin, meanwhile, was still holding me behind him. 'Once again, you've put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion. Now if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to.'

'I could do it, you know,' Snape sneered. 'I could do it right here and now.'

'Don't be a fool, Severus,' said Lupin.

'He can't help it, it's habit by now,' said Black.

'Sirius, be quiet.'

'Oh, go bite yourself, Remus!'

'Listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple,' laughed Snape.

'Why don't you run along and play with your potion set,' Black growled.

'You fool,' repeated Lupin quietly. 'Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?'

All of the sudden then was a loud BANG! Ropes like snakes shot out of Snape's wand and wrapped themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists and ankles causing him to fall to the ground, bound and gagged.

'Lupin!' I gasped. I made a move to help him only to have Snape shout at me, 'One more move, Black, and I'll personally make sure you're expelled for consorting with a werewolf and a murderer.' pointing his wand at me as well.

I froze. Malice flashed in Black's eyes like never before and he lunged at Snape.

'How dare you threaten her!' he shouted.

I stared at him. He was standing up for me? However, Black had frozen as Snape pointed his wand at his throat, digging it in.

'Give me a reason,' he whispered. 'Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will.'

Black didn't move but his look of loathing remained. I watched in fear for both him and Lupin. This was a school grudge Snape was not going to drop.

'Professor Snape,' said a timid voice behind me. It was Hermione. 'It – it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?' I couldn't believe she was now defending them, which I was very thankful for, but Snape didn't listen.

'Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school,' spat Snape. 'You, Potter and Weasley are out of bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, _hold your tongue_.'

'But if – if there _was_ a mistake –'

'KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!' shouted Snape. 'DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!'

Hermione fell silent. Snape turned back to Black.

'Vengeance is very sweet,' he breathed. 'How I hoped I would be the one to catch you ...'

'The joke's on you again, Severus,' snarled Black. 'As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle –' he jerked his head at Ron, '– I'll come quietly ...'

'Up to the castle?' said Snape silkily. 'I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black ... pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay ...' My face whitened at that thought; so did Black's. 'Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh yes, the Dementor's Kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like to endure. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best.'

'You – you've got to hear me out,' said Black. 'The rat – look at the rat –' Snape ignored him.

'Come on, all of you,' he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ropes binding Lupin flew into his hands. 'I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him, too –'

'No!' I shouted suddenly, standing up. Snape looked at me. 'Lupin – he hasn't done anything! Please, he –'

'You are already treading on very thin ice as it is, Miss Black,' said Snape, glaring at me. 'Do not make the situation worse for yourself. You are facing expulsion from this school for being in the company of Black and this werewolf; you will be back at home in an orphanage in no time and you will be lucky, dare I say it, to be taken in by another wizarding family if someone should make it known who your relatives are.'

I flushed. He couldn't take Lupin away from me, he couldn't!

'Get out of the way, Potter,' I looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, 'you're in enough trouble already,' snarled Snape. 'If I hadn't been here to save your skin –'

'Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year,' said Harry. 'I've been alone with him loads of times, having defence lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?'

'Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works,' hissed Snape. 'Get out of the way, Potter!'

'YOU'RE PATHETIC!' yelled Harry. 'JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN –'

'SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!' bellowed Snape. 'Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck, you should be thanking me on bended knee, you and your pathetic half-breed friend!' That was low even for Snape in my opinion. My worry for Lupin was instantly replaced with anger. 'You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have both died like your parents, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken by Black – now get out of the way, or I will _make _you.' Still Harry didn't move. 'GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!'

Without a second's more thought, I pulled out my wand and shouted, '_Expelliarmus!_' and I wasn't the only one. Harry, Ron and Hermione all had drawn their wands shouting the same spell at the same time, pointing them at Snape. As a result, he was flung backwards against the wall. He collapsed on the floor unconscious, a trickle of blood trailing down his forehead.

'You shouldn't have done that,' said Black. 'You should have left him to me ...' Hermione, meanwhile, was whimpering that we'd attacked him. So what? He deserved that.

I turned back to Lupin and tried to pull off the ropes holding him. I felt my hand get taken. I looked up. Black was knelt beside me. We shared a look momentarily, before Black released Lupin's binds. He got back to his feet, rubbing his wrists. I instantly hugged him, glad he was all right. Lupin hugged me back, also saying thank you to Harry.

'I'm still not saying I believe you,' Harry retorted instantly.

'Then it's time we offered you some proof,' said Black. 'You, boy – give me Peter. Now.'

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to him, and said, 'Come off it. Are you trying to say you broke out of Azkaban just to get your hands on _Scabbers_? I mean ...' he looked at Harry and Hermione. 'OK, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat – there are millions of rats – how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?'

'You know, Sirius, that is a fair question,' said Lupin, frowning. 'How _did_ you find out where we was?'

Black put his hand into the pocket of his tattered robes and pulled out a piece of paper, flattening it out. It was a photograph of Ron and his family from their holiday to Egypt last summer. And there on his shoulder was Scabbers.

'How did you get this?' asked Lupin.

'Fudge,' replied Black. 'When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page … on this boy's shoulder … I knew him at once … how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts … to where Harry was …'

'My God,' breathed Lupin, staring at the page. 'His front paw ...'

'What about it?' asked Ron defiantly.

'He's got a toe missing,' said Black.

'Of course,' said Lupin, 'so simple ... so _brilliant_ ... He cut it off himself?'

'Just before he transformed,' said Black. 'When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself – and sped down into the sewer with the other rats ...'

'Didn't you ever hear, Ron?' Lupin asked him. 'The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger.'

'Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something!' said Ron. 'He's been in my family for ages, right –'

'Twelve years, in fact,' said Lupin. 'Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?'

'We – we've been taking good care of him!'

'Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?' said Lupin. 'I'd guess he's been losing weight since he heard Sirius was on the loose again ...'

'He's been scared of that mad cat!' said Ron, pointing at Crookshanks.

'This cat isn't mad,' said Black. He stroked Crookshanks' fluffy head. 'He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was straight away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me. Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me ...'

It turned out Crookshanks had been trying to catch Peter for Black all those times he chased him in the common room. When that failed, he stole Neville's passwords for him to get into the Gryffindor Tower. But then Scabbers had disappeared because he'd found out what Crookshanks was doing.

'This cat – Crookshanks, did you call him? – told me Peter had left blood on the sheets ... I suppose he bit himself ... well, faking his own death had worked once ...'

'And why did he fake his death?' said Harry furiously. 'Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!'

I sent Harry an irritated look. Had he not listened to anything that had been said in the last hour?

'No,' said Lupin. 'Harry –'

'And now you've come to finish him off!'

'Yes, I have,' said Black, glaring at Scabbers. He wasn't helping his case.

'Then I should've let Snape take you!' shouted Harry.

'Harry,' said Lupin hurriedly, 'don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down – but it was the other way around, don't you see? _Peter _betrayed your mother and father – Sirius tracked _Peter_ down –'

'THAT'S NOT TRUE!' Harry yelled. 'HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP, HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!'

'You don't believe that, Harry,' I said, speaking for the first time since just before Snape had been knocked out. Hesitantly I approached him. 'I know you don't.'

Harry and I stared at each other.

'How can you still defend him?' Harry hissed at me. 'He admitted it. You heard him!'

'Because Pettigrew was one of the Death Eaters who killed my mother,' I said quietly. 'He betrayed the Marauders long before he betrayed your parents when my mother died.'

'Harry ...' Harry and I looked away from each other at Black, 'I as good as killed them,' he croaked. 'I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me ... I'm to blame, I know it ... the night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies – I realised what Peter must have done. What I'd done.'

Black looked away. I stared at him; he looked so broken, nothing like the madman who'd been in the papers.

'Enough of this,' said Lupin. His voice was different, almost harsh. 'There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, _give me that rat._'

'What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?' Ron asked Lupin tensely.

'Force him to show himself,' said Lupin. 'If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him.' Ron hesitated, then at long last held out Scabbers. The rat squealed and wriggled in an attempt to get free. Lupin took hold of him. 'Ready, Sirius?'

Black had already retrieved Snape's wand and was pointing it at Scabbers. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, his eyes once again alive in his face.

'Together?' he said quietly.

'I think so.' Lupin held Scabbers tightly at the scruff of his neck. 'On the count of three. One – two – THREE!'

A flash of blue-white erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small black form twisting madly. Ron was yelling at them to stop, being held back by Hermione to stop him injuring his leg any more. The rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and all of a sudden I watched as the rat slowly grew until a man was standing between Black and Lupin, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks hissed and spat at him from the bed. Pettigrew, a short squat man with an uncanny resemblance to the rat he'd previously been, looked round at us; he was hardly much taller than Harry or I, and he was balding on to like Scabbers had been losing his fur; it was obvious he'd lost a lot of weight from his shrunken appearance and his clothes were as filthy as Scabbers' fur had been.

'Well, hello, Peter,' said Lupin. It was as if his old best friend had always been there, not a rat seconds previously. Lupin always did have the ability to seem so calm in strange situations. 'Long time, no see.'

'S-Sirius ... R-Remus ...' squeaked Pettigrew, his eyes darting everywhere. 'My friends ... my old friends ...'

Black raised his wand. Lupin seized his wrist and sent him a look before turning back to Pettigrew.

'We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed –'

'Remus,' he gasped, 'you don't believe him, do you ... He tried to kill me, Remus ...'

'So we've heard,' replied Lupin, his voice getting colder. 'I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so –'

'He's come to try and kill me again!' shrieked Pettigrew. He pointed at Black. I saw he used his middle finger as his index one was missing. Black scowled at him. 'He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me, too ... you've got to help me, Remus ...'

'No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out.'

'Sorted things out?' Pettigrew looked wildly round us all. 'I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!'

'You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?' asked Lupin curiously. 'When nobody has ever done it before?'

'He's got Dark powers the rest of us can only dream of! How else did he get out of there? I suppose He Who Must Not Be Named taught him a few tricks!'

Black laughed mirthlessly.

'Voldemort, teach me tricks?' Pettigrew flinched. 'What, scared to hear your old master's name?' said Black. 'I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?'

'Don't know – what you mean, Sirius –' muttered Pettigrew frantically.

'You haven't been hiding from _me_ for twelve years,' said Black. 'You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter ... they all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them ... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the doubler-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information ... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways ... If they ever got wind you were still alive, Peter –'

'Don't know ... what you're talking about ...' said Pettigrew again. 'You don't believe this – this madness, Remus –'

'I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat,' said Lupin.

'Innocent, but scared! If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban – the spy Sirius Black.'

'How dare you,' growled Black, his features darkening. He suddenly seemed like that large dog he'd been earlier. 'I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter – I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us ... me and Remus ... and James ...

'Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it,' hissed Black so venomously Pettigrew recoiled. 'I thought it was the perfect plan ... a bluff ... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd used a weak, talentless thing like you ... it must have been the finest moment in your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters, no doubt after you helped corner and hand him my wife!'

'I never – this is ridiculous – far-fetched stories – Remus –!'

'I'm sorry, Peter,' said Lupin, 'but I'm with Sirius on this one. You wronged me the moment I found out you were involved in my sister's death.'

'Professor Lupin?' said Hermione behind him. He looked at her. 'Can – can I say something?

'Certainly, Hermione,' said Lupin courteously.

'Well – Scabbers – I mean, this – this man – he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?'

'There!' shrieked Pettigrew. 'Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair on Harry's head? Why should I?'

'I'll tell you why,' said Black. 'Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for twelve years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him ...'

'Er – Mr Black – Sirius?' Black jumped at being addressed like this. So did I for that matter, surprised to see it was Hermione doing it. 'If you don't mind me asking, how – how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark magic?'

Pettigrew squeaked his agreement again but Lupin silenced him with a look.

'I don't know how I did it,' said Black slowly. 'I think the only reason I never lost your mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me ... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am ... helped me keep my powers ... so when it all came ... too much ... I could transform in my cell ... become a dog. Dementors can't see you know ...' Black swallowed. 'They feel their way towards people by sensing their emotions ... they could tell that my feelings were – were less human, less complex when I was a dog and so didn't affect me ... like they didn't when I saw this girl as a wolf in the grounds ...' Black pointed at me. I gave him a startled look. 'They thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand ...

'But then I saw Peter in that picture ... I realised he was at Hogwarts with Harry ... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again ... ready to strike the moment he could be sure of allies ... to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honours ...

'So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive ... It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it ... it wasn't a happy feeling ... it was an obsession ... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog ... it's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused ... I was thin, very thin ... thin enough to slip through the bars ... I swam as a dog back to the mainland ... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog ... I've been living in the Forest ever since ... except when I come to watch the Quidditch, of course ...' Black actually smiled, 'you fly as well as your father did, Harry ...' He looked directly at Harry. 'Believe me,' Black finished. 'Believe me. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them.'

Harry stared at him. Then, after several seconds, Harry nodded. Pettigrew shrieked and fell to his knees sobbing when Harry did that. He begged Black and Lupin but neither was willing to hear his pleas.

'You don't believe this ... Wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?'

'Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter. I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?' Lupin said casually, looking at him.

'Forgive me, Remus,' said Black.

'Not at all, Padfoot, old friend,' said Lupin. 'And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing _you_ were the spy? And about Tala?'

Black closed his eyes briefly, then said, 'Of course.' Finally a smile came to my face. It looked like everything was going to be all right now. 'Shall we kill him together?' The smile vanished.

'Yes, I think so.'

OK, not good. Yes, I wanted Black's name cleared, not for him _or_ Lupin then to commit the crime he'd been sent away for no matter how much he deserved it. Pettigrew's hysteria got worse. He begged Ron to help him, claiming he'd been a good rat, which was nothing to be proud of. He then turned to Hermione but she too was repulsed by him.

'Harry ...' pleaded Pettigrew desperately, crawling over to him, 'Harry ... you look just like your father ... just like him ...'

'HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?' roared Black, standing between them. 'HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?'

'Harry ... Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed ... James would have understood, Harry ... he would have shown me mercy ...'

Black and Lupin strode forwards, seized Pettigrew's shoulders and threw him backwards on to the floor. They had their wands pointed at him.

'You sold Lily and James to Voldemort,' said Black. 'Do you deny it?' Pettigrew burst into tears.

'Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done?' he wailed. 'The Dark Lord ... you have no idea ... he has weapons you can't imagine ... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen ... He Who Must Not Be Named forced me –'

'DON'T LIE!' bellowed Black. 'YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!'

'He – he was taking over everywhere! Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?'

'What was there to be gained by refusing the most evil wizard who has ever existed?' repeated Black. 'Only innocent lives, Peter!'

'You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!'

'THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!' roared Black. 'DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!'

'You should have realised, Peter,' said Lupin quietly. 'If Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter.

'NO!' Harry and I yelled that at the same time. He ran in front of Peter while I stood in front of Lupin to stop him. I didn't want him committing murder.

'You can't,' said Harry. Lupin sighed.

'Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents,' snarled Black. 'This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die, too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family.'

'I know what he is,' said Harry. 'We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban ... just don't kill him.'

No one moved. I stared up at Lupin pleadingly, not wanting him to do it. He looked at Harry and me, then smiled. He and Black lowered their wands.

'You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry,' said Black. 'But think ... think what he did ...'

'He can go to Azkaban,' repeated Harry. He looked across at me. 'If anyone deserves that place, he does ...'

With his assurance, Harry moved aside so that Lupin could tie Pettigrew up so he couldn't escape again. He conjured the same ropes Snape had used on him and bound Pettigrew's wrists with a warning not to transform. If he did, then Lupin and Black would kill him. I privately hoped more for their sake he didn't. Next, Lupin strapped Ron's leg and got him to his feet. As for Snape, we just left him unconscious. Lupin cast a charm on him to make him float so he could move his body. As a final precaution, Lupin and Ron chained themselves to Pettigrew on Black's suggestion.

I have to say in my three years at Hogwarts this was the strangest company I'd ever kept. I led the way out the tunnel with my wand lit and Crookshanks ahead of me; just behind me was Lupin, Pettigrew and Ron shackled together hobbling along; behind them Black was levitating Snape carelessly along the passage; Harry and Hermione bringing up the rear. Crookshanks climbed out of the tunnel and pressed the knot on the trunk so the Whomping Willow froze. I climbed out after him, helping Lupin out after me. Once they were out I walked away from the tree and looked up at the school. I heard footsteps approach me but I didn't move and kept quiet. It was Black.

'I want to thank you for defending me,' he said quietly, standing beside me. 'But I must ask why you did it?'

'I did it because I had to,' I replied. 'I couldn't let him hurt you.'

'I believe there's more to it than that. You're name's Jenna, is it?' I nodded. 'Your parents christened you that?'

'No, my name's Jennifer, and I don't have any parents. My mother was killed thirteen years ago and –' I stopped. I couldn't say it. How could I tell a man I'd just met under bad circumstances that I was his daughter? I couldn't physically say it.

'What about your father?' persisted Black. I glanced at him. I could feel the tears in my eyes.

'He was sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit,' I said, trying to keep calm, 'and he escaped last year. And now he's standing right beside me.' I was expecting Black to deny it or something but he didn't. 'Tala Lupin was my Mum and she married Sirius Black.'

Black's face was still emotionless.

'I lost my wife thirteen years ago as well,' he said. 'The same night James and Lily died, I also lost my daughter. I named her Jennifer. But now, I've finally found her.'

I smiled as the tears finally fell down my cheeks. Black put his arms around me and hugged me. I couldn't believe it. I'd got my Dad back! I was so happy I couldn't speak, just crying silently on his shoulder. After a few moments he let go and held me at arm's length.

'You look so like your mother,' he said, observing me. 'And I'm so sorry about what happened. Harry must have hated you when he found out who I was.'

'I'd worked out the truth,' I said. 'I didn't stop trying to convince him. I even tried to convince Lupin of your innocence.'

'I know you did. Your mother would never have stopped at anything either. I see you've inherited her ability as well as her looks and my stubbornness.'

'Yeah, sort of.' Then, braving it, I said, 'I've really missed you.'

'I've missed you too,' said Sirius softly, 'and as soon as my name's cleared I'm taking you home. It's been good of Remus to look after you so far but it's time I took on my responsibilities.'

I smiled at him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry approach us.

'It's beautiful, isn't it?' Sirius said to the both of us. 'I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors. It'll be nice to do it again as a free man. That was a noble thing you the two of you did back there,' he added. 'He doesn't deserve it.'

'I didn't do it for him,' I muttered.

'Well, I didn't think my father would want his best friends to become killers, just like I know my best friend wouldn't want her dad and uncle to be ones,' said Harry. I glanced at him. The corner of his lips gave me a small smile. 'Besides, dead the truth dies with him. Alive, you're free.'

I smiled back. Together the group of us set off back for the castle. I couldn't help but feel happy. Soon my Dad was officially going to be cleared. However we never made it back. We walked through the darkness in silence, only Pettigrew's whimpering in the background, until all of a sudden the ground below us became illuminated. I instantly looked into the sky and saw the full moon shining down on us. And Lupin hadn't taken his potion! He wasn't safe! My happiness evaporated and I looked fearfully ahead at Lupin. He'd frozen. Dad flung his arm out to stop Harry and Hermione beside us.

'Run,' whispered Sirius. 'Run! Now!'

As we stood there Lupin began to shake. Instantly I ran to help him but Dad grabbed me, pulling me back from him. I wouldn't have it though; I was scared for Lupin's safety and I fought against Dad's grip.

'Leave it to me,' said Sirius. 'Run!'

'No, I won't leave him!' I shouted.

A terrible snarling noise started. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body as his shoulders started to hunch, his clothes ripping off his back; his hands were curling into paws with his nails turning to claws; his feet were coming out his shoes; fur sprouted on his face and body. I watched in utter horror. Dad ran from me and tried to hold him up.

'Remus,' he said desperately. 'You know the man you truly are, Remus! This heart is where you truly live! This heart, here! This flesh is only flesh.'

I knew it wasn't going to work as Dad continually shouted at him.

All of a sudden the werewolf reared on to its back paws and howled. I almost screamed when it threw Dad off and into the bushes. It was then I noticed that Ron was still chained to Pettigrew who in turn was chained to Lupin. Without thinking I ran forwards and transformed. I lunged at the werewolf as a wolf and grabbed its paw to pull it away from Ron. I didn't notice Pettigrew pick up Lupin's wand and use it, nor that he had transformed and gotten away until I heard Harry shout '_Expelliarmus!_' Like with Dad, the werewolf swiped its front paw and threw me off. I landed hard on the ground, banging my head; I'd never faced Lupin when he hadn't taken his potion. Looking up I saw Dad was back as the dog. He and the werewolf were locked jaw to jaw until he threw Dad away again. It started to approach him so I grabbed its raised paw, pulling it back, only to be thrown off again. I fell at Harry's feet and transformed when I let go of the image of the wolf, leaving only Dad to defend us. Harry pulled me up and he, Hermione and I watched the werewolf throw the dog around like a rag doll.

Out of the blew, a howl came from down the hill. Another howl replied and there was a rumbling growl; the werewolf had thrown the dog off again and run off.

'Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!' yelled Harry.

The dog got to its paws. There were gashes all over its muzzle and back. Before I could stop him, Dad ran off into the darkness.

'Dad!' I shouted. I made to go after him but Harry stopped me. 'Get off me! Dad!'

I pushed Harry off me and ran off in the direction Dad had gone. I had to find out if he was all right, help him if I could. I couldn't lose him again, not now! I stopped dead when I heard a yelping ahead of me. Fear filled me. I ran in the direction of the noise down the hill, the bushes and branches of the trees scratching me as I ran through them without much care. The noise got louder as I got closer. I ran through the last band of trees to find myself somewhere near the Black Lake that had been surrounded by trees in a secluded area. I looked round desperately. Dad was by the water's edge, lying on the stones back in human form. I ran over to him. He wasn't moving. I ran over to him, kneeling by his side. He was badly scratched up.

'Dad!' I said desperately, shaking him. 'Dad, please, get up! You've got to wake up!'

Someone burst through the trees behind me and Harry appeared at my side.

'Sirius! Sirius!'

'Dad, wake up!'

'_Nooo_ ... _Noooo ... please_ ...'

I looked up when Harry said that and suddenly noticed the air getting colder. I looked at the water to see it steadily freezing over towards us. Harry and I looked up to the sky; a whole swarm of about a hundred Dementors flew over us. The chill swept through my entire body. Thoughts of Dad dying filled my mind as I stared at them.

'Jenna, think of something happy!' yelled Harry, getting to his feet. He raised his wand and shouted, 'Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!'

Harry tried as hard as he could to conjure a Patronus but could only manage fine vapours. He shouted at me to do so as well but I couldn't muster the strength, not when thoughts in my head were of Dad dying. I couldn't think of a single happy thing. One by one the Dementors swooped down on us. I felt them tear at me, attempting to rip every happy thought from me. The Dementors managed to get to me first and I was left hanging on to my energy, lying over Dad's chest still begging him to wake up. It seemed like forever I was there, waiting for them to kill me.

Then … the coldness ebbed away. I only just saw what was doing it … a pair of bright lights across the lake from us …

I fainted.

'I got there to find the four students with the werewolf and Black. They were lucky I got there in time ...'

'Yes, indeed ...'

I moved my head, letting out a small moan. It was hurting so badly. I forced my eyes open. Slowly they focused and I saw I was in the hospital wing. Just through the open doorway I could see the familiar black cloak of Snape and another man with him. It was the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

'Black had cornered them,' said Snape. 'My suspicions are that he'd managed to convince his daughter to come to the Shrieking Shack and Potter, Weasley and Granger had tried to stop her. Of course, being naive to what he had done, the girl had led them straight to him as he wanted. The offer to see her father for the first time would have been all too tempting to a susceptible girl such as her.'

'Yes, yes. She would have been the perfect tool for him to use to get them there.'

'Black always was very shrewd, even at school, a heartless thug.'

I sat up as if a bolt of electricity had been sent through me. In the bed opposite mine was Harry. He was still unconscious. Beside him sat Hermione, watching him. At the far end of the room, Madam Pomfrey was bending over an unconscious Ron, his leg strapped in plaster. On my bedside table there was a large lump of chocolate. Without caring what the others said or did, I got up, grabbed some chocolate and shoved it in my mouth, before running to the hospital wing door. I had to find my Dad.

'Miss Black!' I stopped with my hand on the door handle to see Madam Pomfrey staring down at me. 'Get back into your bed this instant! You've just encountered several Dementors! You need your rest!'

She tried to push me back to my bed but I wouldn't have it. I could see Ron and Hermione just watching me.

'No!' I screamed. I didn't care if I woke Harry or Ron. 'I want to see my Dad! Let me see him!'

The doors of the hospital wing opened and Professor Dumbledore walked in. Outside, I saw Snape and Fudge look in, surprised to see me awake.

'Professor, now is not a good time,' said Madam Pomfrey. She had her hands on my shoulders to stop me running off. 'These children need rest.'

'I understand, Poppy, but, if I may, I need to have a word with Miss Black,' said Dumbledore lightly. Madam Pomfrey gave him a disgruntled look but released me. She turned on her heal and went back into her office.

'I want to see my Dad,' I said to Dumbledore straight away. 'I have the right to see him.'

'Indeed, Miss Black,' he replied casually. 'I was actually hoping you had woken so I could take you to see him.' I stared at him, taken aback. 'Come along, time waits for no man.'

Dumbledore walked out of the hospital wing. I followed. Snape and Fudge were still in the corridor when we left. When they saw us, Fudge stopped us. Snape's eyes focused on me; I glared back at him.

'Albus, now really,' he said to Dumbledore. 'Miss Black should be resting. She's been through a distressing ordeal.'

'I am taking her to see Sirius Black,' said Dumbledore.

'Are you sure that's wise?' asked Fudge. 'He has already lured her into one trap. We don't want him tricking her again.'

'I am in agreement with the Minister, Headmaster,' added Snape. 'Played by both a murderer and werewolf –'

'Whom I have already counted for, Severus,' said Dumbledore pointedly. 'Remus Lupin is a more than capable guardian for Miss Black.'

'Albus –'

'If Miss Black is to understand the truth, it is best she confronts it herself,' said Dumbledore, waving a dismissive hand at Fudge. 'Come along, Miss Black.'

He walked off. I gave Snape another dark look then followed quickly after him. I didn't know where he was taking me, only that it would be to my Dad. He took me all the way up the top of the West Tower where Professor Flitwick's office. Dumbledore tapped his wand on the doorknob and it unlocked. He opened the door. Dad was sat in the corner with manacles round his wrists and ankles, crouched in the darkness. The only light was from a small window. I ran over to him.

'Dad.' He looked up at me.

'Jenna.'

Dad made to get up but the manacles stopped him. I fell to my knees beside him and threw my arms round him, close enough so he could hold me too. I held on to him tightly, not wanting to let him go. Dad released me and I looked up. There was a sad look on his sunken face. He gently touched my cheek.

'I thought the Dementors had killed you,' he said. 'I was so scared I'd lost you again.'

'It takes more than Dementors to kill me,' I said. I was trying to hold back my tears again though I knew they were falling down my cheeks. I couldn't help myself and I said, 'I don't want you to die.'

Dad let out a heavy sigh.

'There's nothing you can do,' he told me. 'Fudge has called for the Dementors. They'll be here as soon as he's dealt with them for attacking you and Harry.'

'No, there must be a way to prove you're innocent. We all know the truth. Lupin knows the truth. He can tell them!'

'Remus isn't able to tell them anything at the moment and what with Pettigrew gone again, there's no proof. Fudge will never listen to you all, not with Snape providing a more convincing story.' He stopped and just looked at me. 'I'm so sorry, Jenna.'

I couldn't believe he was just giving up.

'Dad, don't say that,' I cried quietly. 'I'll get you out, I promise.'

'Don't make promises you can't keep, Jenna,' said Sirius. 'I learnt that years ago. You don't need to promise anything to me. Just remember this: I always hoped you were alive. I never gave up that hope and I've always loved you. And this belongs to you.' Dad lifted up something from under his shirt and unclipped it from around his neck. He took my hand and placed it in it. It was a beaded necklace with a small feather in the centre. 'It was your mother's. I gave it to her as a birthday present when she came of age. It's rightfully yours.'

'Miss Black, it's time to leave,' said Professor Dumbledore.

'What? No!' Dumbledore took hold of my arm and gently lifted me to stand up, pulling me from Dad's arms. He was leading me away. 'Dad!' I shouted. 'Dad, I'll save you! I promise!'

Dumbledore led me away from the Tower and back to the hospital wing. I fought against him all the way, telling him repeatedly that Dad was innocent. He didn't seem to hear me. As we approached the hospital wing I saw Snape with Fudge just inside, talking. Then, Hermione's and Harry's tones were heard. They were shouting at him shouting. Dumbledore took me inside. Harry saw us.

'Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black –'

'For heaven's sake!' said Madam Pomfrey. 'Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist –'

'My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr Potter, Miss Granger and Miss Black,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'I have just been talking to Sirius Black –'

'I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in Potter's mind?' spat Snape. I glared at him. 'Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive –'

'That, indeed, is Black's story,' said Dumbledore.

'And does my evidence count for nothing?' snarled Snape. 'Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him in the grounds.'

'That's because you were knocked out, Professor!' said Hermione. 'You didn't arrive in time to hear –'

'Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!' shouted Snape fiercely.

'Now, Snape,' said Fudge, startled, 'the young lady is disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances –'

'I would like to speak to Harry, Hermione and Jenna alone,' said Dumbledore suddenly. 'Cornelius, Severus, Poppy – please leave us.'

'Headmaster!' spluttered Madam Pomfrey. 'They need treatment, they need rest –'

'This cannot wait,' said Dumbledore. 'I must insist.'

Madam Pomfrey returned to her office, fuming. Fudge also left claiming that the Dementors would be waiting for him. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought. Snape, however, was still here.

'Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,' he said through gritted teeth. 'You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill _me_?'

'My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus,' replied Dumbledore.

Snape stared at the Headmaster then turned on his heel and left. Instantly Harry and Hermione began shouting things at Dumbledore. He held up his hand to stop them.

'It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time,' he said. 'There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word – and the word of four thirteen year old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eye-witnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper.'

'Professor Lupin can tell you –' started Harry.

'Professor Lupin is currently deep in the Forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead.' A gasp shook my body at that. 'I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little – and the fact that he and Sirius are old friends –'

'But –'

'_Listen to me, Harry_. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours.'

'Professor, there must be something we can do,' I said, hoping more than anything that there was.

'He hates Sirius,' said Hermione. 'All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him –'

'Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady – entering the Gryffindor Tower with a knife – without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence.'

'_But you believe us_.'

'Yes, I do,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister for Magic ... What we need is more _time_ ...'

How was time meant to help us? In a matter of minutes, my father would be worse than dead! How was time supposed to help us?

'But –' Hermione began. 'OH!'

'Now, pay attention,' said Dumbledore, speaking very low. 'Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, more than one innocent life may be spared tonight. But remember this, all of you. _You must not be seen_. Miss Granger, you know the law – you know what is at stake ... _you _– _must _– _not _–_ be _– _seen_.'

Dumbledore strode away from us to the door.

'I am going to lock you in. It is –' Dumbledore looked at his watch, 'five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck.'

'Good luck?' repeated Harry as Dumbledore closed the door. He looked at me and Hermione, then said what I was thinking. 'What the bloody hell was that all about?'

'Harry, Jenna, come here.' I looked at Hermione, confused. '_Quick!_'

Hermione pulled out a long thin gold chain and put it around mine and Harry's necks, fiddling with a small pendant in the shape of a tiny hourglass. Harry made to touch it but Hermione slapped his hand away. I watched as she gave the thing three turns with the small dial and the hourglass inside it began to spin. Around us, Ron disappeared as day came back, people moving around us backwards, even a person being wrapped back up in bandages. Seconds later, Hermione removed the chain from our necks and shoved it back in her jacket.

'Five to nine,' she said quickly. 'Where were we at five to nine?'

'I don't know,' said Harry, 'going to Hagrid's?'

'What about you, Jenna?'

'I was with Lupin,' I said, confused.

'Come on and we can't be seen.'

Hermione ran out of the hospital wing. Harry and I looked at each other before running after her, Harry yelling at her to slow down. We ran all the way down from the hospital wing to the Entrance Hall. Suddenly Hermione dragged us into a nearby broom cupboard and slammed the door shut behind us.

'Someone's coming!' whispered Hermione. She had her ear to the door. 'I think – I think it might be us! Footsteps across the hall ... yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid!'

The footsteps must have gone as moments later Hermione pulled us out of the cupboard. I couldn't believe what was happening; Harry, Hermione and I had just been sitting in that broom cupboard when apparently, Harry, Ron and Hermione had just walked past us to Hagrid's. How on earth could that have been done unless we'd gone back in time? I ran after Hermione as she ran along the bridge towards the Stone Circle. We stopped in the archway and looked out into the grounds. There were Harry, Ron and Hermione, plain as anything in front of us, Malfoy and his cronies also looking into the grounds.

'You! You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!' We watched as Hermione strode up to Malfoy and drew her wand; he backed against one of the stones, quivering as Hermione pointed it under his chin.

'Hermione, no!' said Ron out there. 'He's not worth it.'

'That's us,' mumbled Harry. 'This is not normal.'

Hermione and I quickly pulled Harry back round the corner. I think I knew what was going on.

'Will you keep quiet,' I hissed at him. 'You'll see us.' That was something I never thought I'd say.

'We've gone back in time,' whispered Hermione. 'Three hours back ...'

'Are you telling me,' Harry whispered, 'that we're here and out there in the Stone circle, too?'

'Quick to catch on, isn't he?' I said, slightly sarcastically. We moved so we could see around the archway again. I couldn't understand why we'd gone back this far in time when we were rescuing Dad. 'Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment. Clearly something happened he wants us to change.'

Hermione lowered her wand. Malfoy smirked at Crabbe and Goyle. Next moment, Hermione turned round and punched him right in the face. His head smacked against the pillar behind him.

'Good punch,' muttered Harry.

'Thanks,' said Hermione. Malfoy started up the hill towards us, Crabbe and Goyle following. 'Malfoy's coming!'

Hermione grabbed us and pulled us out the arch on the other side where we crouched down as Malfoy ran past us with the other two. We crept forwards so we could see the other Harry, Ron and Hermione. They vanished under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. The grass rustled as they started down the hill. Harry, Hermione and I crept out of hiding and ran over to the top of the hill. Our only clue to where the earlier them were was the movement of the grass.

'Where did you _get_ that hourglass thing?' Harry asked.

'It's called a Time-Turner,' said Hermione, 'and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies ... I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But ...'

Hermione looked down the hill at Hagrid's hut.

'_I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do_. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to hep Sirius?'

Harry thought for a moment, and said, 'We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago ...'

'This _is_ three hours ago, and we _are_ walking down to Hagrid's,' said Hermione. 'We just heard ourselves leaving ...'

'Dumbledore just said – just said more than one innocent life could be spared ...'

'Look!' I gasped, pointing at Hagrid's vegetable patch. 'Buckbeak. He's still alive.'

'That's it!' gasped Harry. 'We're going to save Buckbeak!'

'But – how will that help Sirius?' asked Hermione.

'Dumbledore said – he just told us where the window is – the window of Flitwick's office. Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak – they can escape together!'

'If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle,' breathed Hermione.

'Well then we better get going,' I said. 'Hagrid's door has just closed meaning you've gone in. Let's go.'

The three of us ran down the hill towards Hagrid's hut. We used the outer trees of the Forbidden Forest as cover so no one in the castle spotted us sneaking out. The grounds were steadily getting darker. We ran through the trees and towards Hagrid's vegetable patch. We crouched behind his large pumpkins and watched for any sign of Harry, Ron and Hermione through Hagrid's window.

'Yeh shouldn've come!' came Hagrid's loud whisper. They were inside all right.

'This is the weirdest thing we've ever done,' breathed Harry.

'You think?' I said.

Buckbeak was a few feet ahead of us, tethered to a wooden pole in Hagrid's pumpkin patch with a few dead ferrets beside him. I glanced behind us to see Dumbledore, Fudge and the executioner were walking down the hill. I nudged the others and pointed at them. We were running out of time.

'They're coming,' I whispered. 'Why aren't you leaving?'

'I haven't found Scabbers yet,' whispered Hermione. 'We don't leave until we found him. And Hagrid's milk jug has got to break.'

You had to be joking. If the them in Hagrid's hut didn't get caught, the us out here certainly would. I looked back at the window when I saw a stone beside my hand. Quickly I picked it up and threw it in through the window. Harry and Hermione looked at me startled; I merely ducked down and I heard a smash, meaning I'd hit Hagrid's jug.

'You did that?' asked Hermione. I shrugged. I didn't know I'd done that, did I? I'd only just thought of it. 'So I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment –' and seconds later, we heard Hermione scream.

'Hermione,' said Harry, 'what if we – we just run in there, and grab Pettigrew –'

'No!' whispered Hermione firmly. 'Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen –'

'We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!'

'Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?' said Hermione.

'I'd – I'd think I'd gone mad,' said Harry, 'or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on –'

'_Exactly!_ You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time ... loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!'

'Well, Jenna can go get him then,' said Harry. I looked at him.

'I'm not going in there!' I hissed at him. 'Harry, things happen for a reason. You still think I'm a liar at this moment. If I go in there after Scabbers you might curse me or something and the me with Lupin would be injured. It would be too suspicious. I'm not going.'

The Harry, Ron and Hermione in there still hadn't moved and Dumbledore and Fudge were getting closer. We had to hide and they had to get out of there. I picked up another stone and lobbed it through the window; this time it connected with the back of Harry's head.

'So you're the one who threw that stone at me,' said Harry. He rubbed the back of his head. 'That really hurt.'

'Sorry,' I muttered. 'Quick! You're coming out!'

Harry, Hermione and I got up and ran back into the trees as Harry, Ron and Hermione came out of the back door of Hagrid's hut under the Invisibility Cloak. We watched the grass flatten as they ran past us and back up the hill. The three of us ran out of the trees again. As quick as possible, Harry coaxed Buckbeak to his feet. But he wouldn't move. Inside, Fudge was getting Hagrid to sign some form about the execution.

'One moment please, Macnair,' said Dumbledore's voice. 'I believe I must sign as well ...'

'Come on, Buckbeak,' murmured Harry. He still wouldn't move. 'Jenna, help!' I too took hold of the chain and pulled.

'Just sign on the dotted line,' said Fudge. 'Your name will do.'

'Well it's a very long name ...'

It took two of us to pull on his chain while Hermione enticed him with some of his dead ferrets. We managed to get him into the Forest, not sticking around to see what happened. We heard the door bang open then silence.

'It was tied here!' shouted the executioner. 'I saw it! Just here!'

Good, they'd bought it. With them shouting about Buckbeak, the three of us ran deeper into the Forbidden Forest with Buckbeak. He strained at first against us to get back to Hagrid but Hermione lured him onwards with his dead ferrets. We edged round the Forest as it got darker before stopping when we were far enough away from Hagrid's hut. We tied Buckbeak to a tree trunk and left him with his ferrets. I ran on ahead. I had to find out what was happening. I came to a stop when I saw the big black shadow of the Whomping Willow. I looked out from the trees. Harry and Hermione joined me a few minutes later. We watched as Ron caught Scabbers. Dad charged at them then grab Ron to drag him into the tree.

'Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?' said Harry. 'Ouch – look, I just got walloped by the tree – and so did you – and there goes the wolf – this is _weird_ –'

'That reminds me,' said Hermione. She looked at me. 'Why did you tell us you were an Animagus, Jenna?'

'Same reason I didn't tell you who my dad was,' I muttered.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. I looked away and focused on the tree. Crookshanks had just allowed Harry and Hermione into the hole. Just after that we heard Dumbledore's footsteps as he and Fudge walked back up the hill. A few minutes later we saw another figure hurrying towards the Whomping Willow.

'Here comes Lupin!' said Harry. Lupin seized a branch and prodded the knot. He disappeared from sight. 'If only he'd grabbed the Cloak. It's just lying there ... If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and –'

'Harry, _we mustn't be seen_!'

'How can you stand this?' asked Harry. 'Just standing here and watching it happen?'

'Because we have to, Harry,' I said. 'We're causing enough trouble as it is, altering what happened.'

'I'm going to grab the Cloak.'

'Harry, _no_!'

Hermione and I grabbed Harry and held him back. Just in time as well as Hagrid walked past the place where we were, whistling happily to himself about Buckbeak. Minutes later Snape too came running out of the castle. He grabbed the Cloak then threw it over himself, disappearing. Harry growled under his breath for Snape to get his hands off it. The tree froze and I knew he'd got inside.

'So that's it,' said Hermione. 'We're all down there ... and now we've just got to wait until we come back again ...'

I sighed, 'And now we wait.'

I sat down on the grass and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms round them. Harry and Hermione sat down beside me. All I could do was hope that everything would turn out all right.

An hour past and still there was no movement from the Willow. This was getting ridiculous. As the other two talked quietly, I sat thinking about what could happen if we failed. Dad would suffer something worse than death, an eternity without a soul. I shivered at the thought.

'But what was it?' asked Hermione. I glanced at her and Harry though the darkness.

'There's only one thing it could have been, to make the Dementor go,' said Harry. 'A real Patronus. A powerful one.'

'But who conjured it?' Harry didn't say anything. 'Didn't you see what they looked like?' asked Hermione eagerly. 'Was it one of the teachers?'

'No,' said Harry. 'He wasn't a teacher.'

'But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those Dementors away ... If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see –?'

'Yeah, I saw him,' said Harry. 'But ... maybe I imagined it ... I wasn't thinking straight ... I passed out right afterwards ...'

'_Who do you think it was?_' Hermione persisted.

'I think – I think it was my dad.'

What? I looked at Harry. How could his Dad have cast a Patronus? He was –

'Dead, I know that,' said Harry, finishing Hermione's sentence.

'You think you saw his ghost?'

'I don't know ... no ... he looked solid ... they both did ...'

'Both?' I asked, unable to stop myself. Harry looked at me.

'Yeah, there was someone further back,' said Harry. 'I think they were helping him, whoever _he_ was.' Harry sighed. 'Maybe I was seeing things. But ... from what I could see ... it looked like him ... I've got photos of him ... I know, it sounds mad. I'm just telling you what I saw.'

I looked away, confused. How could Harry see his father or someone who looked like him? It wasn't physically possible. James Potter would have to have an identical twin or –

The leaves overhead rustled. I looked up. Up in the sky the clouds shifted. Every so often I saw the moon flash in and out of them. It was almost time. I stood up and looked over at the Whomping Willow. Sure enough several dark figures were emerging from the base of the frozen tree. Harry and Hermione also noticed. First me, then Lupin, Ron and Pettigrew, followed by Hermione, an unconscious Snape, Harry and Dad. My heart jumped when I saw him. A part of me was desperate to run to him but when Hermione reminded Harry that we couldn't be seen, I stayed put.

'So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again ...' said Harry quietly. I could tell he wasn't happy about it.

'How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?' snapped Hermione. 'There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius! We're not supposed to be doing anything else!'

'_All right!_'

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. I watched as the dark figures across the grounds became illuminated. They froze. It was even more painful to watch Lupin transform a second time, knowing what was going to happen and how I couldn't help him even a second time round. My worry grew as I watched the fight between the dog and the werewolf, wincing at how vicious Lupin truly could be. There had to be a way to stop him. Then I remembered. I'd heard a howl while they had been fighting. Instantly, I put my hands round my mouth and let out a howl to attract Lupin's attention. Harry instantly grabbed me, covering my mouth.

'What are you doing?' he hissed.

'Saving our lives,' I replied, freeing myself. 'He's a werewolf. They only respond to the call of their own kind. I've lived with him for three years, I know what I'm doing!' and I howled again.

I heard the werewolf howl in reply and run off down the hill … at us. Oops.

'Great, now it's coming for us,' said Harry.

'Yeah, didn't think about that,' I said quickly. 'Run!'

The three of us turned and ran. The werewolf burst into the trees where we had previously been. In seconds he'd be on us. We ran back to where we'd tied up Buckbeak so he didn't get hurt either.

'Back to Hagrid's!' shouted Harry. 'It's empty now – come on!'

'You head there!' I shouted. 'I'll lead it away!'

'Jenna, don't –!'

I didn't listen as I'd already transformed back into a wolf. I sprinted off in the opposite direction to Harry, Hermione and Buckbeak. I stopped long enough to let out another howl to attract its attention. The werewolf stopped when it heard me then ran in the direction I'd gone. I darted off, leading the werewolf away from Hagrid's hut. I ran as fast as I could but the werewolf was faster. It was going to catch me any minute. I had barely a second to think. Not knowing if it would work, I skidded to a halt and turned round. The werewolf was getting closer. I cleared my mind and returned human, quickly transforming into a horse exactly like Mum used to, hoping it'd recognise it. The werewolf leapt up at me. I reared up on my hind legs and hit it with my front hooves. It snarled at me before running off into the forest. I changed back as it disappeared into the trees.

'Lupin's having a really tough night,' I breathed.

With him gone I ran off again. This time towards the secluded part of the lake where I knew Dad would be. By now my heart was hammering hard in my chest and I was desperate for breath but the adrenaline kept me going. I pushed my way through the trees searching for it. It was only when I felt the chill of the Dementors overhead that I knew I was going in the right direction. I followed them through the darkness until I reached the water's edge to find Harry already there. On the opposite shore I saw Dad, Harry and myself all fighting to stay alive as the Dementors began to attack us. I walked up to stand beside Harry.

'We're dying ...' I breathed. It was strange watching it happen before us.

'He'll come,' said Harry. 'Dad'll come.'

'Harry, he can't,' I said. 'The only way he could be here was if –' and suddenly it all fell into place. 'Harry!' I gasped. 'It wasn't your dad you saw. You saw you. That horse Patronus was mine! We're here right now and we're dying over there. You conjured the other Patronus!'

I stared at him hopefully. If he didn't understand then we'd be dead for sure. Realisation seemed to spread over his face. Harry burst out from the bush we were behind, me running after him, and drew out his wand. I did the same with the thought in my head that Dad was going to be all right.

'_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_'

A bright light burst from mine and Harry's wands. Two Patronuses, full and solid, exploded from our wand tips, charging over the lake to the other us. The Dementors fled in every direction into the sky as the Patronuses charged them down. As I watched I realised why Harry had thought it was his dad who'd conjured it. Not only because he looked like his father but because of what his Patronus was: a stag. Prongs.

Soon, the Dementors had gone. The Patronuses cantered back over the lake towards us, a horse coming towards me. I smiled. My Mum. The horse pawed the ground with its hoof then disappeared. I looked round when I heard a rustling behind us and Hermione came running towards us with Buckbeak in toe. Harry brushed off her panicky question and told us to get into the bushes where he explained to her what happened. Despite her frustration, she was impressed. We looked back round to see Snape had arrived. He conjured a couple of stretchers, another by his side with Ron on it, then disappeared with our unconscious forms back up to the castle. With them gone we made our way back round to Hagrid's hut where we saw Macnair running through the grounds to get the Dementors.

'This is it,' said Harry.

Carefully the three of us climbed on to Buckbeak. It took a little encouragement but Harry managed to get him into the air. He let out a squawk then reared up, flapping his wings. We shot into the air and out of the Forest. Harry steered us towards the castle. I pointed out the West Tower and we flew in its direction. In front of me, Hermione had her eyes closed and was clinging on to Harry. I could tell she didn't like it. I actually would have enjoyed it more if we weren't racing against time to rescue Dad.

'He's there!' said Harry as we circled the tower.

He steered Buckbeak close enough so he could rap on the window. Dad stood up, shock plastered on his face when he saw us there. He tried to open the window but it was locked. Hermione pulled out her wand and managed to open it. Telling Harry to move Buckbeak closer, I climbed off him and into Flitwick's office. When Dad made to hug me, I told him to get on Buckbeak as we were running out of time. He did as I said and climbed out the window. With him safe, I transformed and flew out after them. We landed on top of one of the battlements and moved into the shadows so we wouldn't be seen.

'What happened to the other boy? Ron?' was the first thing Dad asked.

'He's fine, he's in the hospital wing,' said Harry. 'Madam Pomfrey's fixed his leg.' Dad nodded.

'I'll be forever grateful for this,' he said, 'to all of you.'

'I want to go with you,' said Harry instantly. I looked at him.

'One day, perhaps,' replied Sirius. 'For some time, my life will be too unpredictable.' I looked away feeling uncomfortable, knowing Dad was to leave me again. Hermione went to calm Buckbeak down. I remained listening to them though. 'And besides, you're meant to be here.'

'But you're innocent.'

'And you know it. And for now, that will do.' Dad put his hands on Harry's shoulders, looking at him the same way he did me an hour previously. 'I expect you're tired of hearing this but you look so like your father, except your eyes. You have –'

'– my mother's eyes,' finished Harry.

'It's cruel that I spent so much time with James and Lily, and you so little. But know this: the ones that love us never really leave us.' At this I looked up at Dad. 'And you can always find them in here.' He'd put his hand on Harry's chest, over his heart. I guess he was right.

Dad stood straight then turned to me. I couldn't look at him, knowing I had tears in my eyes again.

'I've only just got you back,' I said quietly. 'Please don't leave me again.'

'You know I must,' said Sirius gently, lifting up my face to look at his. 'You're so your mother's daughter, Jenna. Soon, I'll be able to have you back and explain, but for now, you must stay with Remus.' He gave me a tight hug. 'Never give up the hope that I'll come back.'

I nodded.

As midnight approached we urged Dad to go. He got back on to Buckbeak and turned to us, adding, 'You really are the brightest witch of your age.' to Hermione, before kicking his heels and flying away. The three of us watched as they flew away. He was finally free.

'Harry!' gasped Hermione. 'We've got exactly ten minutes to get back to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us – before Dumbledore locks the door –'

At this, we slipped through the door and ran all the way back down the spiral staircase. As we reached the bottom we heard voices and we had to hide in the shadows. It was Snape and Fudge, talking about the Dementors. Snape had a horrid smirk on his face as they passed us. Oh, I would pay big money to see the look on his face when they realised Dad was gone. When they were gone, we ran off back to the hospital wing, taking a slight detour to hide in a classroom when Peeves appeared bouncing along the corridor. We were cutting it very close.

'I am going to lock you in.' Dumbledore was just ahead. We sped up. 'It is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck.'

Dumbledore backed out the room and shut the doors. He turned round and saw us running up to him.

'We did it!' said Harry breathlessly. 'Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak ...'

'Well done,' said Dumbledore, beaming. 'I think –' he listened at the door, 'Yes, I think you've gone, too. Get inside – I'll lock you in –'

The three of us hurried inside and Dumbledore locked the door behind us. Ron was still unconscious in his bed. Quietly we slipped back to us, just in time as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office in a bad mood. Harry, Hermione and I looked at each other, silently deciding it was safer to accept her chocolate without question.

The rest of that night was spent in the hospital wing at the orders of Madam Pomfrey. Of course, Dad's escape hadn't gone unnoticed and about five minutes after we had got back, Snape stormed into the ward shouting that Harry had done something to help Black escape. Madam Pomfrey said it was ridiculous seeing as Dumbledore had locked us in. Even Dumbledore confirmed this though we knew it wasn't true. Once Snape had disappeared fuming and Fudge had gone to call off the Dementors, we were left in the ward alone. In the silence we heard a moan. Ron was waking up.

'What – what happened?' he asked. 'Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?'

Harry, Hermione and I looked at each other.

'You explain,' said Harry and he helped himself to a large chunk of chocolate.

The next day the fact that Black had escaped again had spread around the school like wild fire though the castle and grounds were virtually deserted due to another Hogsmeade visit. Hagrid was in a very good mood when I saw him at breakfast which I could tell was to do with Buckbeak's disappearance. I was there alone as the others were still asleep in the hospital wing. I'd convinced Madam Pomfrey to let me have breakfast in the Hall as I felt all right. When I was finished I went straight to Lupin's office. I had to find out if he was all right. When I got there, Lupin's office was empty so I took a seat and waited. Half an hour later, he came in; he looked terrible.

'Lupin.' I spoke quietly in case he had a headache. He just looked at me. 'Where've you been?' I asked. 'I was worried.' I helped him inside the room and sat him down before pulling out his kettle and making him a cup of tea. I handed it to him and he took a large sip, leaning back painfully in his chair.

'I've handed in my resignation,' Lupin said hoarsely once he was able to speak.

'What? Why? You're the best teacher we've ever had.'

'Jenna, it's dangerous.' He opened his eyes and looked at me. 'I could have killed any one of you last night. The number of times I could have killed you in the past – I can't risk it.'

I sighed and accepted it. I never tried to argue with Lupin when I knew he was right.

'Anyway,' said Lupin, 'I was more worried about you. I heard you got attacked by a swarm of Dementors last night, you and Harry.'

So I told him the events of last night after he'd run off. Lupin just sat, nodding every so often, and listening to what I said. I finished with, 'So Dad got away and Snape, well, he wasn't very pleased.'

'Part of the reason I resigned,' said Lupin tiredly. He got up out of his chair and flicked his wand to his trunk, making it open and start to pack itself. He noticed my curious look. 'Severus let slip that I was a werewolf in his House meetings this morning. It was only a matter of time before he did. Still …' Lupin heaved his briefcase on to the table and opened it. 'Now, you can make yourself useful and help me pack.'

An hour or so later Harry came bursting in, saying Lupin shouldn't resign and he explained the same reasons he did to me. Harry tried to persuade him otherwise but Lupin wouldn't have it. Talk then moved to last night and that Pettigrew still escaped. Lupin was surprised how Harry was acting and told him he saved a man from a terrible fate. I remained quiet. And before Lupin left, he had something for Harry.

'Now,' Lupin said, 'since I am no longer your teacher, I feel no guilt whatsoever about giving this back to you, as long as you share it with Jenna. Her mother and father helped write it after all. So now I'll say goodbye, Harry. I feel sure well meet again sometime. Until then …' Lupin looked at the Map and grinned slightly. '_Mischief_ _managed_.' He flicked his wand at the Map and it folded itself up and cleared. Taking a walking stick, Lupin limped through the door and looked back at us. 'I'll see you back at home, Jenna.'

'Yeah, see you, Lupin,' I said and he turned and walked down the stairs. Standing in the doorway, I watched as Lupin limped out of the room. Then, without looking at him, I said quietly to Harry, 'I want to thank you.'

'What for?' he asked.

'For saving my Dad. Believing he was innocent.' I glanced at him and smiled. 'Thank you, Harry. And I'm glad you believe _me_ now. Bit lonely not being your friend.'

I was about to walk away back to the Tower when I felt Harry grab my hand. I looked nervously at him.

'I won't tell anyone about what you can do,' he said to me. I knew what he meant and smiled. He grinned back at me. 'And I'm glad we're friends again.'

The last week of term was full of rumours on how Dad escaped. Malfoy was furious that Buckbeak hadn't been executed but on the whole, when was he not livid about something? So things were back to normal and the main thing was I had my friends back. The last day came and the four of us got a compartment together on the train back to London. And halfway there we got a little surprise.

Outside our compartment window was a tiny owl, the size to fit in your palm, fluttering madly around us when we let it in. It had a letter from Dad, explaining what he was doing and what was happening and also that he had sent Harry his Firebolt. He also wrote that Ron could keep the owl if he wanted to in replacement of Scabbers but the best thing for me and Harry was permission to go into Hogsmeade. And the thing was, I had a feeling I'd see Dad again soon enough which made me even more happy.

The train pulled into the station and Harry, Ron, Hermione and I said our goodbyes and that we hoped to meet up for the Quidditch World Cup, something which was to be the biggest wizard gathering of the century according to Ron.

With goodbyes said, I turned and walked away to catch a taxi to the Leaky Cauldron, seeing as Lupin wasn't there to meet me, and with a feeling this summer was to be even more exciting than last.


	14. Summer Challenges, part 3

Chapter 13

Summer Challenges Part 3

The summer holiday started as all of them did. A few days after returning from Hogwarts, Lupin started on my Animagus training. I apparently only had one part of it left and I couldn't be more relieved. So the first week or so was dedicated to that, learning how to use the abilities of the animals for example, the escape tactic of a phoenix or the invisibility of a Thestral. Because of how much I could do already, I didn't find it too entirely taxing.

During the week though, I got a visit from someone I didn't think I'd see again for a long time but who I knew I would hear from sometime during this holiday. Downstairs I heard a knock on the front door. I just ignored it and went back to my Charms homework. I was in my bedroom; it was a small room full of bits and pieces, some of Muggle origin, others of the wizarding world, including that small box from The Refuge. A few minutes later though, there was a knock on my door.

The door creaked open. When no one spoke, I looked up and froze. There, standing in the doorway, was a man I thought had long gone from my life, his hair as long as it was when I first saw him but his face kinder and more human than before.

'Sirius.' I said this barely audibly, my throat was that dry.

'Jenna, I'm here,' he said softly, 'it's all right.'

I just got off my bed and ran towards him, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly. It was my Dad.

'Finally!' I cried softly. 'I thought you'd never find me. Don't leave me again.'

'I promise.' Dad let me go, bent down and held at arms length. Tears were silently running down my cheeks but I was smiling at him. He brushed them away. His hands were rough but they felt so comforting on my skin. 'You look just like your mother. Hey, it's all right, don't cry.'

'I'm sorry, it's just, I've missed you so much,' I said. 'I'm so glad you're here.' But as I stared at him, a more important question came to my mind. 'What happened? Why did you abandon me? Did you not love me?'

'I never meant to abandon you,' whispered Sirius, holding me. 'I'd taken you with me and hidden you when I heard of Lily and James's deaths. When I returned, you were gone. I spent all that night looking for you. You were nowhere. Someone had found you.'

'But, you can stay with me now, right?'

'Jenna, I can't stay, you know I can't. The Ministry's after me, and Remus's house will be the first to be searched. It's not safe for you. But don't worry, I will come back.' Dad gave me another hug then stood up and said, 'You'll see me again.'

'Dad, no,' I said. I walked in front of him and stopped him from leaving my room. 'I don't want you to go. At least not until you've explained something to me.'

'What is it?' he asked. 'Jenna, I'll explain anything I can to you. But I have to leave as soon as possible.'

I took a deep breath and said, 'I want to know about my family, on _your_ side, how you came to love my mother and about you.'

'Well, it's a long story,' he shrugged, but then grinned. Next, he lifted me up and sat down on my bed with me in his lap. 'But we have all night so I better get started.

'I met your mother when I was twelve years old. Tala.' He sighed her name as he said it. 'She was in the year below me, James and Remus, and I knew there was something special about her the moment I laid eyes on her. It wasn't a "love at first sight" love like James was with Lily but an infatuation which was to grow until I was in fifth year. At first I saw her as a friend, then more of a sister and eventually, I saw her for the beautiful girl she was at the time. I never thought she felt the same about me but after an incident with Snape by the lake and I said something _particularly_ cocky, she came to me the next week and told me she knew my feelings for her.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, Remus had forbidden me to see her in any other way than a friend,' explained Sirius. 'But, like you, Tala had a certain disregard for people telling her what to do, especially Remus though she knew he was looking out for her. She came to me or rather, walked into my back and she said she knew Remus had banned me for seeing her. And because I didn't want to ruin my friendship with Remus, I turned her away. But Tala wouldn't give up and when she kissed me, I knew it was the right thing to do.

'But our relationship was _not_ easy. There were many problems. I'd been a … shall we say, a player at school. Never sticking long to one relationship and always changing girlfriends. Tala had her doubts that I'd stay true to her and … she was right.

'We'd been together for two years before I lost her. It was the end of my seventh year and we had a party in the common room. All I remember is having a drink with one of the girls in my year. Next moment I was in bed with her. I couldn't remember anything in between. She'd spiked my drink so she could seduce me. James walked in on us and threatened to tell Tala if I didn't. Next day, I told her and she left me. I thought I'd lost her for good.'

'But she loved you. Mum wouldn't just give up like that.'

'Tala wasn't very good at showing her sadness. She was hurting really badly, I knew she was, but she didn't ever show it. It was only when there was a Death Eater attack on her home and she got badly injured and her parents were killed that she let out her tears.'

'Were you there for her?'

'Of course I was,' said Sirius. 'But there were some scars which even I couldn't heal.

'Tala returned to Hogwarts for her final year, leaving me behind. I was still deeply in love with your mother and I tried desperately to win her back. I managed to regain her trust but because of what happened Tala was afraid to get intimate ever again in case she was hurt.'

Now some of you would think this strange, me asking about my parents relationship when they were younger but I just wanted to know. I listened intently and I could pick out the features of Mum that were in me. It was just so sad what happened between them.

'It took a long time for Tala to start showing her emotions again. It was only on the night James proposed to Lily that Tala admitted she still loved me but she still wasn't willing to have a proper relationship. But we couldn't help our love and we started sleeping around. Then that September, after Tala finished Hogwarts, she fell pregnant with you. She was only eighteen and I had no idea. She refused to tell me.'

Hold on, something doesn't add up.

'Hold on,' I said. 'If Mum got pregnant in September, how come I was born in August? It doesn't add up.'

'Tala took a Stalling Potion,' explained Sirius. 'She was young, wasn't in a permanent relationship, and wasn't ready to become a mother. She took it without me knowing. She didn't want me to know. A part of me still thinks Tala would never have told me. The moment she did though, I realised something. I may have been with Tala in a relationship but I wanted back what we had. I wanted to protect her and the baby. So I proposed to her there and then. I didn't have a ring or anything but I knew it was what I wanted to do.'

'Dad, that's so sweet,' I said. It really was.

'I was lucky.' Dad let out another sigh and pulled me closer, gently kissing my forehead. 'If it hadn't of been for you, I never would have got Tala back. I only found out the following February after the potion wore off and she was starting to show. I proposed and she accepted. The two of us were married in a small ceremony in May, only with our friends, and we were finally back together. By now, Lily was also pregnant with Harry. The two of you were born five days apart and I couldn't be happier. I was with the woman I loved and we had a daughter. Nothing could go wrong now.

'But then things took a turn for the worse.' Dad sounded really grave about this. 'James and Lily found out about them and Harry being marked for death by Voldemort. Tala, meanwhile, she became more anxious and would spend every minute of her time with you. Looking back I can see why. Tala used to get flashes of things from the past and future when she touched certain things and one day, she saw a flash of her death. At first I didn't believe her but that September, she was killed.'

I didn't say anything at first to this. I merely rested my head against Dad's chest and snuggled closer to him.

'I know,' I mumbled. 'Mum left me a letter explaining so. And whenever those Dementors got near me last year, I'd hear and see her death. She was killed by Lucius Malfoy and Pettigrew was there.' I looked up at Dad. He had stiffened somewhat. 'So was someone who looked like you but with short hair.'

Dad turned his head away from me briefly but his hand was still stroking my hair. I changed the subject.

'You remember when you attacked me in Diagon Alley?'

'Yeah, sorry about that.'

'It's all right. Well, after you ran off, you dropped your knife and I picked it up.' I got up off my bed briefly and opened my box of things. Inside it was the knife. I walked back over to my bed and gave it to him. 'I got a flash of Mum's death when I touched it. That's how I knew it was Pettigrew. And how I found out I was your daughter.'

Dad took the knife and looked at it. 'My father gave me this,' he mumbled. 'Orion Black.' I jumped slightly at the acid tone in Dad's voice. 'To use it on my own daughter, I'm no better than him.'

'What do you mean?' I asked, sitting back down next to him.

'My father,' spat Sirius. 'He was disgusted by me. Him and my mother. They thought I was a shame to the name of Black. Much more pleased with my brother, Regulus. He was in Slytherin along with the rest of my family. I couldn't stand any of them so I left home when I was fifteen and they disowned me like they did to any Black who supported Muggles in any way.'

'They sound horrible.'

'They were. I never even told them I was married, let alone that I had a daughter. I knew what they'd say. "You married a blood traitor, boy! You dishonour our family!" that's what my father would say. Wouldn't give a toss that Tala was a pureblood, not that I cared, only that she was a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin.'

'I'm a pureblood?'

'Yeah, didn't you know?' asked Sirius, surprised. I shook my head.

'I don't know a lot of things thanks to being in a Muggle orphanage till I was eleven. I didn't even know who Voldemort was when I first heard of him.'

'You're lucky you weren't born into a family full of hate,' sighed Sirius. 'Though I do wish I could do over all those years I lost with you.'

'Dad, I turned out fine,' I said. 'Look at me. Could you imagine me to turn out any other way?'

Dad looked at me. His grey eyes wandered up and down me several times and he remained silent as he observed every inch of my being.

'You turned out exactly how I'd hoped,' he said finally. 'You couldn't be anything more.' He pulled me back in and hugged me tightly. 'You're all I ever wanted.'

Talk soon moved on to the other members of my family who were still alive. I learnt I had loads of cousins I'd never heard of, all, but Andromeda Tonks and her daughter who were disowned like him, which were bad. The Malfoys were related to me (I couldn't believe Draco was my cousin!) through Lucius marrying Narcissa Black; I had another cousin called Bellatrix who was Voldemort's right-hand woman married to a Rodolphus Lestrange who helped torture Neville's parents (I couldn't believe that either!); and that Regulus, Dad's brother, had been a Death Eater but backed out and was killed. Talk about a nice family.

It was getting late and I eventually started dozing in Dad's arms as he held me. So this is what it felt liked to be loved by someone, even if you've never known them, a love which is unlimited. After half an hour or so I felt Dad gently lie me down on my bed and cover me with my duvet. I also heard the door open; it had to be Lupin.

'I'll miss you,' he whispered softly to me. He brushed back my hair and gave me a kiss on the forehead. 'Goodbye, Jenna, my daughter.'

'Bye, Dad,' I mumbled sleepily. 'Love you.'

'Love you too.'

The next morning I woke up with a start. I thought it had all been a dream, that Dad had never come and held me. There was no evidence whatsoever that he'd been there. But when I realised I was still in the previous day's clothes I thought maybe he had been with me; maybe, just maybe, he had told me he loved me before he left. I smiled as I remembered the previous night. I knew it was real.

For the rest of the holiday I received regular letters from him as well as on my fourteen birthday a small present from the Caribbean I guessed judging on the colourful parrot that delivered it. Dad obviously knew I liked necklaces. Receiving letters from him was a nice change, and it made me feel better knowing I had someone out there who would never stop caring for me.

Another thing that changed that summer was my overall appearance. I'd never been one to use makeup or things like that but I slowly started to notice myself changing in more ways than one. I guess I was starting to grow into my body a bit. I noticed I had very long, dark eyelashes framing my blue eyes and my skin was lightly tanned while my hair, still with it's red streaks, never appeared to need washing that much. I'd also filled out a little more in the waist and chest department but was still as thin as I'd always been. The only annoying thing was I didn't have a Mum to turn to and some of the things happening I couldn't exactly turn to Lupin for help.

Near the end of August, I got a letter from Ron asking me to come with him, his family, Hermione and Harry to the Quidditch World Cup. I couldn't believe his dad had got tickets for all us; there had been a lot of hype about it in the _Daily Prophet_ and I was so excited to go.

On the twenty-second, Mr Weasley came with Ron to collect me to go to The Burrow by Floo powder. I'd packed my trunk for the fourth year seeing as I was to stay there for the rest of the holiday along with Harry and Hermione and arrived at their home late that evening. I loved The Burrow. It was amazing! There didn't look like there was a single straight edge in the place. When we got there, I was immediately pulled into a hug from Mrs Weasley.

'Oh, Jenna,' she gushed, 'so lovely to see you again, dear.' She let me go and held me in front of her, tutting. 'My, you are thin!' gasped Mrs Weasley. 'Do your parents not feed you or something? You're skin and bones!'

'Mum!' said Ron. I giggled, his ears were turning red even though I was a bit embarrassed by the parent issue. So was Hermione for that matter, laughing not turning red.

'I'm naturally this thin, Mrs Weasley,' I said, trying to keep a straight face. 'I'm exactly like my Mum, my appearance deceives people all the time. And I don't have any parents; my Mum died after I was born and my Dad –' I stopped for a moment, thinking what to say, '– both my parents were killed by Death Eaters. I live with my Uncle.'

'Oh, I am sorry, dear. Still, I'm sure you could do with a nice hearty supper,' said Mrs Weasley impatiently. I think she completely ignored what I'd said. She bustled off in her way to the kitchen. 'Hope you don't mind sausage and mash.'

'No, I'd love some,' I said.

Next I was dragged off by Ron who by now was extremely red and he showed Hermione and I round the house. Like I said, his house was amazing. There were several different floors reaching upwards as well as a ghoul which lived in their attic, occasionally throwing pipes about, and their garden was almost as big as the building itself, Mr Weasley's shed near the chicken coop. I was to be sharing with Hermione in Ginny's room while Harry, who wasn't there yet, was to share with Ron.

After being showed the house more people turned up by means of Ron's older brothers, Charlie and Bill. I'd already seen Fred and George that day and Percy apparently was in his room and Ginny was with me, Ron and Hermione so meeting them was a new experience. I'd sort of formed my own ideas of what they'd look like but I was completely out. Charlie, the younger of the two who worked with dragons, was very tanned and freckly like Ron but shorter than him while Bill … well, Hermione got the giggles and I blushed slightly when he introduced himself. He _was_ quite good looking, not like I'd imagined him to look.

Three days later, Harry turned up at The Burrow after a rather disastrous attempt at Flooing to his house by Mr Weasley, Ron, Fred and George seeing as they all got stuck down his end because there was no fireplace. But when they got back I saw Mrs Weasley's legendary temper for real when she found out about the twins giving Dudley a Ton-Tongue Toffee, whatever that was, and the five of us went up to Ron's room where Pig was, Ron's owl.

That night the whole family, me, Hermione and Harry ate tea outside considering there was twelve of us round one table and we had a feast of salad and chicken-and-ham pie while talk was on the disappearance of a Ministry worker, Bertha Jorkins, a top secret event which Percy had been helping to organise, and the World Cup itself where some eighteen-year-old Bulgarian Quidditch Player called Krum was to play in.

With a stomach full of bloody gorgeous food, I fell asleep almost instantly, imagining what the World Cup was to be like.

The next day was the World Cup and I found myself being shaken awake by Mrs Weasley at about four in the morning to which my reply was, 'Five more minutes, Lupin.' Then I remembered I wasn't at home and I shot up off my mattress and joined the other two girls in the bathroom. When we came down for breakfast, everyone was gathered downstairs apart from Ron and Harry. Mrs Weasley sent Hermione and me to go get them.

I pushed open the door to Ron's room carefully and we looked inside. Ron was snoring his head off while Harry was tossing and turning like mad. Hermione walked in and woke them both up, Ron pulling up his bedcovers when he realised we were there, while I went and sat on Harry's bed. I was concerned about him.

'Harry, are you all right?' I asked him quietly. He sat up and put his glasses on.

'Bad dream,' was his muttered reply. 'Nothing to worry about.'

'Come on, Ron!' shouted Hermione behind us. 'Your mother says breakfast's ready.'

'Well, if you're sure,' I continued. He looked at me. 'You know you can tell me anything …' I got up and left them alone to get dressed.

At half four, Mr Weasley led Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione and I out of the house (not after Mrs Weasley had purged Fred and George's pockets of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sweets) and we set off to Stoatshead Hill to take a Portkey to where the match was being held. Bill, Charlie and Percy were going to Apparate there later. It was a longish walk and we were all tired but eventually we neared the area, but first met the people accompanying us: the Diggorys.

'This is Amos Diggory,' said Mr Weasley. 'Works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.' Just then, a boy of about seventeen jumped down from a nearby tree in front of us. 'And this strapping young lad must be Cedric,' he added, shaking his hand.

Cedric was a boy in the sixth year in Hufflepuff. He was very good looking and Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team with dark eyes, short dirty blonde hair and was quite tall. Almost every girl seemed to fancy him but I personally thought he was one of the "pretty boys" who had only air between his ears. But I knew better than to judge people before I know them.

'All these yours, Arthur?' asked Mr Diggory.

'Oh, no, only the redheads,' replied Mr Weasley. 'This is Hermione,' he pointed at each of us, 'Jenna, friends of Ron's – and Harry, another friend –' Mr Diggory's eyes instantly went straight to Harry's forehead and he started bragging about how Cedric had beaten Harry last year when he fell of his broom because of Dementors. Something I noticed though was that when Mr Weasley had pointed me out Cedric stared at me for a few moments before trying to get his father to stop. Weird.

For the last ten minutes or so of the walk which was all up hill I remained at the back. That was when Cedric came up to me.

'Hi,' was all he said so I simply said, 'Hi.' back.

'I don't think we've met,' continued Cedric. 'I'm Cedric Diggory.'

'I got that when you appeared in front of us,' I said, carrying on up the hill. He followed. I secretly rolled my eyes. 'I'm Jenna Black,' I added, hoping he'd leave.

'Jenna … well, I'll see you around.'

I stopped and watched his retreating back with my eyebrow raised in query. What the hell was that about?

Finally we got to the Portkey at the top of the hill. It was five past five and the sun was only just coming up. On the hill there was an old boot sitting on a tree stump. That was a Portkey? We were the only people to take this one because the Lovegoods apparently have already gone.

'That's it, just over there!' Mr Weasley shouted back to us.

'Shall we?' said Mr Diggory. 'We don't want to be late.'

Thinking that everyone else seemed to know what it was, well apart from Hermione and Harry, I walked over to it and gathered around it with everyone else. We all knelt down around it and put a finger on it so I did too.

'Time to go. Ready? After three. One … two …' Harry hadn't put his finger on it yet so Mr Weasley had to shout at him to get his attention. 'Three!'

It happened all of a sudden. I felt a pull right around my navel and next minute I was spinning through the air, being knocked about by Hermione and Fred, or was it George? anyway, and we seemed to be flying through a blur of colours.

'Let go kids!' I heard Mr Weasley shout at us.

'What?' gasped Hermione. I had to agree with her. Was he mad?

'Let go!'

So we let go. Harry, Ron, Hermione, me, Ginny, Fred and George all let go and we went flying back from the Portkey, Hermione and Ginny screaming, landing on the ground with a hell of a thump! I felt like I'd been winded, landing on my back. Ron had fallen into Harry. We were all sprawled on the ground while Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory and Cedric were all on their feet, having a little laugh. Then somewhere near us, a voice said, 'Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill.'

After the shamble of an entrance, we got up and were told the place where we'd be camping so we set off for it while the Diggorys went in the opposite direction. After paying the Muggle at the gate to the field we were to be in, Mr Weasley led us to a small plot of land with a ready-to-make tent waiting for us. Harry and Hermione helped mainly to build it and by the time the sun was up fully, the tent was up. All I could say was wow.

Inside the tent looked more like the inside of a bungalow than a tent. It had a small kitchen as well as several smaller areas with beds in them and a sitting area in the centre. The three bed bunk to one side was grabbed by Hermione, Ginny and me while Fred and George instantly went to the kitchen. After putting our stuff in our rooms, Mr Weasley sent Harry, Ron, Hermione and I off to get some water so he could start breakfast.

On our way to fetch the water we saw several people we knew including Seamus and Dean as well as Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff in our year and Cho Chang in the year above us, Ravenclaw. Harry blushed when she said hi to us. We also saw where the Bulgarians were staying. To say the Irish had gone over the top with green shamrocks and whatever else was nothing to the Bulgarians; they had pictures plastered on their tents of the same one person, Viktor Krum, and boy did he look grumpy. His features were all dark and his thick eyebrows added to his dense appearance.

Once back at the camp with the water Mr Weasley lit a fire and we had a more decent breakfast. We also got a visit from none other than Ludo Bagman, head of the Department for Magical Games and Sports, and Percy's boss, Mr Crouch. Fred and George managed to make a bet with Bagman about the outcome of the match while Crouch merely complained about flying carpets and broomsticks. Fun.

Finally they disappeared and the four of us went off to buy some souvenirs before the start of the match. Harry bought all of us Omnioculars, Hermione bought some programmes, Ron got a miniature figure of Krum which strutted about and I simply brought a green and grey scarf supporting Ireland. Then we joined Fred, George and Ginny in getting our faces painted in either Bulgarian or Irish colours or have the flags painted on our cheeks. Pretty cool overall.

At last the match started and my God, the stadium itself was amazing. It was huge, over a hundred feet high. We were at the very top box where the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was also to be as well as someone less welcome: the Malfoys. Beside us though was something I'd never seen before; a house-elf by the name of Winky was sitting with an empty seat beside her and she looked petrified being up here. She was saving a seat for Crouch.

The match began with displays from either teams' mascots. The Veela from Bulgaria were a bunch of airheads, dancing and twirling and singing, a somewhat unimpressive display with the Bulgarians flying round them, yet it seemed get the boys' attention. Harry was standing up with one leg on the box wall while Ron was in a diving position. Hermione and I shook our heads and yanked them back into their seats. The leprechauns from Ireland were much better; they danced around to an Irish jig, forming a giant leprechaun in the sky before the Irish team burst through them and on to the pitch.

'Good evening!' suddenly came Bagman's voice, echoing round the stadium. 'It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and everyone one of you to the final of the four hundredth and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup. Let the match begin!'

Quickly introducing the players, the match started. If I thought that a Quidditch match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin was violent, I hadn't seen anything. With commentary from Bagman in the background I watched amazed as fouls were made and as Krum tricked Irish Seeker, Aidan Lynch, smacked against the ground as Krum pulled off the Wronski Feint. Ouch! And it wasn't just the players who were violent. The leprechauns kept forming words in laughter, even a rude gesture as the Veela's became more grotesque and wailed in anger. The crowd booed and cheered with them as goals were scored, Ireland out on top. Then, all of a sudden, Krum went into another dive and seconds later, with Lynch back on the ground, he pulled up with the Snitch in his hand, but making Bulgaria lose the match one hundred and sixty to Ireland's one hundred and seventy.

That night though was one I wasn't likely to forget. The Irish had been celebrating for ages, letting off fireworks and whatnot while the Bulgarians sulked about their loss. We had all been gathered in the tent talking about the match (and taking the mick out of Ron) when Mr Weasley came running in looking flustered and made us stop. He told us we were to get out of the tent immediately. Running outside we saw why.

On about thirty yards from our tent were a bunch of men dressed in black, hoods over their heads and white skull-like masks covering the top of their faces. My heart sank; I knew those people. They were Death Eaters. Over the flaming tents we could see the Muggle from earlier and his family being hung upside-down, screaming. The four of us just stood transfixed in horror.

'Get into the forest and stick together!' yelled Mr Weasley over the noise. 'Fred, George, Ginny's your responsibility! We're going to hep the Ministry! I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!''

As quickly as we could Harry, Ron, Hermione and I ran from our tent after Fred, George and Ginny. We were pushed and knocked about by everyone around us, running and screaming away from the Death Eaters. We made it into the nearby forest but after we lit our wands, I realised something. Not only had we been separated from the other three but Harry had vanished.

'Ron, Hermione, Harry's missing!' I gasped. 'He must of got lost in the crowd!'

'We can't go back for him!' shouted Ron, grabbing my arm to stop me. 'Harry knows to get into the forest. We'll look for him in here.' I looked worriedly at him through the wand light, then nodded.

Me, Ron and Hermione made our way carefully through the wood looking for Harry. We couldn't find him anywhere. We came across some girls who said, '_Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue _–' turning out to be from the French school Beauxbatons, as well as a very unwelcome face: Malfoy.

'Granger, they're after _Muggles_,' he sneered. 'D'you want to be showing off your knickers in mid-air? Because if you do, hang around … they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh.'

'Hermione's a witch,' Ron snarled angrily at him. 'Ten times better than you'll ever to be.'

'Have it your own way, Weasel,' spat Malfoy, grinning. 'If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are.'

'You watch your mouth!' shouted Ron.

Malfoy grinned for a moment and observed the three of us.

'So where's Potty then? Got himself lost?'

'That's a good idea, Malfoy,' I said sarcastically. 'Best you've ever had. Why don't you get yourself lost and then your daddy can kill you instead of us. Or better yet, I could tell these two a little secret that involves you and me.' Malfoy's eyes darkened at me. I turned to Ron and Hermione. 'Want to know who Malfoy's related to?'

'You dare, Black,' snarled Malfoy, drawing his wand and pointing it at me. I smiled, almost egging him on. Malfoy pocketed his wand and stalked away.

We spent at least half an hour waiting in the forest after Malfoy had left. In that time we heard some men trying to impress some Veela, ran into a flustered-looking Ludo Bagman, but still didn't find Harry or Fred, George and Ginny. Eventually the noise died down and the three of us made our way back out to the camp. The camp had been devastated. Tents had been torched and everything was black and grey. That's when we heard it.

'_MORSMORDRE!_'

We all jumped and looked around. No one was near us but the voice still echoed in the silence. Instead, we carried on and started to search for Harry, calling his name. We found him standing alone in amongst the tents and ran over to him, relieved to have found him. He was looking around avidly as if he was searching for someone, then he looked into the sky.

'What is _that_?' he gasped.

The rest of us looked up to see a large, horrible green skull floating above us in the sky, a snake emitting from its mouth and twisting round in the darkness. All of a sudden, Harry started to gasp in pain as he covered his scar with his hand. I could understand why; that thing in the sky was the Dark Mark, Voldemort's sign. It had been in the sky when my Mum had died. But at the same moment, several wizards Apparated into a circle around us and shot Stunners at us. Harry only just managed to force us to the ground in time.

'STOP!' yelled a voice nearby. 'STOP! _That's my son!_'

It was Mr Weasley. He came running up to us and checked we were all OK before Mr Crouch stepped up and accused one of us for conjuring the Dark Mark.

'Which of you conjured this?' he said in a ringing voice, much more alive than last time we'd met.

'You can't possibly …' started Mr Weasley.

'We didn't do anything!' said Ron.

'Do not lie! You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!'

'Barty,' said another witch in a dressing gown. 'they're just kids, Barty, they'd never have be able to.'

'Crime?' Harry looked at me, Ron and Hermione in turn. 'What crime?'

'Harry, it's the Dark Mark.,' I whispered quietly to him, 'it's _his_ mark.'

'Where did the Mark come from?' asked Mr Weasley calmly.

'Over there,' said Hermione nervously. She pointed near the trees she, Ron and I had been in a second ago. 'There was someone behind the trees … they shouted words – an incantation –'

Immediately, Crouch and another couple of wizards went and searched the area Hermione had indicated. A few moments later they came back and who should they have with them but Winky, the house-elf from earlier. And she had Harry's wand. After an argument between the Ministry wizards, Mr Diggory perform Priori Incantatem on Harry's wand, causing a shadow of the Dark Mark to erupt from where the wand tips touched. Another argument then ensued between Crouch and Mr Diggory which resulted in the sacking of Winky from Crouch's services, something Hermione took to heart.

With that over, Mr Weasley took us back to where Bill, Charlie and Percy were waiting with Fred, George and Ginny. Our tent had been destroyed along with every single one around it. Conjuring up a couple of regular tents, we camped out in the Portkey field with all those who'd remained behind. I couldn't sleep though. I was still thinking about the Dark Mark. Finally though, a couple hours later, I turned over and fell asleep.

After only a few hours sleep, Mr Weasley woke us up and we returned back to The Burrow. Mrs Weasley was so relieved to see us all safe and sound, hugging us all when we got back. She burst into tears when she hugged Fred and George. Over breakfast Mr Weasley read out the newspaper article Bill had given him which went over the previous nights events, making a mockery out of the Ministry.

'Who wrote this?' asked Mr Weasley after skimming through it. 'Ah … of course … Rita Skeeter.'

Rita Skeeter was a woman who wrote for several different wizard papers and magazines, mainly the _Daily Prophet_, who enjoyed slandering and making a fool out of everything and anyone she wrote about. I'd read several of her articles and always thrown them in the bin without finishing them. She was horrible.

After Mr Weasley and Percy disappeared off to the Ministry, Harry asked Mrs Weasley if Hedwig had brought any post to which caught mine, Ron and Hermione's attention. Excusing us to the others, the four of us went up to Ron's room where Harry told us about the dream he'd had a few nights ago, about a man being killed in an old house and waking up with his scar hurting.

Ron and Hermione gasped and started saying he should write to Dumbledore immediately while I merely looked at him and said, 'Why didn't you tell me this when I asked you?'

'I didn't want you guys to worry,' said Harry. 'I knew how you'd react.'

'Harry, we're your friends,' I said. 'Of course we'd be worried for you but we wouldn't make you do anything you didn't want to do. Anyway, what do you think this means?'

'It could mean anything,' shrugged Harry. 'But from the dream, Voldemort –' Ron and Hermione flinched, '– had killed someone that night and I felt it.'

'But – he wasn't there, was he?' said Ron. 'You-Know-Who? I mean – last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?'

'I'm sure he wasn't in Privet Drive,' said Harry. Then he went on to mention seeing Pettigrew and about Professor Trelawney's prediction from last year. Trelawney was an old fraud, a shared opinion of mine and Hermione's (I'd seen more true things than her!) and Hermione scoffed at the idea of it.

Talk then went on to Dad when Harry mentioned writing to him about his scar. And for some reason, I felt a strange twinge in my stomach, as if I was jealous that Harry was writing to him. I swiftly crushed it. Harry was worried because Hedwig hadn't got back.

'Harry, we don't know where Dad is,' I said bracingly. 'He could be in Africa or somewhere else for all we know, couldn't he? Hedwig's not going to manage that sort of journey in a few days. Gizmo certainly couldn't when I wrote to him.'

'Yeah, I know,' said Harry.

The rest of that day we spent playing Quidditch in the orchard, Hermione watching as Harry, Ron, me and Bill took on Charlie, Fred and George. She gave me a bit of a stern look as she walked away going, '_Boys._'

The next week or so spent at The Burrow was a mixture of chaos and fun. Mr Weasley and Percy were Apparating back and forth regularly from the Ministry while the rest of us hung around the house listening to the twins and Mrs Weasley's ongoing arguments about the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes treats.

By the end of the week Mrs Weasley had told all of us to go and check we had all our things for the next year at school. We'd given her our keys to Gringotts (I had one which Dad had sent me meaning I didn't have to rely on Lupin to buy my things) and she'd bought all our school books for us when we were at the World Cup. I checked all my things and saw I had all the books I needed but also something else I stared at in what could only be called horror.

'What …' I started slowly, picking up and staring at a long piece of material, 'is this?'

Hermione and Ginny looked over at me and started laughing.

'Jenna, that's what we girls call a dress,' said Hermione. She looked through her things. 'Looks like I've got one as well,' she added, holding up a pale blue one. It got darker in colour as it flowed in different layers downwards and had light blue material at the top. 'And we've got shoes too!' There were a pair of blue shoes underneath it.

'Hermione, have you ever even seen me wear a dress or high heels?'

'I've seen you wear skirts.'

'Yeah, that's my school skirt and I wear it because I have to. I've never worn a dress in my life.' I looked back down at it. The dress was full length and a dark red colour; it had a halter neck and looked like it would show a lot of my back, not that my hair wouldn't cover it. It felt like it was made of silk or something. Well, least Mrs Weasley chose one that might suit me.

'Why don't you try them on?' asked Ginny. Hermione jumped at the idea. I, however, wasn't so keen. Still, it didn't stop her pestering me until I agreed.

A few minutes later Hermione came out the bathroom, me creeping quickly behind her (I didn't want Harry or Ron to see me. They'd laugh!), and back into Ginny's room. She squealed in joy when she saw us and said, 'You look amazing!' She got us to do a twirl. I felt so stupid but when I looked in the mirror, it didn't look that bad. The dress fitted me perfectly besides my thin frame and when I lifted up my hair, I saw it showed the bit just below my shoulders on my back.

'I didn't realise I was so tall,' I muttered, looking at it. 'I guess hanging round with Harry and Ron stops you thinking how tall you get.' It was true; both Hermione and I were at least five foot five, two inches or so shorter than the boys.

Just then, the door opened. I jumped behind Hermione but it was only Mrs Weasley. She saw the two of us in our dresses, got us to do another twirl, and was saying how beautiful we looked like Ginny had, "growing into proper young ladies". I felt a shiver down my back and could have sworn I went bright red, matching the colour in my hair. I'd _never_ been called a young lady.

If I thought it was bad for me, I was wrong. Ron's were definitely worse. Harry had normal-looking black robes with a white bowtie while Ron, well, he had maroon robes with a white frilly shirt, green bowtie and brown waistcoat. Hermione and I were in hysterics. We'd heard a shout and decided to investigate to see him holding them up.

'I'll go starkers before I put them on!' Ron shouted. 'I'm never wearing them!'

'Fine,' snapped Mrs Weasley from behind me and Hermione. 'Go naked. And Harry, make sure you get a photo of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh.'

She stormed off downstairs. Meanwhile, Pig was choking on an overlarge Owl Treat.

'Why is everything I own rubbish?' groaned Ron.

Hermione and I sighed, shook our heads, and returned to Ginny's room to finish packing. Tomorrow was school and we'd be catching the train to Hogwarts. And in all honesty, I couldn't wait to get back.

* * *

**AN: hopefully i have now revealed a bit more of Jenna's personality and her looks and people will be able to guess wat might happen in the future between her and Harry and other characters**


	15. The Test of Friendship

Chapter 14

The Test of Friendship

The next day and just by walking into the kitchen you could tell there was a certain gloom about the fact the summer holidays were over. When Hermione, Ginny and I had gone down to breakfast we came in to see Mrs Weasley talking to nothing but Mr Diggory's head in the fireplace as Mr Weasley rushed about looking for some parchment. Apparently some ex-Auror named Mad-Eye Moody had done something to some rubbish bins. I didn't hear the full story because I was half asleep.

At eight o'clock, we waited out in the rain-washed yard until three Muggle taxis appeared to take us to London to Kings Cross station and to say they were a little angry about having to take seven heavy trunks, two owls and a cat with them was an understatement, especially when one of Fred's Dr Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks went off by accident. It was not a nice journey. It took forever to get there and was very uncomfortable.

Once at Kings Cross and our stuff had been unloaded Mrs Weasley led us through the crowd towards platform nine and three-quarters where we passed through the barrier one at a time to come face-to-face with a gleaming steam engine: the Hogwarts Express. When I saw it I let out a sigh or relief; I was so happy to be going back at last.

Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie all said goodbye to us on the platform, Mrs Weasley giving us the usual round of hugs after we'd stowed away our trunks on the train and Charlie grinning as he said, 'I might be seeing you all sooner than you think.' to us which got Fred's curiosity going. Both he and Bill hinted about this being an eventful year, not like mine, Harry, Ron and Hermione's years so far hadn't been eventful.

With our curiosity at a high level, we all got back on the train and went our separate ways; Fred and George went off to find their friend Lee Jordan, while Ginny went to find some other third years, the four of us headed back to our compartment. When we got there though and were about to shut the door, Hermione stopped us and pointed to the compartment next to ours. Malfoy was bragging about something inside it.

'… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the Headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man's such a Mudblood-lover – and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riff-raff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away.'

'Why?' I whispered to the others. 'It looked like it would have done her a favour as well as us to have _him_ out of the way back at the match. She looked like she had such a bad smell under her nose. Not surprising with him around.' Harry, Ron and Hermione all sniggered quietly.

Malfoy was still boasting in his compartment.

'Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually _learn_ them, not just the defence rubbish we do …'

Feeling a little disgusted by what I had for a cousin, I stood up and quietly closed the door. Harry though was intrigued by Durmstrang school so, of course, Hermione had to go and tell us all she knew about it. Later on the journey, we had visits from some other Gryffindor fourth years (Neville listened enviously as we told him about the Quidditch World Cup) when Malfoy put in his opinion. Unfortunately for Ron, who had shoved his dress robes over Pig's cage, Malfoy saw them and had a right old laugh.

'So … going to enter, Weasley?' he said after he'd finished laughing. Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name?' We didn't have a clue what he was on about and only explained when Hermione testily told him to either do so or bugger off. 'Don't tell me you don't _know_?' said Malfoy delightedly. 'You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even _know_? My God, _my_ father told me about it ages ago … heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry … maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley … yes … they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him …'

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle walked out laughing. Ron just got up and slammed the door shut, breaking the glass. Hermione had to repair it. I just looked at Ron in sympathy; I knew what it was like to be tormented by someone about my parents.

Ron was in a bad mood for the rest of the trip, so much so when Harry offered to buy him the liquorice wand he wanted as well as the Droobles, he just ignored it. Outside the rain pretty much reflected Ron's mood. I pitied the new first years, having to cross the lake in this weather while we were able to take the Thestral drawn carriages up to the castle. It didn't stop us getting soaked though. The four of us literally ran from the train to where they stood. Everyone was. That was how I ran into Cedric Diggory again.

'Foul weather!' he called. He'd run past me and fallen over in the mud. I'd gone and helped him up. He smiled at me when I did so. I could see what people meant when they said he was the strong and silent type. 'We should stop meeting like this, I mean when one of us falls over.' I stared at him confused.

'Come on, Jenna!' shouted Ron from our carriage. I glanced at the carriage then back at him.

'I've got to go,' I said quickly to Cedric. 'See you.'

'Yeah, bye.'

That was the second time now when I'd had a guy act differently around me to how I'm used to. I have to say, it was pretty strange. Still, with him gone, I got into the coach and it started up to school.

Once through the winged boar flanked gates and up the muddy drive, everyone was crowded into the Entrance Hall, waiting to be let into the Great Hall, all completely soaked from the rain. Lightning occasionally flashed in the blurred, shimmering windows as the thunder echoed slightly in the noisy Entrance Hall from all the students gathered there.

'Blimey,' said Ron, shaking his long hair, (he and Harry both had let their hair grow over the summer, and Fred and George for that matter), 'if that keeps up, the lake's going to overflow. I'm –' He was cut off by me screaming as a water bomb fell from the ceiling right on to my head.

Looking up, I saw Peeves cackling above me. Peeves was a very annoying poltergeist that lived in the castle which no one but the Bloody Baron ghost and Professor Dumbledore could control. He was bobbing up and down quite happily above us, chucking balloons at any unwary person below.

'One of these days,' I breathed, shivering even more. 'I am going to kill that poltergeist.'

'Jenna, you can't kill a ghost,' said Hermione. I glared at her before ringing out my hair on to the floor and tying it into a long plait.

I wasn't the only one mad at him. Anyone who'd been hit were shouting at him. Professor McGonagall also shouted at him when she arrived, threatening to call the Headmaster but he zoomed off cackling insanely instead, throwing the last of his water bombs before he disappeared. Finally we were allowed into the Great Hall where the feast would be waiting for us.

The Sorting of the new students took place but all Harry and Ron could think of were their stomachs. We sat through The Sorting Hat's new song, something Harry had never seen before, and watched hungrily as they were Sorted. We also noticed that there was a seat empty up at the teacher's table; there was no Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. However, before we got to eat anything, Dumbledore stood up to speak. He'd only ever done his speech before we ate once before and that was last year when the Dementors were guarding the school.

'I wonder why he's doing his speech now,' I whispered. 'Usually he lets us eat first.'

'I hope it's a short one,' groaned Ron.

'Now were all settled in and Sorted,' began Dumbledore once the Hall had gone quiet, 'I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen –'

Just then Filch ran up the aisle between our table and Hufflepuff's, limping badly. When he reached the teacher's table, he whispered something to Dumbledore before limping back down again. Several people laughed as he did so.

'So,' restarted Dumbledore. 'Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard tournament.'

A whispering started round each of the tables. Fred even shouted out, 'You're JOKING!'

'I am _not_ joking, Mr Weasley,' continued Dumbledore, 'though, now you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar –' Professor McGonagall cleared her throat beside him. 'Er, yes, maybe not the time.

'As I was saying, yes, the Triwizard Tournament and so there will be no Quidditch this year. Now for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. It was set up some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition but was discontinued because the death toll mounted so high.' Nice, very nice. 'Only now has it been reinstated.

'The competition was set between the three largest European schools of wizardry – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear. If chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted. But more of that later. For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their Headmistress, Madam Maxime.'

The doors of the Great Hall were reopened and in walked fifteen or so older girls a few years older than me, followed by the biggest lady I'd ever seen. Everyone's head turned to look at them. These girls were all dressed in blue uniforms with matching hats. They marched quietly into the room before dancing up the aisle, sighing and releasing butterflies into the air.

'Bloody hell,' mumbled Ron as he watched them all prance up the aisle between our table and the next. He wasn't the only one. All the boys seemed to be fascinated by these girls. Hermione, Ginny and I just looked at each other thinking the same thing: _Airheads!_

Down the other end in front of the teachers, a younger girl cart-wheeled backwards to the front, taking the hand of another and they bowed in front of their teacher. Dumbledore had walked away from his lectern and kissed the woman, Madame Maxime's hand. Everyone applauded, especially the guys. I was surprised at how shallow both Harry and Ron seemed. Dumbledore then returned to the stage.

'And now our friends from the north. Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their High Master, Igor Karkaroff.' Everyone's heads turned back to the open doors. I was intrigued to see what these people were going to do to impress us.

All of a sudden, a group of older boys burst into the Hall, dressed in brown and some with fur coats, striding up the aisle. They had boe-staffs in their hands which they twirled and stabbed on the ground, sparks issuing as the wood and stone connected with each other, as they marched up the aisle, chanting. Then, the front few ran forwards and began somersaulting at the foot of the stage, one even creating a phoenix made of fire from his wand. To say I was impressed summed it up. Then, right at the back came another student with his High Master, Karkaroff (Ron's mouth fell open); it was Viktor Krum. Karkaroff and Dumbledore shook hands and finally, the feast was started.

But it wasn't like any feast we'd had before. There were all these foreign dishes on the tables, some which didn't look particularly appetising. Hermione though didn't eat anything when Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, mentioned it was house-elves who did the cooking (and cleaning, and fires) even with Ron trying to tempt her with what English food there was. Once the feast was done, during which several men had been seen carrying in a large column of some sort and placed it on the stage, Professor Dumbledore got up to speak once more.

But before he did, another new arrival appeared. A man, wearing a brown trench coat and soaked to the skin with grizzled grey hair and what looked like a leather strap over his left eye. He walked with a slight limp. And judging by the way Dumbledore greeted him, he was to be our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He walked off to the side, taking a drink from a hip flask as well. It was the ex-Auror, Mad-Eye Moody.

'Your attention, please!' called Dumbledore. 'I would like to say a few words. Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks. For this reason, the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry, has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr Bartemius Crouch.'

Turned out that no wizard not of age or above (seventeen or older in other words) was not allowed to enter the Tournament. Fred, George and most of the other students objected to this. Explained why all the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were older than us. The Champions were to be decided on Halloween night, people wishing to enter had to submit their names to the Goblet of Fire (he revealed it) in the week preceding Halloween, and there was to be a thousand Galleon prize for whoever won the Tournament. With that, we were sent to bed.

The first day of school was a total nightmare. After having to burst swellings full of puss on Bubotubers during Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures was ten times worse. Hagrid, mad as he always is about magical beasts, had done some breeding (by the looks of it at least) and had created these ugly things he'd christened Blast-Ended Skrewts. Plus the lesson was with the Slytherins so …

Lunch came and so did Hermione's first trip to the library after scoffing down her lunch as quickly as possible. I didn't bother asking why though. After lunch was Double Divination (Hermione had Arithmancy) and that was as dull as always. This time though, Professor Trelawney "impressed" us by deducing from Saturn that Harry was born midwinter … when he was born in July. I think Ron's comment about Lavender's Uranus was what got us the pile of homework though.

No sooner had we got to dinner that Malfoy showed up to enrage us a little more from after the incident back on the train. And again it was about Ron's parents, firstly starting by reading out an article following up the World Cup mistakes (written by Rita Skeeter, of course) and mentioning they didn't get Ron's dad's name right, then ridiculing his home and Mrs Weasley which I think did it for Ron. However, Harry got him back with a comment about his mum before Hermione and I dragged them both off to dinner. We were joined by Fred, George and Lee and they told us about their first lesson with Mad-Eye Moody. By the sounds of it, he seemed pretty cool.

Our first lesson with him wasn't for another two days. It wasn't until we got there that we found out that we had it with the Slytherins as well. Moody didn't hang about though and went straight into the lesson. With a brief introduction and a check over what we'd done, he got straight to the point and told us we were to be going of the Unforgivable Curses. He explained what they were, writing on the board and telling Lavender to put her magazine away as he did so (that eye allowed him to see out the back of his head!), before getting us to name the curses.

Ron gave him the Imperious Curse after he barked at him to stand up. But then he did something that everybody apart from me, and maybe Hermione, found absolutely hilarious. Taking a spider from a jar on his desk and enlarging it, Moody placed the spell on it and made it fly around the classroom. Everyone laughed, Harry and Ron especially when he made it crawl over Malfoy's head. The weird thing though was … even Moody was laughing, manically at that.

'Talented, isn't she?' he asked us. 'What should I have her do next? Jump out the window?' Moody flicked his wand and the spider landed on an open pain of glass. 'Drown herself?' He lowered it above a jar of water. The class stopped laughing. He explained to us how many people claimed to only do Voldemort's work under this curse.

'Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will,' said Moody. 'It can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' The class jumped as he shouted this. 'Another,' he continued. 'Another. Longbottom, is it?'

Neville stood up and said a second curse, the Cruciatus Curse. Taking him to the front and placing the spider down on his desk, Moody pointed his wand at the spider again and growled the spell. Immediately the spider started jerking and twitching more and more violently. As I watched I saw Neville's face contort and his eyes darken; I couldn't watch and clenched my hands, digging my nails into them before I had to say something. I knew why Neville was acting like he was … because of my cousin Bellatrix torturing his parents.

'Stop it!' I shouted. 'Can't you see it's bothering him? Stop it!'

Moody looked at me (so did the rest of the class) before relinquishing the spell. Next, picking up the spider, he walked over to my desk and placed the spider on top of my textbook.

'Perhaps you can give us the last Unforgivable Curse, Miss Black?' he asked quietly. I glanced up at Moody from behind my hair but shook my head, biting my lip. I knew what was coming having heard it so many times the previous year. 'No?' I saw his wand point at the spider. '_Avada Kedavra!_'

A small jet of green light came from the tip of his wand. I flinched as it hit the spider. It was dead, lying on its back with its legs in the air. That was the spell I'd dreamed of so many times.

'The Killing Curse,' said Moody calmly, turning away from me. 'Not nice. Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only one person is known to have survived it … and he's sitting in this room.' I glanced over at Harry. He was looking as shocked as everyone else. That curse had killed his parents.

I was so relieved when class had ended. I could see why they called him Mad-Eye Moody, besides the fact he had a mad eye. He was insane. Hermione agreed with me as Ron did a post-mortem of the lesson. He was impressed as seemed everyone else. But as we went down the stairs, I saw Neville standing alone by a window. I felt the guilt rise up in my chest again and I went over to him.

'Neville?' He just turned and looked at me. 'I am so sorry.' He didn't have time to wonder why I was sorry seeing as Moody thumped down the stairs behind us and took him to have a cup of tea in his office.

That night while doing homework Hermione revealed why she'd been in the library so often. S.P.E.W. or in her words "the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare". She had made a club against house-elf enslavement. Ron tried to convince her they liked it (he'd know more about it than her considering his whole family were wizards) but still she told us the aims and gave each of us jobs for it. Luckily we were saved by Hedwig turning up at the window with Dad's reply to Harry's letter a few weeks ago.

Dad was flying north immediately! What the hell! He'll get caught!

'He's flying north?' I whispered urgently to the others. 'He's coming _back_? He'll get caught!'

'Jenna, calm down,' hissed Harry. How could I calm down? My father, who's on the run from the Ministry, was risking imprisonment to come back because Harry had told him his scar was hurting. Oh sure, that was going to make me calm down!

'Dumbledore's reading what signs?' said Ron.

But I wasn't the only one who was worried. When I looked at Harry when he told me to calm down I saw he too was looking worried.

'I shouldn't have told him!' he said furiously. Ron asked him why but to me it was obvious; he was having the same worries as I was. I instantly felt bad for snapping at him but I had my reasons. He even snapped at Hedwig when she clicked her beak for food.

That night I went to bed dreading what might happen if Dad was caught.

Lessons over the next month or so were about as exciting as Hagrid's Skrewts. Things ran like clockwork with homework starting to pile up, I didn't have time to think about Dad coming back into the country. I also found myself running into Cedric quite a few times and every time he'd say something to me that left me thinking, 'Huh?' And he'd always end with "see you around", whatever that meant. But when Dad's reply came back to the letter Harry sent the day after he got the last reply said he was still coming, my heart sank.

Back to lessons. Professor McGonagall was making us do Switching Spells in Transfiguration; Moody had now _used_ the Unforgivables on us and so my dislike of him had increase somewhat; History of Magic and Divination were as boring as ever; we were doing antidotes in Potions and the Summoning Charm in Charms; and Care of Magical Creatures were becoming a torture lesson as the Skrewts kept blowing up. All in all, a great welcome back to Hogwarts.

The Monday before Halloween, I was in the Great Hall with Hermione seeing as Harry and Ron had decided to watch the older students put their names in the Goblet. Again it was raining outside. I watched beside Hermione as each person came up to the Cup, placed their names in it, and the fire crackle as it was accepted. We were both pleased when Angelina Johnson put her name in. A few minutes later Cedric came in with his mates and placed his name in the Cup. I guess he was entering too.

The fun started when Fred and George came running in, cheering, because they'd just made an Aging Potion they were going to use to enter the Tournament. Hermione had to point out though that Professor Dumbledore had drawn an Age Line around the Goblet and so wasn't going to be fooled by 'a dodge as pathetically dim-witted as an Aging Potion.'

'Ah, but that's why it's so brilliant,' said Fred.

'Because it's so pathetically dim-witted,' added George.

'Don't say we didn't warn you,' I sighed as they stood up.

We did try to tell them. As soon as they put their names in the Cup, the flames exploded out of it and they were thrown backwards. Each of them sprouted beards and their flame-red hair turned white. It was hilarious; everyone in the Hall was chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as they rolled around hitting each other. Hermione just tutted. The room only went silent when in walked Krum. People moved out of the way for him as he marched to the Cup and placed his name in it. But as he walked away I saw his eyes linger on Hermione. Well, well, well … I glanced at her with my eyebrow raised but she merely ignored it and returned to her book.

On Halloween, we spent the day down at Hagrid's with Hermione trying to persuade him to join S.P.E.W. Harry, Ron and I only bought badges to hopefully shut her up. He flatly refused. When we asked him how the Skrewts were apparently they'd started killing each other. Great! But what most got our attentions was one) the hairy brown suit hanging up in his hut with a spotty orange tie, two) he had attempted to comb his hair, and three) he reeked of aftershave or something like that. He even left us behind to go up to the castle with Madame Maxime!

'He fancies her!' Ron said incredulously as we traipsed after him.

After the Halloween feast, the tables were magically split in two and pushed to one side to open up the centre of the Hall for the Goblet while benches were stacked up at the sides. Non-familiar faces at school such as Mr Crouch, Ludo Bagman, and several other Ministry wizards were gathered on the stage with the teachers. The four of us sat with Seamus, Neville, Dean, Fred, George and Angelina. We all wanted her to get it. Once Dumbledore had called for attention and dimmed the torches in the Hall, he turned to the Goblet and we waited.

Suddenly the blue flames turned red and a piece of parchment was thrown out. Dumbledore caught it.

'The Durmstrang Champion is,' Dumbledore read out loudly, 'Viktor Krum!'

The Durmstrang students cheered and Krum walked off out a door at the back of the Hall after taking his parchment and shaking hands with Dumbledore. Then, a second piece of parchment flew out of the red flames.

'The Champion for Beauxbatons … is Fleur Delacour!'

A tall blonde-haired girl, one of which Ron had been obsessing about madly since he first saw her and swore she was part Veela, stood up from the Ravenclaw table and followed what Krum did and went out the Hall. Now it was just the Hogwarts' champion left.

'The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory!'

OK, so it wasn't Angelina but I was happy that Cedric had got it. We all applauded for him as he went out of the Hall.

'Excellent!' called Dumbledore happily. 'Well, we now have our three Champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your Champions every ounce of support you can muster. For only one will hoist this chalice of Champions, this vessel of victory. The Triwizard Cup!' He pointed at a stand on the stage. A cloth flew off it revealing a magnificent blue Cup.

However, I'd noticed something not many others had. The Goblet's flames were still red. I pointed this out to the others, whispering, 'Guys, look at the Goblet!'

Sure enough, another piece of parchment came out of the flames. Dumbledore caught it. He read it for a second before saying, 'Harry Potter?' I held in a gasp and looked down at Harry. He'd shrunken into his seat. 'Harry Potter!' shouted Dumbledore again.

'Go on, Harry,' hissed Hermione, pushing him forward. 'Harry, for goodness sake!'

He finally got up and Ron, Hermione and I watched as he took his parchment and walked out of the Hall.

When we got back to the Tower that night, Ron was in a foul mood and went straight to bed while every other Gryffindor was cheering and applauding that Harry had managed to enter the Tournament. Hermione and I, however, were concerned; how did Harry's name get in the Goblet when he told us himself he wouldn't want to enter the Tournament? Harry himself didn't return for another hour or so when we heard the common room erupt in cheers downstairs.

'I think someone's pleased,' I said to Hermione, closing the door to our dormitory.

'Yeah, but Ron certainly isn't,' replied Hermione. 'Did you see his face when Harry's name came out the Cup?' I sighed and lay down on my bed.

'Fireworks are going to fly,' I mumbled. 'And I got a feeling our friendship's going to be tested.' I let out a sigh and I couldn't help but think _Dad needs to know_.

Mine and Hermione's worries were confirmed the next day; Harry and Ron weren't talking. When we went down to breakfast Sunday morning we found Ron sitting alone at the table, no Harry. And when we asked him where he was, his reply was, 'Who cares!' Hermione and I just looked at each other and silently we agreed; one of us was going to have to stay with Ron, the other with Harry, and switch until they become friends again. So, gathering up some toast in a napkin, I left to find Harry.

I found him just as he was coming out the portrait hole.

'Hi,' I said. 'I brought you this …' holding up the toast. 'Want to go for a walk?'

'Good idea,' said Harry, gratefully.

We went right out into the grounds and over to the lake where the Durmstrang ship was moored. Harry explained to me exactly what happened after he'd gone from the Hall and how Mr Crouch had confirmed he had to compete in the competition. But Moody was right when he said no student could have confused the Goblet. But then Harry asked about Ron and I was left in awkward position, giving a hazy answer to his question.

'What's that supposed to mean, _not really_?' he asked.

'Oh, Harry, isn't it obvious?' I groaned. 'He's jealous!'

'_Jealous?_' repeated Harry, incredulously. 'Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?'

'That's not what I mean,' I said. 'Look, it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault, I know you don't ask for it but … well, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home and they overshadow him, and you're his best friend and you're famous. He's always shunted to one side whenever people see you and he puts up with it and never mentions it. I guess this was just one time too many.'

Harry was still grumpy and bitter about Ron's refusal to believe him. And when I told him me and Hermione weren't going to run round after them, he shouted, 'I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!' making several owls fly out of the trees. And when he started to be mellow dramatic I told him, 'Oh, Harry, grow up yourself!'

He looked at me. I sighed.

'Harry, I've been thinking. You know what we've got to do.'

'Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the –'

'_Write to Dad!_' I said over him. 'You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts … almost as if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me.'

Harry was still sceptic but I convinced him, a bit against my will but I did. He wrote the letter and we headed up to the Owlery. But when it came to which owl to use, Harry couldn't use Hedwig and Ron wouldn't be pleased if we used Pig so I ended up calling down Gizmo.

'Jenna, he's as obvious as Hedwig,' said Harry, looking at Gizmo.

'I know he is,' I said casually, taking out my wand. 'But with a little magic –' I tapped Gizmo with my wand and his white feathers turned to a musty grey, '– he's as concealed as Dad is.'

Giving him the letter, I took him to the window and he flew off. Hedwig wasn't pleased.

Ron wasn't the only one who wasn't talking to Harry. Ernie and Justin of Hufflepuff didn't speak to him at all during Herbology when we re-potted Bouncing Bulbs and even Professor Sprout seemed against him. Hermione and I remained in the middle between Harry and Ron. Malfoy made things worse during Care of Magical Creatures mentioning how many champions had died but Hagrid, he _believed_ Harry though he was still worried. Join the club.

The worst thing though happened outside Friday's Potions lesson. Malfoy had created these _Support Cedric Diggory, Potter Stinks_ badges and they had been passed between the Slytherins, _and_ the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but when his comment to Hermione about not wanting his hand slimed up by a Mudblood, Harry lost it and the two of them tried to curse each other, Harry's hitting Goyle and Malfoy's hitting Hermione.

'Hermione!' Ron and I ran over to her. She had her hands clamped over her mouth. But that didn't hide her ever growing front teeth. On top of that, Snape had heard the noise. When he saw Goyle he sent him to the hospital wing but when Ron made Hermione show him her teeth, Snape said, 'I see no difference.'

Hermione ran off to the hospital wing in tears. After Snape had dealt with taking points from Gryffindor and told us to get into the classroom I just stared at Ron and Harry and said, 'I'm going to see if Hermione's OK. Don't kill each other while I'm gone.' I didn't care if I lost more points; Hermione was more important. I went back to Potions after Madam Pomfrey shooed me out to find Harry had gone somewhere and Ron sitting with Dean and Seamus.

'You are fifteen minutes late, Miss Black,' Snape snarled when I walked in. 'Another fifteen points from Gryffindor. Now get on with your Antidote or I'll take even more.' Git.

After dinner I'd gone to the library to work on my Transfiguration homework. I couldn't bare being in a war zone between Ron and Harry after today. I spent about an hour doing so and left around half eight. As I went back to the Tower I was concentrating so much on if Dad had replied to Harry's letter yet I didn't even notice when I walked right into someone. Looking up from the floor, I saw it was another Gryffindor with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked a little older than me. I just stared at him slightly. He had a really nice smile.

'Hey, you OK?' he asked. He held out his hand and pulled me to my feet.

'Um, yeah, thanks,' I said, smiling back. 'Sorry about walking into you. I wasn't looking where I was going.'

'You did look preoccupied,' replied the boy. I blushed.

'Yeah, friends arguing and homework and family issues. The usual.'

The two of us stood in the corridor for a few more seconds before he walked round me and said, 'Well, see you around.' I couldn't help but smile as he walked away. OK, that was the second guy to say that to me. And I didn't even know who he was. What on earth's going on?

The next fortnight or so went quite quickly. Harry and Ron had their detentions with Snape; Dad had replied to Harry's letter; an article by Rita Skeeter appeared in the _Prophet_ saying about how Harry still cried about his parents and Hermione was his love interest or something, apparently from when Harry had had the Weighing of Wands ceremony which Malfoy delighted in reciting; and Hermione and I were still changing between Ron and Harry to try and convince them to talk.

On the twenty-first was the first Hogsmeade weekend. Harry refused to go with Ron so Hermione went with him while I stuck with Ron and Ginny. During that day I ran into Hagrid and Moody while Ron and Ginny were buying some sweets. Curious, I hid round the wall and listened to what they were saying.

'I dunno, Alastor,' grunted Hagrid. 'Innit against the rules for me to do summit like tha'?'

'You want Potter to win, don't you?' growled Moody. My eyes narrowed as he said this but I had a sudden feeling I was being watched. I swallowed; it could be Moody's eye. Not knowing if it would work, I changed into a cat and remained where I was. 'Just tell him to meet you tonight and lead him to where they are.'

'Well,' Hagrid still didn't seem convinced, 'all righ'. I'll have to go find him though.'

I transformed back just as Ron and Ginny came out of Honeydukes. What was that about between Hagrid and Moody? I didn't have time to ponder this though as Hagrid came round the corner a moment later.

'Oh, hello, you three,' he said jovially. 'You haven' seen Harry around, have you?'

'No,' said Ron bluntly.

'Oh, righ,' said Hagrid. He looked at me and Ginny. I shook my head. 'Well, all righ'. Oh, and Ron, I need you to come with me.' Ron looked at me and Ginny, shrugged, then walked off.

Later that day I found Harry down by the lake with Neville. Neville was in the lake with his trousers rolled up while Harry was looking at the book Moody had given him: _Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs._ A few minutes after I had arrived, so did Ron, Hermione and Ginny. I glanced at Harry before walking over to them. Ron and Hermione were arguing.

I asked them what was wrong and Hermione told me. I said I'd do what she wouldn't and she whispered something into my ear. Looking sceptically at Ron, I walked back down the hill to Harry, who was now standing up by the tree he'd been under, staring at us.

'Hermione has asked me to tell you,' said slowly, trying to remember it all, 'that Ronald wanted her to tell you, that Seamus told him, that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid's looking for you.'

'Is that right?' asked Harry angrily. 'Well – what?'

I agreed with him. I didn't understand either. So I went back to Ron and whispered, 'Are you sure you won't do this?' He told me to do it. So I went back over to Harry. 'Dean was told by Parvati that …' I sighed. This was ridiculous. I could see why Hermione wouldn't do it. 'Please don't ask me to say it again. Hagrid's looking for you.'

I went back up the hill to say something to Hermione when Harry said, 'Well you can tell Ronald –'

I turned round to face Harry and snapped, 'I'm not an owl!' Harry glared at me, turned round and stalked back off to the lakeside. I just sighed and looked back at Hermione hopelessly. She shrugged back before walking off with Ginny back to the castle, Ron following. I, however, went back to Harry.

'Harry,' I said quietly, sitting next to him, 'this feud between you and Ron is ridiculous. Hermione and I have had enough of it. Why won't you talk to each other?'

'When he realises how stupid he's being and believes me and apologises, then I'll talk to him,' said Harry heatedly.

I sighed again. 'Fine. Anyway, Hagrid wants to speak to you tonight apparently. And then you've got to talk to Dad. And I'm coming with you.'

Harry and I went down to the grounds under his Invisibility Cloak and met Hagrid outside the Entrance Hall where he led us into the Forbidden Forest. And boy, had he smartened up; he had a flower attached to his brown hairy suit and again tried to comb his hair, 'You might like to try the same thing now and again,' he added to Harry. He had a point. Harry's hair was always messy.

A loud roar then came from nowhere followed by a voice calling Hagrid's name. Getting under the Cloak, Harry and I saw Hagrid was meeting Madame Maxime. We both pulled faces when she said she thought he'd forgotten her. Following them we came to a clearing. Dragons! That was what Harry had to face in the first task? He'd be fried alive! And a Horntail? That was the nastiest dragon in the world. Ron's older brother Charlie was there also, telling Hagrid that Mrs Weasley was fretting about Harry.

'"_How could they let them enter that Tournament, he's much too young!_"' impersonated Charlie. '"_I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!_" She was in floods after that _Daily Prophet_ article. "_He still cries about his parents! Oh, bless him, I never knew!_"' Sounded like Mrs Weasley believed all Skeeter had written about Harry. Not good.

After that, as quickly as we could, Harry and I hurried back up to the castle, running into Karkaroff in the process, and ran back up to Gryffindor Tower to meet Dad. Harry told him about the dream, how his name was entered and what he was to face in the first task but he had something more important to tell us; Karkaroff apparently was a Death Eater.

'And no one stops being a Death Eater,' he said seriously. 'He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got release. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place.'

'But I don't trust Moody,' I said. Dad and Harry looked at me. 'There's just something strange about him which I don't like, and I don't mean his swivelling eye.'

'Moody was an Auror,' said Sirius. 'You can trust him.'

Talk continued around Death Eaters and Moody, Dad even bringing up Rita Skeeter's article about him when he got attacked at home. Apparently he was the best Auror the Ministry ever had. Dad finally got on to the dragons but before he could suggest anything helpful, we heard footsteps come down the staircase and he vanished. It was Ron. Again, those two began to shout at each other and Ron turned to leave.

'Should've realised you didn't want to be disturbed,' he said, red-faced. 'I'll let you get on with practising for your next interview.'

Harry took one of the _POTTER REALLY STINKS_ badges that Colin and Denis Creevey had accidentally made from the _Potter Stinks_ badges and threw it at him. It hit Ron on the forehead.

'There you go,' said Harry, quite viciously. 'Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might ever get a scar now, if your lucky … that's what you want, isn't it?' and Harry stormed off leaving me and Ron in the common room. He looked at me.

I just said to him, 'You're as pathetic as each other.' and walked off up the girl's staircase.

Harry and Ron's fight was really having an effect on me and Hermione and I didn't know how much more I could take of switching sides between them. Hermione had almost had enough as well. And with Harry facing his dragon on Tuesday, whichever one it was, we needed to come up with a plan for him to beat it.

I fell asleep with one thought: _We're screwed!_

**

* * *

****AN: just like to mention i haven't forgotten about Malfoy being turned into a ferret, i just thought it'd be better placed the way it was in the film. i know some wouldnt agree but i had to try and keep the chapter down in size. hope you enjoyed it and plz, keep reviewing!**


	16. Dragons, Dates and Dance Lessons

Chapter 15

Dragons, Dates and Dance Lessons

That morning, Hermione and Harry went for another walk round the lake while I went and joined Ron at breakfast. But when I got there I noticed he was pale and rather flushed, not normal. I didn't think it was because I'd called him pathetic last night. I sat down with him and asked him what was wrong but he just shrugged me off, ignoring my question. Well, he was still talking to me at least.

After breakfast, we spent the day in the common room catching up on homework. Harry and Hermione weren't anywhere to be seen. I assumed he'd told her about what Dad had said last night and about the dragons and, hopefully, she'd got him moving into doing something about it.

Monday, and Herbology first so another lesson with more than just Ron ignoring Harry. I headed down to it with Seamus and Ron, listening to Seamus go on about how he didn't mean to blow things up (which he did regularly) when I saw Harry stalking over to us from across the grass courtyard where he'd just been talking to Cedric about something.

'You're a right foul git, you know that?' he said angrily to Ron. Ron's face paled even more than yesterday.

'You think so?' he asked. There was virtually no venom left in his voice though.

'I know so.'

'Anything else?'

'Yeah …' said Harry. 'Stay away from me.'

'Fine.' Ron stalked off past him with Seamus and down to Herbology.

Harry turned and walked back the way he came but I wasn't going to let him off that easily. I'd had enough of their petty, childish arguments and it was time someone put one of them in their place.

'Harry, that was really uncalled for!' I snapped at him, walking after him.

'Don't start, Jenna,' he replied warningly. I didn't care but before I could say anything else, the one person most unwelcome at that moment just had to speak up.

'Why so tense, Potter?' shouted Malfoy. Harry and I looked to our left to see him sitting in the tree with Crabbe and Goyle underneath. Harry ignored him and walked on as Malfoy continued. 'My Father and I have a bet, you see? I don't think you'll last ten minutes in this Tournament.' Harry stopped, me behind him. Malfoy jumped down from the tree. 'He disagrees. He thinks you won't last five.'

'I don't give a damn what your father thinks, Malfoy,' snarled Harry, walking over to him and shoving him backwards, regardless of me shouting at him to stop. 'He's vile and cruel. And you're just pathetic.'

Harry turned and walked past me again but Malfoy hadn't finished. Out the corner of my eye I saw him draw out his wand and point it at Harry. But before he could do anything, a gruff voice from the other side of the courtyard shouted, 'OH NO YOU DON'T LADDIE!' and next thing there was a yell and I saw was a pure white ferret where Malfoy had been. I just stared at it, trying hard not to laugh along with everyone else who'd seen it.

Professor Moody came stomping out into the courtyard behind Harry and I, wand pointing at the ferret so it started bouncing up and down.

'I'll teach you to curse someone when their back is turned,' he growled angrily. He kept dipping his wand up and down, making the ferret do so too. 'You stinking … cowardly … scummy …'

'Professor Moody!' Great, Professor McGonagall was going to ruin the fun. 'What are you doing?' Her eyes were following the floating ferret up and down as were Crabbe and Goyle's.

'Teaching,' growled Moody. Professor McGonagall looked at the ferret in horror.

'Is that – is that a student?' she said in horror.

'Technically it's a ferret.'

Moody flicked his wand once more and the ferret landed with a thump on the ground. A moment later, Malfoy had reappeared in a blurry spin and a loud snap, lying on the ground with a look of shock on his face. McGonagall had turned him back. He stood up shakily and stared around, his eyes turning on Moody.

'My Father will hear about this,' spat Malfoy, albeit shakily. But when Moody advanced on him, asking him if he was threatening him, Malfoy ran away like a scared little toddler, Crabbe and Goyle after him. It was hilarious. Professor McGonagall though didn't seem impressed.

'It doesn't end here!' Professor Moody yelled after him.

'Alastor!' Moody looked at Professor McGonagall. 'We _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment,' she said sternly, her eyes narrowed. 'Surely Dumbledore told you that?'

'He might have mentioned it,' shrugged Moody casually.

'Well you will do well to remember it,' said Professor McGonagall and she walked away, sending off the others there. What got me though was that Moody pulled a face as she walked off, before doing same. But not before he growled at Harry, 'You. Come with me.'

I watched as Harry walked off and was about to go back to Herbology (which I was already running late for) when I heard Moody growl, 'And you, Black! Two heads better than one!' So, I followed.

'Er – Professor, we're supposed to be in Herbology,' said Harry as we followed Moody.

'Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please …'

Harry and I walked into Moody's office which was behind the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. It had certainly changed a lot since when Lupin had been here. It was full of whirring machines and bits and bobs I'd never seen before which, as Moody explained once he'd sat down, were Dark detectors.

He had a Secrecy Sensor ('No use here, of course, too much interference – students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework.'), a Sneakoscope, and a large mirror apparently called a Foe-Glass. But it didn't reflect things; it had shadows lurking around inside it.

'See them out there, skulking around?' asked Moody, seeing me and Harry looking at it. 'I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk.'

Suddenly, the trunk, which until now had been quite still beside us, gave a terrible shudder and a yell came from inside it. Harry and I jumped.

'Wouldn't even bother telling you what's in there,' he shrugged. 'You wouldn't believe it if I did.'

Next, after taking out a small leather packing, unwrapping it, and pulling out his wand, he turned to Harry and asked about his dragon. He didn't care how he knew, just what he was going to do.

'Well, I'm not going to tell you,' said Moody gruffly. 'I don't show favouritism.'

I looked at him curiously when he said this. So what was he on about when I saw him and Hagrid in Hogsmeade? But when he asked Harry what he had planned, it turned out that he and Hermione hadn't found anything useful in the library yesterday. Moody wasn't impressed.

'Listen to me, Potter,' said Moody, kicking a seat forward for him to sit on. 'Your pal, Diggory? By your age he could turn a whistle into a watch and have it sing you the time. Miss Delacour? She's as much a fairy princess as I am. As for Krum. His head may be filled with sawdust, but Karkaroff's is not! They'll have a strategy. And you can bet it will play to Krum's strength. Hmm?

'First bit of advice –' he continued, '– _play to your strengths_. What are you best at?'

With a bit of encouragement, Harry managed to come up with Quidditch. He was right; he was really good at it and an excellent flier.

'Second piece of general of advice,' said Moody, interrupting Harry as he said the obvious thing that he was only allowed a wand, 'is to use a nice, simple spell which will enable you to _get what you need_.'

Bingo! It clicked straight away in my head. Harry needed the Summoning Charm, in order to summon his broomstick to him. That was how he'd beat the dragon. And by the looks of it, Harry had cottoned on too. We looked at each other, and I said quietly, 'The Summoning Charm.' and he nodded. Moody heard.

'Smart lass you got here, Potter.'

As soon as we got to Herbology, to which we were nearly half an hour late to, Harry and quickly found Hermione by a Flutterby Bush she was pruning and told her Harry needed to learn the Summoning Charm by Tuesday afternoon. Though sceptic, Hermione nodded.

While I kept Ron company, Harry and Hermione practiced all through lunch on trying to get the Charm right. I only saw him again when Divination started. I have to say his comment about Professor Trelawney's latest method of him dying was very funny, even Ron grinned a bit beside me.

'Well, that's good,' he'd said loudly, 'just as long as it's not drawn out, I don't want to suffer.'

After dinner, Hermione and Harry were practicing again and I agreed to wait up for him to help once everyone else had gone to bed. It was gone midnight when they returned and by two in the morning, and a lot of help from me and Hermione, Harry had got the Charm down to a fine art, being surrounded by various items around the common room. And luckily for him, Harry went to bed feeling better than he had done since his name came out the Goblet of Fire. Between us, Hermione and I had managed one thing, helping Harry to hopefully get past the first task; we still had one job to do though, get him and Ron friends again.

Time went unusually fast on Tuesday. One minute we were in History of Magic, being bored out of our minds as usual, the next, Harry was told by Professor McGonagall that he had to go down to the arena and get ready. Hermione and I both wished him luck before turning back to our lunch.

Once lunch was finished, Ron, Hermione and I made our way down to the arena along with the rest of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. There were still quite a few _Potter Stinks_ badges floating around on people's clothes (we were allowed out our robes for the task). The three of us headed to one of the higher rows in the arena, near to where Fred and George were taking bets (honestly!) and waited nervously for it to begin.

'Do you think Harry'll be all right?' Hermione and I looked at Ron then back at each other. He'd paled again and was looking very worried. Ron was finally looking as if he was on Harry's side.

'He'll be fine, Ron,' I assured him. I looked down into the arena as a whistle blew. 'He's got us supporting him … even if no one else is.'

Cedric was the first Champion to compete, dressed in special robes of Hufflepuff colours. He was facing the Swedish Short-Snout. I watched on tenterhooks as did the rest of the crowd as he transfigured a rock into a dog for the dragon chase. The crowed "ooh-ed" and gasped as one, especially when the dragon decided it wanted Cedric instead and he got burnt badly across the side of his face. After fifteen minutes or so, he'd got the egg.

Next was Fleur, dressed in a blue and silver tracksuit for Beauxbatons. She took ten minutes to get her egg. She remained in a sheltered place mainly, twiddling her wand back and forth as if she was trying to hypnotise her dragon, the Welsh Green. It worked rather well, that is until it snored and let out a jet of fire which set her trousers alight.

Krum was third, facing a Chinese Fireball, in his Champion Durmstrang robes of red and brown with the emblem on his grey shirt. And he hadn't even thought of flying like Harry had, and he was meant to be the best Seeker ever. He used a Conjunctivitis Curse, hitting it right between the eyes. But then it trod on some of its own eggs as he went to get the golden one. He took about eight minutes or so.

Lastly was Harry in a red version of Cedric's robes. Hermione and I both crossed our fingers, hoping his plan would work. We watched in fear as he came into the stone enclosure, fear turning to terror as he was knocked about several times by the Horntail's horned tail, being caught on his shoulder by one of the spikes, jets of fire being thrown at him too. And then we heard it, what Hermione and I had worked hard for him to get right; the Summoning spell.

Harry had managed to get to a sheltered piece of stone and we heard him yell, '_Accio Firebolt!_' We waited in anticipation, hoping, praying that we'd hear the sound of his broomstick coming towards him.

It worked! Above us, I spotted his Firebolt soaring towards the enclosure, just as Harry took cover from about blast of fire. A moment later, he'd come out from behind the rock and jumped on to it, soaring into the sky. Hermione and I cheered as hard as the rest of the crowd. Even Ron was cheering. He'd done it. Now, he just needed the egg.

Watching Harry and trying to ignore Bagman's commentary underneath the cheers and gasps, I watched as he duck and dove. It looked like he was playing it exactly like a Quidditch match. The dragon slowly became more agitated, rising up and breathing fire, trying to swat Harry away. After only five minutes, it spread its wings and Harry disappeared in a blur of red and black only to soar upwards again, clutching the egg in his undamaged arm.

'Look at that!' shouted Bagman's voice. 'Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg!' Hermione and I cheered in delight. Harry had done it!

Harry landed on the stony ground of the enclosure once the Horntail was subdued by the keepers and led away by Professors McGonagall and Moody and Hagrid. Instantly, Hermione, Ron and I ran down from the stands to go and congratulate him. But as we got into the tent where Madam Pomfrey was muttering furiously about dragons and healing the champions, I heard a voice calling me.

'Jenna!'

I stopped walking and looked back. It was Cedric. He was sitting in a cubicle next to Harry's with a nasty burn on the right side of his face. But he was still smiling. Feeling awkward, knowing I should go to Harry first but wanting to know what Cedric wanted, I walked over to him.

'Hi,' I said quietly to him so Harry couldn't hear. 'That's a pretty nasty burn you've got.'

'Oh, yeah,' he laughed. 'So, um, did you enjoy the show?'

Show? I wouldn't have called it a show. Terror pit maybe but … 'Yeah, it was … amazing to watch,' I said, trying to think of something to say but failing dismally. 'Look, I've got to go see Harry. Um, I'll see you later.' I was just about to walk away when –

'Jenna, wait,' said Cedric behind me. I rolled my eyes secretly and held in an internal groan, desperately wanting to get away. I turned round.

'Yeah?' Cedric stood up and pulled me into the cubicle.

'It's just that, I think you're really pretty and I really like you,' Cedric started, quite quickly, 'and was wondering if maybe you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?' he asked me quietly. I stared at him. He was … asking me out?

'Are you … asking me out?' I said, rather dumbly if I must say so. Cedric nodded. Oh my God! That explained so much. Why he kept appearing and saying "see you around" and stuff. Cedric had a crush on me. 'Um, Cedric …' I started, trying again to think of something to say, 'that's really sweet and I'm – I'm flattered really but …'

OK, now what do I say? I thought. I'd just been asked out for the first time and I was pretty speechless. First time for that too. No guy had ever treated me the way Cedric had. I was used to – to put it one way – "being one of the guys". I didn't know how to react! But deep down in me, I was torn between loyalty to Harry and not wanting to hurt Cedric's feelings. But I had to say something.

'But?' I heard Cedric ask as this battle went through my head. I looked at him.

'But …' I started slowly, 'you're not my type, not that I even know what my type is yet.' I laughed a bit as I said that. Even he did. 'I'm fourteen and this is the first time I've been asked out. You really caught me off guard. Sorry, Cedric, you're really nice but I don't even know you that well so … no thanks. I don't want to go out with you.'

Cedric stared at me for a few seconds before saying, 'OK, that's your choice.' He leant down (he was taller than me), his hand on one cheek raising my face and he gently kissed the other. 'Thanks for being honest.'

Now I knew I blushed, something rare for me. Not many guys _had_ made me blush, apart from that one I ran into a few weeks ago. Anyway, before I left, I added, 'There is something you can do for me though.' Cedric looked at me. 'Tell your friends to leave off Harry and get rid of the badges. Please?'

'No problem.'

I gave Cedric one last smile and walked out of his cubicle. My hand instantly touched the place he'd kissed my cheek and I let out a short laugh. Cedric Diggory, a seventeen year old, a _Hogwarts_ _Champion_, fancied me. Whatever next?

Still thinking about this, I walked over to Harry's cubicle to see him and Ron talking.

'… so it was really me all along,' said Ron. 'I thought we'd be all right, you know … after you'd figured that out.'

'Who –? Who could possibly figure that out?' asked Harry. 'That's completely mental.'

I went and stood next to Hermione who breathed quietly to me, '_Boys_!' and she walked out almost in tears. I had to agree; boys were complicated. Next, I stepped forwards and put my arms round both their shoulders, looking between them.

'You two made up, then?' I asked them, grinning. They grinned back.

'Yeah,' they both said. And the three of us started laughing.

After all that, Harry, Ron and I went back outside to the enclosure to get Harry's marks. He got eight from Madame Maxime, nine from Mr Crouch, nine from Dumbledore, _ten_ from Bagman, and lastly, four from Karkaroff. Ron was outraged by that but Harry told him it didn't matter. Harry was in joint first place with Krum. Harry was then called back to the tent and me and Ron waited for him to come out and go back to the castle.

When he did so, the moment we headed off who should jump out of the bushes but Rita Skeeter, an acid green quill in her hand blending in with her acid green robes. She quickly congratulated Harry on his performance, then quickly adding, 'I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel _now_ about the fairness of the scoring?'

'Yeah, you can have a word,' said Harry, sarcastically. '_Goodbye_.' and the three of us walked off with Ron giving a blow-by-blow account of what the other champions did.

That afternoon, after Harry had sent Pigwidgeon off with a letter to Dad, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I returned to the Tower where Harry was greeted like a true hero. They'd thrown a party for him getting through the first task. It looked like Fred and George had gone down to the kitchens and nicked a lot of food, something Hermione seemed very interested in. Just before that though, Harry had opened the egg so everyone could see what the clue was, only to shut it seconds later when a horrible, loud screeching came from it. _Good luck figuring out what that meant, Harry_, I thought.

December came and so school was finally drawing to a close. Lessons weren't being made easier though. Especially Care of Magical Creatures when Hagrid had the idea to get us to see if the Skrewts hibernated … which they didn't. Most of the class ran into Hagrid's hut, including Malfoy, when they blew up the boxes we put them in; Harry, Ron, me, Hermione, Dean and Seamus remained outside trying to help catch them again. That was when Rita Skeeter came along. She was trying to get another interview with Harry but settled on one with Hagrid. We kept trying to warn him not to but how do you do that without her noticing?

Divination followed and it was much more bearable now I had both Harry and Ron to sit with instead of just one. A previous piece of homework we'd done where the two of them predicted various ways to die seemed to impress Trelawney but she got irritated when they sniggered through her explanation of Pluto disrupting everyday life.

That evening, Hermione wasn't at dinner and it was only when the three of us had got back to the Tower that we found her, only to be dragged off back down to the Entrance Hall, down another passageway and to one where a portrait of a fruit bowl hang; it was the entrance to the kitchens. Once inside, I saw what must have been at least fifty, maybe more, house-elves bustling about. And in amongst it all, wearing a tea cosy, a tie, kid's football shorts and odd socks, was Dobby, the house-elf Harry had told us about in the second year.

Turned out that Dobby now worked for Dumbledore in the kitchens and was paid a Galleon a week for his services. And he wasn't the only one there. Winky, Mr Crouch's disgraced house-elf was sitting by the fire in a skirt, blouse and blue hat and she looked dreadful. She howled and wailed and cried for virtually all the time we were there. And when she was told she didn't have to keep her old master's secrets, she called Dobby a bad house-elf. She was even more angry when we mentioned Bagman.

After seeing them, we headed back to the Tower, Ron and Harry with their pockets filled with cakes. Hermione was very pleased that Dobby had come to Hogwarts. She said he was an example to the other house-elves in the fact they could be happy without being enslaved. She just hoped they paid more attention to him rather than Winky.

Three days later, Professor McGonagall had an announcement for us in Transfiguration, once she'd told Harry and Ron off for playing with a tin parrot and rubber haddock. Apparently, in honour of the Triwizard Tournament, there was to be the Yule Ball on Christmas Day for the fourth year and above and dance lessons were available to those who wanted them once term had ended. I swallowed. I knew what this meant. Dates and dancing, both of which I didn't do.

Leaving Transfiguration with Hermione because Ron had waited for Harry while McGonagall talked to him, we'd just reached the changing staircase to go up to the Tower when I heard someone calling my name. It was Cho Chang, a fifth year girl in Ravenclaw who was Seeker in the Quidditch team. But what did she want with me?

'Are you Jenna Black?' she asked, running up to me. I glanced at Hermione, then said, 'Yeah, I am. Can I help you with something, Cho?'

'Can I talk to you for a minute?' Cho asked me quietly. I glanced at Hermione again and nodded. Cho led me into a deserted corridor. Next, she started, still quietly, 'Jenna, I was wondering if there was … is there anything going on between you and Cedric.' Hold on, where was this going?

'Cedric?' I repeated. 'Cedric Diggory? There's nothing between me and Cedric.'

'Really?' asked Cho, looking at me. 'There's nothing between you two?'

'Unless you count taking the same Portkey to the World Cup,' I said, thinking back. 'And um, he did ask me out after the first task but … nothing really. We're just friends.' I looked at Cho. 'Why? Do you fancy him?'

Cho blushed, giggled nervously and nodded. 'I just didn't want to do anything if he was with you. I'd heard from a couple girls he'd asked you out.'

'Seriously, Cho,' I said, smiling. 'There's nothing between us. You're welcome to him if he asks you to the Yule Ball or something.' At the time, I'd completely forgotten Harry had a crush on Cho, honest! I'd never deliberately do that to him. 'I'm really not sure what Cedric even saw in me.' Cho laughed and smiled.

'Thanks, Jenna. Well, see you later.' I returned the farewell and walked off.

As the week progressed and the end of term drew nearer, I found myself being bombarded with guys asking me to the Yule Ball whenever I was with Hermione or on my own. And every one of them, I turned down. I was sort of waiting to see if a particular someone would ask me to go … Hermione kept telling me I was ridiculous turning down all those guys when some were actually quite cute. By Wednesday, I'd almost had enough and resorted to hiding in the library. But even there wasn't safe. Krum had been in the library many times according to Hermione and each time he had his group of fans hiding just behind the bookcase where he sat.

On the Wednesday before term finished, when Hermione and I were out in courtyard checking our notes on Antidotes for Potions on Friday, we heard a pair of footsteps approaching us. Looking up, it was Krum and one of his fellow Durmstrang students, a tall boy with black hair, bushy eyebrows and the beginnings of a beard, both dressed in their full brown fur uniform.

Hermione and I remained silent as they stood in front of us. Next, they seemed to go on to the balls of their feet before bowing to us. We looked at each other, both quite stunned. Then Krum took Hermione's hand and said, 'Vould you please come to the Ball vith me?' That was the first time we'd ever heard him talk. Hermione looked at me, even more stunned but I just nodded her on.

'Er, yes,' she replied to him. 'I'll go to the Ball with you.' Krum smiled at her and kissed her hand. Oh my God, how sweet. But it didn't stop there.

His friend, after Krum had asked Hermione, took my hand and repeated, 'Vould you please come to the Ball vith me?' OK, I wasn't expecting that. Glancing at Hermione, she seemed to be saying "do it". But the guy I wanted still hadn't asked me. Still, residing myself to the fact the guy I wanted to ask me probably won't, I looked back at the boy and said, 'Only if you tell me your name first.'

'My name is Elijah,' he replied. Elijah, I repeated again in my head. Hmm, nice name.

'All right, Elijah,' I said. 'I'll go to the Ball with you.'

He smiled and kissed my hand also. I guess that was a Durmstrang thing. Next, they both bowed again and walked away, acting like usual guys and chatting to each other in Bulgarian very fast. To our left though, Hermione and I heard Krum's fan club muttering furiously to each other. We just grinned and walked off.

Ron and Harry didn't have as much luck as us as we found out when they were talking to Hagrid in our last Care of Magical Creatures lesson. They still hadn't got dates. Well, they were being rather shallow so it served them right. It really insulted me and Hermione when Ron said Eloise Midgeon's nose was off centre when she was a really nice person.

'Oh, I see,' said Hermione, bristling. 'So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?'

'Er – yeah, that sounds about right,' said Ron. Hermione just stormed off to bed after that; I'd think she'd taken it more than just personally.

Friday though was the worst day ever. All of a sudden on the way up to the Great Hall for lunch, the seam of my multicoloured shoulder bag ripped and my books fell out of the base. It was already quite old, I'd had it since the first year, and was made of a furry cloth material.

'Damn it!' I muttered furiously. This was not my day what with the stinker of a Potions test earlier.

Bending down and dropping the rest of my bag on to the floor, I started to gather up my books, quill and parchment. I didn't even hear the person in front of me say, 'Here, let me help you.' let alone see him start to pick up my things until I felt a hand touch mine and I looked up.

It was him! The brown-haired boy I'd run into back in November! I hadn't seen him for weeks even though we were in the same house. I instantly withdrew my hand and stood up. He stood up too and handed me back my Potions textbook and a few bits of parchment.

'Thanks,' I said, taking it back.

'No problem,' he replied, smiling. I felt myself blush but smiled back, even if nervously. What was it about this guy that kept making me smile like this? 'Do you want some help fixing your bag?' he asked next.

'Oh, no thanks, I got it,' I said. I pulled out my wand and tapped the base, saying the spell, and it fixed itself. 'See?'

'Yeah.' He gave a soft chuckle. 'You don't seem to have much good luck.'

'You don't seem to know me that well,' I countered, smiling a less nervous smile now.

'Bet I know more about you than you know about me.' Oh yeah? I was up for a challenge. 'Let's see,' he continued, raising his eyebrows and looking up and down me. 'You hang around with two guys and a girl … keep getting in trouble … and your name's Jenna.'

I stared at him. 'Fine, you win,' I shrugged. 'You know more about me than I do you. But now you've got to tell me _how_ you know that.'

'Cause you hang around with that Harry Potter,' he replied. 'You're one of the girls who got taken down into the Chamber of Secrets and you got attacked by Dementors last year along with that murderer.'

I felt a twinge in my stomach as he mentioned my Dad but covered it by saying, 'Word really spreads fast here.' He nodded. 'I guess I owe you thanks for helping me but I still don't know _your_ name or what year you're in.'

'Noah,' said Noah. He held out his hand. 'Noah Oakley, fifth year.'

'Jenna Black, fourth,' I replied, shaking his hand. But as I did so, I got one of those mental flashes I occasionally had. And it wasn't like one I'd had before.

_The secret passageway between the fourth and seventh floor … a seventh year boy kissing a sixth year girl … another walking in on them … hurt crossing over the new arrival's face …_

I took away my hand and looked up at Noah.

'Anyway …' I continued, thinking carefully about what I'd just seen and leaving the sentence open.

'Anyway,' repeated Noah. 'So you staying for the Yule Ball?'

'Yeah. You?'

'Yeah. Still need a date though.' He looked at me again, quite coyly as well. 'Don't s'pose a girl like you might still need a date and wouldn't mind going with me?'

I let out a short laugh and smile at him. 'Sorry, Noah, you're a little late. I got asked a few days ago.' He didn't seem quite bashed by this. But taking into account what I'd just seen, I added, 'But I still owe you for the two times you've help me. So how about I owe you a dance instead?'

'Deal,' laughed Noah. We shook hands again to seal it. 'I look forward to it, Miss Black.'

So did I. So did I.

After coming back from dinner that night and hearing that Harry had asked Cho who told him she was going with Cedric (oops) and Ron had asked Fleur, they were desperate and Ron said to Hermione and I, 'You're girls.'

'Oh, well spotted,' said Hermione acidly. We were still annoyed about what they said before.

'What was it that gave us away?' I asked sarcastically, equally as annoyed. 'The long hair or the higher voices?'

'Well – you can come with either of us!' said Ron, pointing at him and Harry. Oh, sure! Now they ask us! It's not like we're invisible to them!

'We can't,' said Hermione shrilly. 'Because we're already going with someone else!'

'No, you're not!' said Ron. 'You just said that to get rid of Neville.'

'Oh, _did I_?' said Hermione. Her eyes flashed. I'd never seen her so angry. 'Just because it's taken _you_ three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one _else_ has spotted I'm a girl!' and she stalked off. Ron just shrugged and turned to me.

'So want to come with me or Harry?' I glared at him.

'As Hermione said,' I replied angrily. 'I've already got a date.' and I stalked off as well.

Despite the homework and the remarks from Ron about continually badgering us to tell him who we were both going with, the Christmas holidays were fun. The castle was beautifully decorated as always (only Fleur seemed to complain) and the grounds were covered in thick snow. We also got a letter from Dad saying well done to Harry for getting through the first task.

The dance lessons, now they were a hoot. McGonagall was taking the Gryffindor ones and she gave us a whole lecture about how we were not to ruin the name of Godric Gryffindor by acting like a 'babbling, bumbling band of baboons!' She even got Ron up to demonstrate with her. The actual dancing though, I was not keen on. I got partnered with Harry (great!) and so had to practice with him each lesson, especially since he was opening the Ball (ha!) and needed to dance. But on the last one, _Noah_ asked me if he could dance with me (ooh-er!) and I left Harry standing alone while I practiced with him. Serves him right for trying to ask me last minute.

On Christmas day, I woke to find a small pile of presents at the foot of my bed and me, Hermione, Parvati and Lavender or sat opening them and (the other three) talking about the Ball tonight and discussing what they were wearing. I just got on with my presents. The rest of the day we spent outside with Harry, Ron and the other Weasleys who'd stayed having a snowball fight which Hermione kept out of. But at five o'clock, she got hold of me and dragged my wet self back to the castle.

'What, you need three hours?' shouted Ron after us. I had to agree.

Turns out we needed them, considering what Hermione wanted to do with both me and herself. Parvati and Lavender were also with us. After getting out our dress robes (I cringed when I saw mine; they'd been in the bottom of my trunk since I found them), Hermione shoved me into the bathroom to have a shower and clean myself up from the snowball fight. After that, she used a Hot Air Charm on both our hair, drying it, then took out two Muggle tools from her trunk.

'What are those?' I asked her, eyeing them warily.

'One's a curling iron, the other's a straightening tong,' replied Hermione. But Muggle stuff didn't work in Hogwarts, she knew that. 'I just need to put a Power-Supply spell on them and they can heat up and we can do our hair.'

They actually worked pretty well for Muggle appliances. Firstly, I straightened Hermione's hair for her, making it much longer than it usually looks, before taking a copy of _Witch Weekly_ and copying the hair spell she wanted doing; I twisted the majority up into an elegant bun and left a small section curly and hanging over her shoulder. Then she did mine. She took her curling iron and took separate sections of my long hair and curled each one; after that she copied another hair spell in the magazine for me so half my hair was pinned up, sections falling from it, and the other half loose, my red streaks weaving in and out of it. I have to say it didn't look that bad.

Next was makeup and jewellery. Hermione insisted putting a pale red eye shadow on my eyes and mascara before doing the same on herself but with powder blue. She also placed some body glitter by my eyes as she said it was my best feature. Jewellery wise, I had a red necklace Hermione had given me for Christmas and some red feather earrings. Hermione had blue flower earrings.

Finally, at about half past seven, we put on our dress robes. I had some trouble doing my up behind my neck without ruining my hair but with some help, we were ready. Hermione disappeared to meet Krum leaving me in the dormitory, seeing as Parvati and Lavender had gone down to meet Harry, Ron and Seamus. But without Hermione to make me do this, I nearly pulled out my hair and took of my dress.

Thinking Hermione would kill me if I did so, I quickly put on my heels (you had to be kidding me, how do you walk in these things?) and hurried out the dormitory.

I walked down the changing stairs as quickly and as carefully as I could in the ridiculous shoes I had to wear. When I reached the marble staircase I stopped and looked out from behind the corner to see almost everyone had gone in, only a few remaining in the Entrance Hall with the Champions including the Durmstrang, Elijah, my date. He was next to Krum and Hermione. Both he and Krum were wearing red dress robes with a fur cape over one shoulder. Harry and Parvati were at the foot of the stairs.

Braving my nerves about being seen like this, I walked down the stairs. Parvati obviously heard me coming seeing as she turned round to face me. Her eyes widened when she saw me and I heard her mumble, 'She looks beautiful!'

'Yeah, she does,' muttered Harry beside her.

He wasn't facing the stairs (luckily) but a few seconds later, he turned round when he realised Parvati wasn't talking about Cho in front of them. I swallowed and continued down the stairs, a small nervous smile on my face. Harry had never seen me in a dress before. He smiled back though for some reason he was staring at me. I guess he was lost for words or something.

'Hi,' I said quietly when I reached the bottom.

'Hi,' said Harry. It wasn't like the usual "hi" he gave me. It was more … hesitant or something. 'Jenna, you look – amazing.' I knew then that I blushed.

'Thanks. Scrub up pretty well for a tomboy. You look pretty good yourself,' I added. Just then, I heard Professor McGonagall call all remaining students into the Great Hall so the Champions could get ready. 'I've got to go,' I said to Harry. 'Got to meet my date.' and I walked away.

Elijah walked over to me a second later, taking my hand and kissing it before offering me his arm. Hermione grinned at me as I walked in with him. The Great Hall had been majorly transformed. It looked like an ice palace. The long tables had been replaced by large circular ones apart from the teacher's table; there was a dance floor in front of that; and an orchestra was set up just to the right.

A few minutes after the last people were inside, the doors reopened and in walked the four champions and their partners as we all clapped; Fleur and Roger Davies first, followed by Krum and Hermione (she looked so beautiful), then Cedric and Cho, and Harry and Parvati brought up the rear. He looked so uncomfortable, even more when the orchestra started playing and the waltzing began.

I watched as each partner danced together. Krum and Hermione were definitely the best. Every so often people clapped them and the teachers joined in. Dumbledore led McGonagall on to the floor; Hagrid and Madame Maxime cut a wide area around them near the edge; Moody and Professor Sinistra were doing a weird two-step together. Next moment, I felt Elijah pull me forwards and we were one of the first couples on to the dance floor. It was weird dancing with him, but I enjoyed it, even when he did pick me up as the dance showed. Soon, other couples joined in and the floor was full.

As soon as the first dance was over, we went to assigned tables as the champions went with the judges to the head table at the top of the Hall. The feast was brilliant, we actually had to order our food with a menu! The only problem for me though was I was sat at the Durmstrang table and I was the only fourth year with them so I had no one to talk to; Hermione was at the top with Krum.

After the meal, the band The Weird Sisters came out on a stage which magically replaced the teacher's table at the top of the Hall. Krum and Hermione found me and Elijah almost instantly (thank you, Hermione!) and we dance together to _Do the Hippogriff_. It was totally manic as the boys twirled Hermione and I round to the rock song. We were both laughing madly. Elijah and Krum had ditched their fur capes.

When the song had finished, both Elijah and Krum led us off the floor to get drinks. It was really hot. Before they disappeared, they kissed our hands again! Hermione was in a daze as they left and we noticed Ron and Harry, and Padma, sitting alone on a table. We went over and joined them, Hermione sitting on my lap seeing as there was one seat, only to have Ron bite our heads off.

'What's got your wand in a knot?' I asked him as he declined the offer to join us for drinks.

'They're from Durmstrang!' he spat at us. 'He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You're – you're _fraternizing with the enemy!_'

'The enemy!' both of us gasped.

'Don't be so stupid!' continued Hermione angrily. 'Honestly! Who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph! Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory! The whole point of this Tournament is international, magical cooperation, to make friends!'

'He's using you,' said Ron. 'I think he's got more than friendship on his mind.'

Hermione stood up and walked away. So did I. I wasn't in the mood to hear Ron being all childish again.

Unfortunately for me though, Ron was right. After I left him and Harry, Elijah pulled me over to sit with him as we had our drinks. And the first thing he asked me, not tactfully I might add, was about the Tournament and if Harry knew what was coming next. Truth be told, I didn't know; Harry hadn't really touched that egg since he opened it after the first task.

'Does Viktor know you're doing this?' I asked, slightly outraged.

'No,' replied Elijah, casually. 'I just vant to help him more forwards. Bring a vin home for Durmstrang.'

'Well,' I said, placing down my Butterbeer and standing up, 'I'm afraid you're going to have to find someone else for answers. I'd _never_ do that to Harry. And if Viktor asks why you're alone now, you can tell him it's because you were trying to cheat him through the Tournament.'

And I walked away … only to once again walk right into the back of another student and fall over in the stupid heels. Looking up, I saw it was Noah.

'Hey,' he said, turning round and helping me up.

I smiled, brushed myself down and said, 'Hi.' back. But his eyes wandered up and down me.

'Wow,' breathed Noah. 'You look stunning. You're beautiful.' I blinked. No one had ever called me beautiful before. I couldn't help but smile that smile he always brought to my face. 'I was actually hoping to run into you,' he continued, 'not that way but, I was wondering if I could have my dance yet.'

Oh, yeah, I owed him a dance. Just then, _Magic Works_, a slower song of The Weird Sisters started. 'Yeah,' I replied, smiling. 'I'd love to dance with you. But, what about your date?'

'Oh, she went off with another guy,' shrugged Noah. 'She was from Beauxbatons so, shallow as hell.' I let out a small laugh.

'Better than mine,' I said. 'Mine was trying to find out what Harry was doing for the next task.'

'Ouch … So, you want to dance?' I nodded.

Noah smiled and took my hand, leading me to the dance floor. Next, he gently wrapped his arms round my waist and, copying those around me, I put my round his neck. As we gently swayed to the music, slowly spinning in a circle, I could feel his breath gently tickling my neck, his hands lightly gripping me around my lower back. It felt so weird, like nothing I'd ever experienced before. And when the music ended, I just gazed up into his hazel eyes.

'Thanks,' I said quietly. 'That was really nice.'

'I'm glad you enjoyed it,' said Noah happily. Next, he glanced round the emptying Hall. 'Don't s'pose you want to head back to the Tower. Ditch these guys?'

I glanced round the Hall too. Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen and Hermione was dancing with Krum.

'Yeah, let's get out of here.'

I left the Great Hall with Noah, his arm round my shoulders. When we got back up to the Tower (I had to take my shoes off halfway) he sat down in a chair and pulled me on to his lap so I had my legs going sideways over his and he said, 'Now, tell me about your awful date and I'll tell you about mine and we can see whose was worse.'

I couldn't help but laugh again. Noah was a type of guy I'd never encountered before. And I adored his company even if we were a year apart and rarely saw each other. (We didn't speak to each other again till sixth year though. I'll get to that later). But I hadn't forgotten the flash I'd got when I shook his hand. Maybe there was to be something between us when I was to be in my sixth year. Who knew?

We spent the next half an hour or so just talking and laughing about our terrible dates. His was completely shallow and ditched him after the first dance, not even hanging around for the feast, and he agreed with me that my date was a complete prick.

'He doesn't deserve you,' said Noah simply. 'Way too good.'

I looked at him when he said this, but I didn't have time to question him because Hermione and Ron burst through the portrait hole, shouting at each other.

'How dare you!' shouted Hermione, almost in tears. 'Besides I can take care of myself.'

'Doubt it,' shrugged Ron. 'He's way too old.' I continued to watch from my position on Noah's lap. 'You and Jenna were being used by them.' I let out a "humph" at that. It annoyed me that Ron was right about one of us. Krum wouldn't use Hermione.

'What?' gasped Hermione. 'What? That's what you think?'

'Yeah, that is what I think.'

'You know the solution then, don't you?' snapped Hermione.

'Go on,' said Ron. By now, Harry had come into the common room as well. I'd seen him walk in and look at them before looking at me. I saw his eyes darken when he looked at me. What on earth –?

'Next time there's a ball, you and Harry pluck up the courage and ask me and Jenna before somebody else does,' shouted Hermione, 'and not as a last resort!'

As Ron let out peculiar noises and noticed Harry, Hermione ran up crying to the girls dormitory. I, however, was feeling uncomfortable on Noah's lap and not because he wasn't comfy. Hermione had said both Harry and Ron and her and me. I felt a horrible squirm in my stomach. That was when I noticed Noah looking at me.

'You OK?' he asked.

'Yeah.' I got up off his lap and stood up. So did Noah. 'I better go and see if Hermione's OK.'

'Yeah,' agreed Noah, nodding. 'You do that. You're a good friend to her.' He leant down and gave me a kiss on the cheek. 'Goodnight, Jenna.'

Feeling slightly dazed, slightly not completely, I said, 'Goodnight.' and walked past Harry and Ron upstairs.

I found Hermione lying on her bed, crying, with her bed curtains drawn. I felt so sorry for her. Deciding it was best not to disturb her, I got out of my dress and into my pyjamas and went to bed.

* * *

**AN: thx for reading and keep letting me know what you think by leaving me a review!**


	17. Through Murky Waters

Chapter 16

Through Murky Waters

That night, I lay awake for a few hours, still pondering over what Hermione had said. I couldn't get it out of my head. When Harry saw Noah and I together in the common room, his eyes narrowed so unnaturally as he stared at us. Plus, at the Ball itself, when he saw me come down the stairs he couldn't help but stare at me slightly. I shook my head, sighed, and rolled over on my bed, finally falling asleep but still thinking about what had happened and about Harry. I couldn't stop thinking about him for some reason.

But what happened that night really scared me. I remember having a dream, a really weird one. I was standing in a graveyard, not alone but I couldn't see who was with me. I could hear this raspy voice speaking.

_Kill the spares! _it said. Then, Wormtail was standing at the door of a house, staring at me and this other person. He had his wand drawn. _Avada Ked_—

I sat up in my bed as a flash of green light headed straight for me, panting. I could feel a cold sweat on my face and body, my head pounding. Looking around, I saw Parvati and Lavender had come to bed and they and Hermione were all asleep. Still shocked, I lay back down and tried to go back to sleep, eventually managing it. It was so weird. It had been like one of the flashes I got, but I hadn't touched anything so what was it …?

The next day, Hermione was up quite early and I found her down in the common room considering she woke me up and everyone else was asleep. Apart from Ron's little outburst she and Krum had a lovely time at the Yule Ball. She also asked how my date went and I told her about what Elijah did. She just shook her head, mumbled, '_Boys!_' then asked me about the guy I was with in the common room.

'He's just a friend I owed a dance for helping me,' I said simply, wanting to get off the subject.

When Ron and Harry finally came down we had breakfast together (Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached a silent agreement about last night) then returned to the common room so the boys could catch on the homework they hadn't done while telling us what they had overheard last night.

Apparently, the two of them had overheard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime out in the grounds last night that he was part giant. I couldn't believe it but it made sense; I'd always wondered why Hagrid was as big as he was. Hermione seemed to agree with me and wasn't that surprised apart from the hysteria about giants.

The rest of the holidays was spent doing any homework that wasn't done (we only had a week before school started) and Harry finally dug out his egg and started trying to work out the clue. We could hear it wailing down in the common room, it was that loud! Every afternoon after lunch we would hear its screams and the same again in the Tower after supper. It was a bit annoying actually but least he was working on it.

But the first day of school turned out to be a bit of a surprise. We had Care of Magical Creatures after Herbology but when we got there, Hagrid wasn't. It was some woman with short grey hair who went by the name of Professor Grubbly-Plank. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other. Where was Hagrid? But the lesson was actually the best Care of Magical Creatures lesson I'd had. Grubbly-Plank had managed to get a fully-grown unicorn and so all the girls were able to stroke it while the boys remained out the paddock. It was a much better lesson than any than Hagrid had done.

Of course, there was a reason to why Hagrid wasn't there which Harry and Ron had found out from Malfoy. At lunch after the lesson, Harry shoved a newspaper article from the _Daily Prophet_ which Malfoy had given him in front of me and Hermione. Skeeter had found out Hagrid was half-giant as well and had written a terrible article about him. Somehow she had found out as well. Harry was determined though that we had to see him. So we did.

After dinner the four of us went down to Hagrid's but no matter how much we banged on the door, it didn't open. We could tell he was in there because Fang was whining and barking from behind the door but he wouldn't respond.

'Surely he doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?' I asked as we stood there in the snow. By the looks of it, he did.

For the rest of the next two weeks, Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take our Care of Magical Creatures lessons and though we would never admit it to Harry, Hermione and I thought they were a blessing in disguise. But Malfoy kept stirring things as usual, laughing about Hagrid's … _half-breed_ status (I hate that!). I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, knowing under the Ministry I was considered that as well.

In the middle of January, there was another Hogsmeade weekend to which we took advantage of, hoping to see Hagrid out and about. Hermione thought Harry should take the advantage of an empty common room to work on the egg but he said he'd got an idea of what was coming. _Really_, I thought sceptically. Before we left, we did see Krum jumping into the lake in nothing but swimming trunks and I couldn't help think, Is he mad? Course, Ron didn't really care.

Back to Hogsmeade, we searched everywhere we could think of for Hagrid but considering he's such a huge man, you'd think we'd see him instantly if he was there. But he wasn't. Lastly we searched the Three Broomsticks for him. It was as crowded as always but he wasn't there either. As we went up to get ourselves some Butterbeers, we noticed Ludo Bagman was there in a corner with some goblins.

'Doesn't he _ever_ go into the office?' asked Hermione, pointing at him.

Unluckily for Harry, Bagman spotted him and asked for a word so Hermione, Ron and I went and grabbed a table on the other side of the room. We watched as Bagman spoke to him, his face changing every so often with the conversation, until Harry came back over to us when Bagman left. Turns out he was trying to give Harry help again. Hermione did not approve of that, especially since he wasn't helping Cedric as well.

But then someone very unwelcome entered the pub: Rita Skeeter herself. She was talking rather loudly with her paunchy photographer about just seeing Bagman leaving with the goblins in tow, trying to come up with an article about how he was up to something. She only noticed us when Harry said loudly, 'Trying to ruin someone else's life?'

She came over to our table and was beaming when she saw Harry. But when she asked him for an interview from him to tell her readers about the Hagrid _we_ knew, taking out her acid green Quick-Quotes Quill, he flatly refused as the whole pub went quite. Hermione put in her opinion, standing up and telling Skeeter she was a horrible woman but only to be called a "silly little girl" and she didn't know what she was on about. That made Hermione extremely mad and we left the pub, Skeeter's Quill zooming across some parchment afterwards.

'She'll be after you next, Hermione,' warned Ron as we hurried after her. Hermione didn't care though.

'Hagrid isn't going to hide anymore!' she shouted shrilly as we walked up the High Street. 'He should _never_ have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come _on_!'

Harry, Ron and I chased after her all the way back up to the castle, through the snowy grounds and over to Hagrid's hut. His curtains were still drawn but that didn't stop Hermione banging on his door and shouting through it that we didn't care about him being a half-giant and he shouldn't listen to that Skeeter woman. The door finally opened but we taken by surprise when Professor Dumbledore opened the door.

After letting us in we saw Hagrid looked terrible. His eyes were all swollen from tears, his beard was even wilder than before, and what we could see of his face was all blotchy. We explained to him that we didn't care about what he was and he shouldn't listen to Rita Skeeter. Even Dumbledore agreed with us, telling him we were proof of what he'd been saying and about the letters he'd received from parents who remembered Hagrid.

'Yeh – yeh're not half-giant!' he sobbed croakily.

To that, Harry said, 'Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives! Look at the Dursleys!'

'And look at me,' I added. I gritted my teeth and just said it. 'I've got a werewolf for an Uncle and I'm a half-breed myself!' Hagrid looked up at me. So did Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore. Dumbledore though did not seem surprised. 'I'm a Feramorph, or rare Animagus. But whatever you call it, I'm still a half-breed in the eyes of the Ministry and I don't care! So neither should you!'

'An excellent point,' said Dumbledore. And he told us that his brother Aberforth had been prosecuted for using inappropriate charms on a goat. That was just weird.

After Dumbledore left, adding that he wasn't going to accept Hagrid's resignation and expected to see him at the staff table for breakfast on Monday, the four of us managed to persuade to Hagrid to come back to work. While we were there he also showed us a picture of his dad (he had the same black eyes) and told us about him. It was quite sweet actually. Before we too left, Hagrid gave Harry a cheerful smile, said he reminded him a bit of himself, and that he knew he was going to win the Tournament.

It was great seeing Hagrid back to his normal self. Brilliant!

January finally turned into February and the second task drew nearer. And as I'd suspected when he told Hermione that he had an idea about the egg, Harry was no closer to working out the clue than Dad was to being proven innocent.

The Thursday three weeks before the task, I'd gone out into the grounds after lessons and seen him on the bridge looking very thoughtful. I decided to go over to talk to him but not before I heard other voices. In the sheltered corridor around the courtyard, I saw Professor Moody talking to Cedric. Again, curiosity got the better of me and, checking no one would see, I transformed into a small bird and flew up on to the roof above them.

'Worked out the clue, Diggory?' Moody growled at him.

'Oh, yes, Sir,' replied Cedric, polite as usual.

'And did you tell Potter?' Moody continued.

_Tell Harry what?_ I wondered. I hopped a little further to the edge of the roof and fluttered down on to the curve of stone just below so I could see them. Moody had his back to me while Cedric was facing the empty stone windows.

'Yes, Sir,' Cedric had replied as I did so. 'I told him after the Yule Ball but I don't know if he took my advice.'

'Well, ask him so,' growled Moody. 'Can't not pay him back for telling you about those dragons.' and Moody stomped off.

Wondering what all that was about, I flew off from my perch and through the arch on to the bridge. Harry was still there, looking out over the grounds, his scarf blowing over the wooden side. Seeing no one was there, I transformed back with my feet hitting the ground beside him. He jumped and looked up at me.

'I thought Lupin said you weren't to do that here?' he asked me.

I rolled my eyes and said, 'And since when did I do what Lupin told me to do?' Harry tried to say something at that but came up with nothing and looked back out to the grounds. I remained silent for a few seconds before turning to face the same way, leaning on the wall. 'How's the egg going?' I asked eventually.

Harry didn't answer straight away but as he knew it was useless lying to me, he said, 'I haven't got anywhere with the egg.' I looked at him.

'Harry, you told Hermione you'd figured the egg out weeks ago,' I said, trying not to sound like Hermione. 'The task is three weeks from now.'

'Really?' asked Harry, sarcastically. 'I had no idea.' Then he changed the subject by saying, 'How come you're not with that Durmstrang from the Ball?'

Excuse me? Where'd that come from?

'That Durmstrang,' I started, quite tetchily, 'for your information … was using me.' Harry glanced at me. I sighed. 'Ron was right. He only wanted to know what you were doing for the task. I told him he should shove it, I would never do that to you.' Harry smiled, the first smile I'd seen in a while. I smiled back. 'Don't tell Ron. He'd just love it if he was right … for once.' Both of us laughed albeit quietly. 'But Krum's not using Hermione. He genuinely likes her.'

'What about that guy you were with in the common room?' asked Harry.

'Noah?' I said, surprised. Why would Harry bring him up? I hadn't spoken to him, let alone seen him, since the Ball. 'I haven't seen him since the Ball. Why?'

'Oh, no reason,' said Harry quickly. I raised me eyebrows but left it and changed the subject.

'You are … _trying_ to figure this egg out, aren't you?'

'What's that suppose to mean?' he asked.

'It just means these tasks are supposed to test you,' I replied, Harry looking away from me, 'in the most brutal way, they're almost cruel. And …' I walked round the other side of him so he would look at me. 'I'm scared for you. You got by the dragons mostly on nerve. I'm just not sure it's going to be enough this time.'

Harry didn't say anything to that and before I could say anything more, Cedric appeared. He groaned and walked away from me. I think he was still annoyed Cho went to the Ball with him. I just sighed and leaned my head against the wooden post. It was unbelievable how stubborn Harry had gotten over this past year and I hated it. It just wasn't like him. Not bothering to hear what Cedric had to say once he'd stopped Harry, I walked out into the grounds for a long think.

I spent the rest of my Thursday afternoon before dinner in the grounds thinking about things underneath the beech tree by the lake. Like why Harry had brought up Noah and Elijah when it was obvious I hadn't seen them since the Ball considering I was always with him, Ron and Hermione; why Harry hadn't bothered starting on the egg when Cedric had apparently given him a clue to it or something; and most importantly, why had I had a dream about Wormtail killing someone when previously I'd been thinking about Harry. Nothing these days seemed to make any sense to me, or at least, not at the moment and it was really annoying me. In the end, I went back up to the castle for dinner.

That night, Harry told Hermione, Ron and I what Cedric had suggested to him twice now about having a bath in the prefect's bathroom with his egg. My earlier thought of things not making sense came back; that was ridiculous! So, with Ron waiting outside the portrait hole, Harry left under the Invisibility Cloak to do whatever he was going to do with his egg while the rest of us battled on with our homework.

The next day when Harry told us in Charms what he'd found out, Hermione was furious that he'd lied to her about it. However, while practicing the Banishing Charm and badly at that, Harry told us about what had happened after he'd worked out the clue. About Snape and Moody and how Snape's office had been broken into by Mr Crouch last night when no one had seen or heard from Crouch for a long time now. Of course, Ron and Hermione had to have their usual argument about Snape trying to kill Harry when so far out of four years, none of the times we thought that had we been right.

The thing that got both me and Harry though was that Snape was on his second chance with Dumbledore.

'I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one,' said Harry grimly, Banishing another cushion which actually landed on Hermione's last one neatly, surprising him.

That day, Harry sent another letter to Dad via a brown school owl telling him of what happened between Moody and Snape after he'd worked out the clue in his egg, with us setting about researching what to do about the egg afterwards. Honestly, me, Harry and Ron had spent more time in the library over the past term and a half than we had in the previous three years. We spent ages trying to find anything that would help us with what Harry had found out.

'_Come seek us where our voices sound,  
__We cannot sing above the ground.  
__And while you're searching, ponder this,  
__We've taken what you'll sorely miss.  
__An hour long you'll have to look,  
__To recover what we took.  
__But past the hour _–_ the prospect's black,  
__Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._'

And so, the three weeks turned into a two, which turned into a week, into five days, into three, into two and so on. On the Monday morning though before the task on Wednesday, we received a letter from Dad asking when the next Hogsmeade weekend was. We looked at each other curiously at this but Harry scribbled a reply and sent it to him by return owl. And so, on with the search.

'There's a way of doing it!' snapped Hermione on the night before the task as we were once again in the library. She was pouring over a copy of _Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions_ and looked shattered. We all were. I think she took the lack of information as a bit of an insult. 'There just has to be!'

'I know what I should have done,' Harry said, yawning. 'I should've learnt to be an Animagus like Sirius.'

'Harry, it takes years to become an Animagus,' I said tiredly. 'It took Dad and his friends three years.' I let out a sigh and thumped my head down on a copy of _A Cheats Way to Transfiguration_, before lifting it up again, rubbing it. 'If I could lend you my Animagus thing, I would, but I can't, so …'

'Jenna,' said Harry, looking at me. 'Not helpful.'

Hermione agreed with me, typically adding all that you had to do after succeeding with the spell. Just then though, Fred and George came out from behind a bookcase nearby to us. They had to take Ron and Hermione to see Professor McGonagall for some reason and so, they left Harry and I to continue with the search.

Harry and I returned to the Tower with our arms laden with as many books we could carry once the library closed and continued our search there. We'd sit in silence in our favourite chairs, pouring over book after book, checking every page for anything that could help Harry, waiting for Hermione and Ron to return until I eventually fell asleep, my head resting on the table.

'Jenna, wake up!' I sat up suddenly, cracking my neck in the process, to see Neville standing beside me. I stared at him tiredly.

'What time is it?' I asked, rubbing my eyes.

'It's quarter past eight,' he replied. 'But you've got a visitor in front of you.'

He pointed at the table. I looked in front of me to see Dobby standing on the table, tea cosy hat wobbling as he jumped up and down impatiently. 'Dobby?'

'Miss! Miss!' he squeaked impatiently. 'We must find Harry Potter! The task starts soon and he is not here! He has to save his Wheezy!' What? What on earth was his "Wheezy" when it was at home? I looked around to see he was right though. Harry wasn't there … and nor was Ron or Hermione.

'Neville, have you seen Harry or Ron this morning?' I asked Neville quickly. He was sitting in Harry's seat from the previous night reading the book Moody had given him, _Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs_. And as I stared at the cover, I added, 'Can I borrow that?'

Neville nodded and answered my first question, handing me the book as well. Quickly I skimmed through the book until I came to a page with a picture of a greyish plant which looked like a pile of worms. Gillyweed. And as I read the page, with Dobby's impatient squeaks in the background, it hit me what Harry needed.

'Dobby,' I told him quickly, 'go to Snape's stores and get a small pile of Gillyweed and meet me in the library as soon as you can.'

'But, Miss!' squeaked Dobby worriedly. 'Harry Potter must save his Wheezy!'

'He will,' I said forcefully. 'But I _need_ you to get the Gillyweed or he won't be able to save his Wheezy. He needs it for the task!' Dobby nodded and with a click of his fingers, he vanished. I then turned to Neville. 'Do you know where Harry's clothes are for the task?' I asked him.

'Er, in his trunk in the dormitory, I think,' replied Neville.

'Go get them and bring them down here while I go get changed,' I told him before disappearing up the girls' staircase and changing from my previous day's robes into some day clothes like everyone else.

Once changed, I hurried back down to see Neville had Harry's swimming clothes and tracksuit which had been put in his room the previous night. With those in my hands, I climbed out the portrait hole and, making sure the corridor was empty, disappeared into a flash of fire and reappeared outside the library. No one was there so I crept inside where I found Dobby squeaking by a worried Harry.

'Jenna, they've got Ron!' he said at once when he saw me.

'I know they do,' I replied. 'Here, I've got your clothes. Quickly change into them and then we've got to run down to the lake and get a boat to where the start is.'

Harry changed into his task clothes (he told me to turn away first), shoved his robes into his bag along with the Invisibility Cloak, and together we sprinted down from the library and out into the grounds. Most people were gathered in the stands by the lakeside which had been moved from the dragon arena while others were taking the small boats towards the huge platforms out in the centre of the lake. We even past Fred and George making more bets. We got the last boat and were taken to the platforms where Harry made it just in time. Madame Maxime and Karkaroff didn't look too please that Harry made it.

'Well, all our Champions are ready for the second task,' said Ludo Bagman loudly with another Sonorus Charm, 'which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them and return to the shore where the judges will be waiting.'

I stood with Harry at the edge of the stand where him and the other three champions were lined up in the swim suits. All those who were gathered on the higher platforms were cheering around them. It was freezing just waiting here so what it must be like in the lake, I didn't know.

'Good luck, Harry,' I said, rubbing his arms to keep him warm with my hands in the sleeves of my jacket. He looked so cold just standing there in a Gryffindor vest and swimming trunks. 'I know you can do this.' He just looked at me, not saying anything, before putting the Gillyweed into his mouth and chewing it.

The whistle went and Cedric, Fleur and Krum dived into the water. Harry, however, who had started choking beside me, and Moody, who was on his other side, pushed him in! I gasped as he did so and got to my knees trying to see what had happened through the murky water. Behind me, Seamus, Dean and Neville were with me.

'What's the matter with him?' asked Seamus.

'I don't know, I can't see him,' replied Dean. Neville was just as worried.

All of a sudden though, a shadow came zooming to the surface near to where I was knelt and burst through the water, doing a somersault in mid air and splashing back into the water. I gasped as it did so but saw it was wearing black shorts and red vest. It was Harry! But his feet … they were all webbed and elongated.

'Yeah!' he shouted as he jumped in front of us before diving back in.

I just muttered, 'Show off.' to myself once he'd gone before making my way with the others back to shore to join those in the stands.

Along with Krum's gang, Cedric's friends, and Fleur's girl group, I waited at the edge of the lake for Harry to come back. It was freezing waiting there; I had my Gryffindor scarf and my jacket wrapped tightly round me so what it was like in the water I could only imagine. It seemed to take forever for the Champions to return as the time ticked away. Fleur was the first to come back but without her hostage. She'd got attacked by the Grindylow in the lake.

Then, one minute after the bell rang saying the hour was up, two heads burst up through the icy grey water of the lake a few feet out. It was Cedric with Cho. Both were soaking wet and they swam and staggered on to land where Cedric's friends helped them out. Instantly, Madam Pomfrey swooped down on them and took the pair of them over to the infirmary tent.

About another twenty minutes after Cedric had got back, another pair of heads broke the water's surface only one wasn't a head at first. Hermione came to the surface with what looked like half a shark which turned straight back into Krum. They swam to shore where Krum's mates helped them up as I ran to Hermione.

'Hermione, are you OK?' I gasped, pulling her to her feet.

'Y-yeah,' she stuttered. 'I-it's just really c-cold.'

She and Krum were also taken to infirmary tent.

Now it was just Harry who had to come back. I continued to wait by the lakeside for him but as time ticked away and the hour he'd had vanished even more I became more and more worried. But then I saw a mop of wet red hair appear in front of me along with someone else but it wasn't Harry. Ron and a little girl had just surfaced. I instantly ran out to him, getting waist deep in the water as he and the little girl swam towards me.

'Ron!' I grabbed his shoulders to stop him falling back into the water as he tried to stand. Then I looked at the little girl. 'Who's this?' Ron looked at her as I picked her up (she couldn't swim that well), just as Fleur came running into the water behind me.

'What he save her for?' he asked as the girl was taken from me by Fleur, a quick "Merci!" said. It must have been her little sister, the girl who was with her when Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived. She started talking in French to her as she waded back to shore. 'Where's Harry?' Ron asked me as I helped him to shore.

'I don't know, he's not back yet,' I replied. I looked back at the lake. 'You go and join Hermione and get warmed up. I'll wait for him.'

Harry appeared seconds after Ron was dragged away from Percy (who was there again because Crouch wasn't) by Madam Pomfrey. I was still knee deep in the water, my jeans soaked, when I heard a spluttering behind me. Looking behind me, I saw Harry emerge coughing out the cold water. I ran over to him.

'Harry, you idiot!' was the first thing I said when I reached him, throwing my arms around him in a hug, relieved he was all right. He flinched and I let go of him and helped him to stand. 'Why did you bring the girl up too?'

'Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her,' Harry panted. He had scratches over his shoulders; it looked like the Grindylows had got him too. He stumbled back to shore with me and fell down on to the ground, exhausted.

'Harry, you idiot,' I repeated, laughing slightly though shivering, kneeling next to him. Ron was with us now as well. 'You didn't take that song seriously, did you? Dumbledore would never have let any of them drown.'

With Ron's help, we got Harry walking again before Madam Pomfrey dragged him over to the tent and wrapped him in a towel. Hermione's reaction was virtually the same as mine when she heard he'd brought Fleur's sister with him as well as Ron. But Krum interrupted her and led her away when he said she had a water beetle in her hair. So I went and joined him.

'Harry, I'm so glad you're all right,' I said, sitting next to him with a towel from Madam Pomfrey. 'You must be freezing! You're way outside the time limit but personally, I think you did brilliantly!'

'I came last, Jenna,' said Harry derisively, teeth chattering.

'Fleur didn't even finish,' I told him, rubbing his arms again to warm up. 'She never got past the Grindylows. You didn't finish last.' This was totally unlike me; I was acting completely out of character. In fact, I was acting like Hermione would. 'Oh, if only I could of given you my rare Animagus thing, then the task would have been much simpler.' And I hugged him again. I was just so relieved he was all right.

After that and Fleur swooping down on both him and Ron, giving them each a kiss on each cheek (I watched with my eyebrows raised), Bagman's voice suddenly echoed around us as he told us each of the Champions' scores. Fleur, using the Bubble-Head Charm, got twenty-five points, coming fourth. Krum was in third, using a incomplete Transfiguration into a shark, and got forty points. Harry came second for using the Gillyweed and showing "outstanding moral fibre" according to the merman chief for reaching the hostages first, and was awarded forty-five points. But Cedric came first from finishing first, again using the Bubble-Head Charm, and getting forty-seven points.

The third task was to take place on the twenty-fourth of June and Harry couldn't be more relieved about it as he, Ron, Hermione and I walked back up to the castle in slightly drier clothes with our towels still wrapped around our shoulders. He deserved a break and we were all thrilled he'd made it through the second task.

The best thing that could happen after the second task though was that Ron got to share some of the limelight with Harry this time, being able to tell people (even if falsely) what happened down in the lake and he enjoyed every second of the attention he got for once, especially since his fifteen birthday was during them so he got more attention.

As I watched him brag about it, with Harry smiling beside him and Hermione shaking her head disapprovingly, I realised something: each of us had a place in our group. Harry, he was the hero, the one which everything happened to; Hermione, she was the brains, always helping us when we needed it; Ron, the clown, making sarcastic comments and giving unhelpful advice; then there was me, I was the one who kept them in check and kept them in their place. We relied on each other and without one of us, we'd probably fall apart.

March came and so did the next Hogsmeade trip and the reply from Dad. The weather had gotten pretty rough now and the poor owl that delivered it flew away from our table before it had to take anymore deliveries. Poor thing.

Dad was in Hogsmeade? And he wanted to meet us? What on earth was he thinking, coming back? And I wasn't the only one worried. All four of us were concerned, especially Harry, that Dad had gotten back to Hogsmeade without being detected. But he was an illegal Animagus so … oh, I had a horrible feeling about this.

But before we could worry about that we had something else to think about, especially me. Rita Skeeter had written _another_ article this time in _Witch Weekly_, one that involved me, Harry, Hermione _and_ Krum. And one which Malfoy and the other Slytherins took great joy in laughing about.

'You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!' shrieked Pansy Parkinson in laughter. 'And you, Black!'

Hermione caught the magazine she threw at us before going into the day's Potions lesson. Taking a table right at the back, Hermione flicked quickly through the pages and found what Parkinson was talking about. The article was horrible, saying Hermione was toying with both Harry and Krum's hearts by using Love Potions (and she'd been asked to visit him … interesting) and that she was devious. It even had quotes from a "pretty and vivacious fourth year" or in our words, pug-face Pansy in it. But it was the last paragraph which got me.

_Love Potions are of course banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt, Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate, of which I'm sure will be his other steady girlfriend at Hogwarts Jennifer Black, half-breed Animagus from birth (for more information, turn to Hag Henrietta's Hangings of Half-breeds column, page nine), and daughter of notorious murderer, Sirius Black, who last year escaped from Azkaban._

How did she know that? I wasn't too bothered about the Harry's other candidate for his heart thing but how could she know I was a half-breed Animagus? Or that my father was Sirius Black? Now whoever read _Witch Weekly_ would know who and what I was thanks to a nosy, horrible, ruthless bitch. I just couldn't believe she'd stoop that low just for an article.

Ron's attentions, however, because he already knew what I was, were more focused at Hermione though, telling her she was a "scarlet woman" ('It's what my Mum calls them,' he said) yet Hermione herself was laughing. Well, least she could see the funny side of it. Of course, when he asked her when Krum invited her to visit him, she went brilliantly red in the face and continued with her Wit-Sharpening Potion.

But, naturally, Snape found the article lying beside us on the bench and he just had to read sections out from it.

'… _Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that,_' he read sarcastically, '_next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate … sure to be other steady girlfriend at Hogwarts Jennifer Black, half-breed Animagus._ How very touching … and intriguing.' His malicious black eyes turned on me and Harry, seeing as we happened to be sitting next to each other, and he smiled a thin-lipped smile. He then went on to separate us four and place us in other seats round the classroom; Harry was put at the front while Ron stayed where he was, Hermione was put next to Parkinson and I was moved next to my _delightful_ cousin, Malfoy.

'Keep to your side of the table,' he said, grinning evilly at me, his grey eyes glinting, as I put my stuff on the table. 'I don't want your _half-breed_ germs contaminating my potion too.'

Knowing I shouldn't have, I let my nails transform into claws and scratched them into the table to let out my frustration instead of scratching Malfoy up badly like he deserved. Luckily, because there was so much noise from Neville's potion exploding again, Snape didn't hear, also because he was berating Harry even more at the front, only stopping when Karkaroff came in. Weird.

Harry left Potions way after Ron, Hermione and I did but came rushing up to us tell us what happened after we'd left. Something was bothering Karkaroff. And as Harry said, since when were Snape and Karkaroff on first name terms? According to Harry, something on Karkaroff's arm was bothering him and Snape knew what it was. I thought hard about this; Karkaroff was a Death Eater, so maybe it was something to do with that?

The next day, ignoring all the unwanted attention and hissing I got from Skeeter's article, we were due to meet Dad at the stile outside of Hogsmeade. At breakfast and lunch we gathered up as much food without it looking suspicious into our backpacks and set off towards the village. While we were in the actual village though, Harry also bought Dobby a pair of horrible socks to thank him for the Gillyweed. Not like he thanked me even though I found out what it was he needed. Typical.

At two o'clock we headed out of Hogsmeade to where Dad had told us to meet him. And there waiting for us was a very familiar large, black, shaggy fur dog carrying a copy of the _Prophet_. Though I was worried for him, my eyes couldn't help light up when I saw him. He led up to the foot of the mountain where he disappeared into a cave and transformed. He looked a lot more gaunt than when I last saw him; his black hair was even longer and messier than before; and he was extremely thin. But when I saw him, I just walked over to him and gave him a big hug. He was my Dad after all.

Dad was very relieved when we gave him the food, tearing at the chicken and telling us he'd been living on rats. Gross! But he was happy to see us, grinning as he told us he was a loveable stray in the village.

However, we had more important things to discuss, like what had happened to Crouch. The first copy of the paper Dad showed us was headlined _Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch_ and we explained in full what had happened back at the World Cup, Dad listening intently. He even went as far as suggesting Winky stole Harry's wand to which Hermione got very angry about. Ron told her to give it a rest but Dad explained she had the measure of Crouch better than he did.

'All these absences of Barty Crouch's …' he muttered, pacing around in the cave. 'He goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very had to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that, too … it's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak.'

After Dad said this, Harry asked if he knew Crouch. He knew him all right; Crouch had sent him to Azkaban without even a trial when he was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Apparently, Crouch was tipped to be the next Minister for Magic and was very against the Dark side. We got a bit annoyed though when he said we wouldn't understand. So Ron told him to try us. A small grin appeared on Dad's face.

'All right, I'll try you …' he said. Dad paced a little more then said, 'Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing … the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere … panic … confusion … that's how it used to be.'

OK, he didn't have to be so graphic. It was sending shivers down my spine!

Dad explained how the last war brought out both the best and worst in people, especially Crouch. He rose through the Ministry, giving Aurors new powers when dealing with Death Eaters, and had many supporters until his own son was caught amongst a group of Death Eaters and went to Azkaban. Some people thought Crouch went to far, sending his own son there and guessed he spent so much time in the office his son was neglected or something.

'So old Crouch lost it all,' continued Sirius, 'just when he thought he had it made. One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister for Magic … next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic towards him, and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Co-operation.'

I found it hard to believe all what Dad had told us about Crouch, however, I felt strange in the fact I could identify with his son, if indeed he was truly innocent of being a Death Eater. I knew what it was like to be neglected by a father, seeing as I didn't have a father in my early life, only Matron and she was hardly a decent replacement. But of course, I was sure once Dad's name was cleared, he was going to look after me and make up for the time we lost together.

Moody and Crouch's visit into Snape's office was next to be discussed and the suspicions we had of him were brought up as usual. We asked Dad what he thought about it all and his opinion was … well, it sounded like Dad had a very low opinion of Snape, calling him a 'Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid.' and that he grew up with friends who turned out to be Death Eaters, including the Lestranges, my cousin and her husband. We also mentioned Snape and Karkaroff's conversation in Potions the previous day to which Dad was bemused when we mentioned the thing on Karkaroff's arm.

'He showed Snape something on his arm?' he repeated, bemused. He ran his hand through his tangled hair. 'Well, I've no idea what that's about … but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers …' He didn't finish the sentence but reminded us that Dumbledore trusted Snape and so it was wise for us to do so too.

Bertha Jorkins' disappearance was last to be discussed and Dad showed us another article from the _Prophet_. Bertha was very dim according to what Bagman had said and a bit of a liability because she didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.

'… maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her so long.'

In total we'd spent an hour and a half speaking with Dad about various things. In my opinion, not everything was cleared up for us, like why Karkaroff and Snape seem to know each other so well and why Crouch had vanished off the face of the planet. But Dad had given us all the answers he could and we had to accept that as we needed to get back to school.

'Poor old Snuffles,' sighed Ron as we headed through the Entrance Hall. Snuffles was what Dad had asked us to call him when talking about him. 'He must really like you, Harry … imagine to live off rats.'

As Ron said that, a strange twinge went through my stomach and I glanced up at him. It was almost as if he, Hermione and Harry only saw him as Sirius Black, Harry's godfather … not as _my_ Dad. Ron didn't even say "nice of him to come and visit you, Jenna" or any reference to me being his own blood. And this wasn't the first time I'd felt that twinge in my stomach … and it certainly wasn't going to be the last.


	18. Race to the Cup

Chapter 17

Race to the Cup

The next day, the four of us sent a letter to Percy, as we said we would, asking him whether he'd seen Crouch lately or if he was still getting his instructions in the mail. After that, we went back down to the kitchens to give Dobby his present in thanks for helping Harry with the task. The house-elves were as cheery as always, making us tea and asking us if we wanted anything even though we'd just had breakfast.

'No chance of more of those éclairs?' asked Ron. Hermione just glared at him irritably as a large silver tray of éclairs came zooming up to us being supported by four house-elves. Also, Harry asked if he could have some extra food to send to Dad, something I had been contemplating when he told us he was living on rats, and they were happy to oblige.

But then Hermione _had_ to go and ask where Winky was. As Dobby pointed her out, we saw she was sitting on the same stool she'd been on last time; her clothes were even dirtier than last time and she was clutching another Butterbeer, hiccupping. According to Dobby, she was pining after Crouch. And when we told her Crouch was ill, her eyes started watering as before as she muttered and hiccupped.

'Master is – _hic _–' she squeaked, stuttering, 'trusting Winky with – _hic_ – the most important – _his_ – the most secret –'

But she stopped when Harry asked her what they were. She told him he was nosy, that she was a good house-elf and wouldn't tell, until eventually, she collapsed. I, being closest, just caught her before she completely fell off the stool. But when I did, I took in a sharp breath –

_A man and woman entering Azkaban … a boy with darkened straw hair in a cell … the man and his wife leaving … the same boy in a house with Winky by his side … the Quidditch World Cup match …_

I opened my eyes and looked down at Winky. She was sleeping in my hands so I let her go gently on to the floor. Several house-elves tutted behind me and covered her up with a tea-towel, tucking in the corners. I stood up and backed away. The flash had only been about three seconds long, but enough to be noticed by Harry and the others.

'What is it, Jenna?' Harry asked me. I glanced at him. 'You sort of froze.'

'Nothing,' I lied. 'It was nothing.'

Shortly after that, after Hermione had given the elves a little speech, we were shunted out of the kitchens with the extra food for Dad and the arguments between Ron and Hermione started again for the rest of the day so while Harry went back to the Owlery to send Dad the food, I merely listened to them both and continued with my homework.

Breakfast the next day, contradicting Ron's beliefs that we angered the house-elves, was as good as it had always been. Well, the food certainly was. What Hermione and I received in the post wasn't. As an owl came swooping towards us, Hermione explained she'd taken out a subscription for the _Daily Prophet_ so we didn't hear from the Slytherins what Skeeter had written. Good thinking. But then several more owls flew towards us, each dropping letters in front of me and Hermione.

As we opened each one, both our faces showed the boys what we were reading. We'd received hate mail from other witches because of that ridiculous article in _Witch Weekly_ the other day. My wasn't as bad as Hermione's (she had undiluted Bubotuber puss in one of hers and she had to go to the hospital wing) but some of the things they said were just horrible.

'"_I read in _Witch Weekly",' read Ron, reading one of Hermione's letters, '"_about how you are playing Harry Potter false and that boy has had enough hardship and I will be sending you a curse by next post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope._" Blimey, she'd better watch out for herself.'

'You think that's bad,' I said, reading another one of mine, 'check this out. "_You keep your filthy half-breed fingers off Harry Potter! You should be ashamed to be called his friend after what your father did! You're nothing but the scum of a Dark wizard._"'

That was low but I couldn't be bothered to listen to the rants of dozens of witches. Harry knew the truth about what happened, that's all I needed.

After the somewhat … eventful breakfast, Harry, Ron and I set out of the castle for Herbology to which Hermione did not turn up to. After that, we headed over to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures, ignoring Malfoy and his cronies laughing and Pansy asking why Hermione was crying at breakfast.

Care of Magical Creatures was actually quite a fun lesson this time. Hagrid had got a crate of these small, fluffy, black creatures with long snouts called Nifflers. They were so cute! Mine kept licking my cheek with its long tongue. They were treasure hunters, loving sparkly stuff (one jumped at Pansy for her watch which made her scream) and we had the lesson to see who could get the most gold out of a patch of earth Hagrid had dug up.

Ron loved his, especially since his dug up the most gold by the end of the lesson when Hermione turned up, fingers wrapped heavily in bandages. But as it was leprechaun gold, it soon vanished after the lesson as we hung about talking to Hagrid and telling him about the hate mail Hermione and I had received.

But that wasn't what was bothering Ron. As we walked back up to the castle for lunch, he asked Harry quietly why he hadn't told him the gold he gave him back at the World Cup had vanished. Harry just said he hadn't noticed, being more concerned about his wand. Still, Ron wouldn't cheer up.

As he speared a potato and stared at it, he muttered angrily, 'I hate being poor.'

'Ron, money doesn't bring you happiness,' I said, taking a sip of orange juice, 'family does. You're from a large family who loves you. When I was five I had no money, no friends, and _no_ family and I would have killed to be in your position.' Ron glanced up at me. 'I was miserable in that orphanage because I was lonely. But my life got better when I got adopted. Even now, I don't have much money but I have a family who loves me and that makes me feel like the richest person in the world.'

Ron gave me a small smile. I smiled back. I guess he understood where I was coming from.

Over the next week or so hate mail and Howlers continued to arrive for Hermione and I at breakfast but we took Hagrid's advice and just ripped them up and threw them in the fire, even though the Howlers we couldn't do anything about. Harry told us it would die down and people would forget and I knew he was right but Hermione was now on a personal mission to get Rita Skeeter back.

After a particularly nasty Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson (we had a test in hex deflection. Harry left with twitching ears) Hermione hung back to ask Professor Moody something. When she came back, Ron asked her if she was going to give up but she was adamant.

'Maybe she had you bugged?' suggested Harry. Ron hadn't a clue what he meant and neither did I so he explained it to us. But Hermione squashed that theory saying that electrical Muggle equipment wouldn't work in Hogwarts due to all the magic in the air.

'Aren't you two _ever_ going to read _Hogwarts: a History_?' she asked, exasperated.

'What's the point?' said Ron. 'You know it off by heart, we can just ask you.'

He was right.

As the Easter holidays marched in, Hermione still managed to find time between homework to go to the library and research magical methods of bugging, luckily not asking the rest of us to help her. Harry was also sending regular parcels of food up to the mountains for Dad as well as usual notes. I'd given up being jealous about it though, thinking because Harry was in danger Dad's concern was well placed with his godson and he was just looking out for him, like he would if it was me.

By the end of holidays we finally got a reply from Percy along with a package from Mrs Weasley at The Burrow. It was a package of Easter eggs; Harry and Ron both received giant eggs full of home-made toffee while Hermione and I, well, her egg could fit in your palm and I … didn't get anything.

'Your mum doesn't read _Witch Weekly_, by any chance, does she, Ron?' asked Hermione, looking at her egg.

'Yeah,' replied Ron, mouth full of toffee. 'Gets it for the recipes.'

That was why I did receive anything; Mrs Weasley had read the article about Hermione, Harry and Krum and obviously read the bit about me at the bottom. She knew I was an Animagus and that my father was a "murderer". Great! Another person to hate me along with all the people at Hogwarts who were still hissing at me in the corridors. One thing I was thankful for was my reputation in Gryffindor; I had a feeling that someone had been telling everyone what I was really like and that that someone was Noah … but I couldn't be sure. I didn't even know what my reputation was until the fifth and sixth year.

Anyway, Percy's letter was _not_ helpful. It was only six sentences long, explaining to us like to everyone else that "_Mr Crouch is taking a well-deserved break_", "_sending in regular owls_" and "_know my own superior's handwriting_". The last bit was the best though: "_Please don't bother me again unless it's something important_." Hmm. He was about as charming as Jarvey.

Soon, the summer term started and that meant two things: one, exams were drawing closer for Ron, Hermione and I, and two, the third task was coming for Harry. And not surprisingly, Harry took great joy in reminding Ron that he had to study while Harry was able to relax. Well, until the last week of May.

On the last Thursday of May, Harry and the other champions were called down to the grounds at nine o'clock apparently to talk to Bagman and learn what was coming in the third task. Of course, me, Ron and Hermione were so laden down with revision, and there was no real point in accompanying him, we just stayed in the common busying ourselves with revision.

'Come on, Hermione,' whined Ron continuously. 'Please, just one look at your notes!'

'You'll never learn if keep copying off Jenna and me,' said Hermione, her head buried in her Charms textbook. 'You should have taken your own notes.'

'It's History of Magic!' said Ron, outraged. 'How can anyone take notes on it? It's so bloody boring! It's not like I'm going to take it for my NEWTs or anything!'

'Still, you should try harder to stay awake.'

'Jenna,' continued Ron, turning to me. 'Can I just have a small peak at your notes?'

I looked up at him from my Herbology essay. Truth be told, I wasn't much better than him or Harry when it came to History of Magic lessons. Professor Binns really was an old bore! Each lesson, I usually gave up listening halfway through and bewitch my quill to take the notes for me. Well, it meant I had notes and I could have a snooze at the same time.

Giving in, I said, 'Fine. Just don't smudge the ink.'

'Thanks, Jenna, you're ace!' said Ron, grabbing my notes from the lesson and copying them on to another piece of parchment.

'Jenna, he's never going to learn if you continue to give in,' said Hermione. She gave me a disapproving look.

'He's not a baby, Hermione,' I replied. 'It's not my fault he doesn't do the work. But I can't really talk when I'm as bad as him in those lessons.'

Hermione just tutted and returned to her homework.

Harry didn't come back till about half past eleven that night. When he walked into the common room, he rushed straight over to us in our corner, looking very troubled. The reason why? Because Crouch had turned up in the Forbidden Forest when he and Krum had been having a talk apparently out of his mind.

'Slow down,' said Hermione as Harry told us.

'Crouch turned up in the Forest,' repeated Harry. 'It had to be him. He kept talking to a tree thinking it was Percy, calling it Weatherby. It couldn't be anyone else!'

This got all of our minds thinking until the very early hours of the morning. Crouch just turning up like that? Talking to a tree thinking it was Percy, believing his son and wife were still alive, thinking Bertha Jorkins was dead, and saying he needed to see Dumbledore but disappearing again before Harry had got him? It just didn't make sense.

As soon as it was morning, Hermione and I got up and joined the boys in going to the Owlery at daybreak to send an Owl to Dad about Crouch's appearance and disappearance. As we walked, Harry repeated the previous night's events to us again but how Crouch had got away didn't seem any clearer than it did last night. Harry was also bitter that Snape had delayed him in getting to Dumbledore.

'If Snape hadn't held me up,' he muttered angrily, 'we might've got there in time. "The Headmaster is busy, Potter … what's this rubbish, Potter?" Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?'

Hermione suggested we go and ask Moody about it but we were cut short when we heard voices approaching the Owlery. It was Fred and George and they were talking about blackmailing someone. But when they entered the room, we all just stared at each other in surprise.

'What're you doing here?' asked Ron and Fred at the same time.

'Sending a letter,' said Harry and George simultaneously.

'What, at this time?' said Hermione and Fred. I rolled my eyes.

'OK, so we've established the fact we're both sending a letter,' I said sarcastically, 'seeing as that's what the Owlery is generally used for.'

Fred just grinned.

When they had left after Ron giving them a bit of an earful about blackmailing someone and being told if he continued like that, he'd make a prefect to which he got quite irate, we went down to breakfast then on to History of Magic. Time seemed to go even slower than usual in today's lesson and when break finally came around, we headed off to Moody's office.

We went through exactly the same facts and came to the same conclusion with Moody as we did the previous night. I was intrigued to hear that Harry had given him the Marauder's Map (hadn't Lupin told him to share it with me?) and that we were right in the fact that kidnap was an option to how he'd disappeared. Still, after calling the four of us investigators, he told us we shouldn't worry and Harry should keep his mind on the task.

'Should be right up your street, this one,' he growled, then taking a sip from his hip-flask, something I'd noticed he did very regularly. 'From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times.'

A maze, so that was what Harry had to face next. Moody was right though in saying Harry had faced stuff like that before and we usually found stuff out like investigators. In my opinion though, we didn't usually find this stuff out, it found us.

'You three,' Moody finished, looking at me, Ron and Hermione, 'you stick close to Potter, all right? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same … you can never have too many eyes out.'

Dad's reply to Harry's last letter came back the next morning and it wasn't the usual cheerful one he sent. From the sounds of it, Dad was quite angry that Harry just went walking with Krum when someone was supposedly trying to kill him, even making him swear not to do so again. Least he did have some helpful spells listed for Harry to practice before the last task.

'Who's he to lecture me about being out of bounds?' asked Harry indignantly when he read the letter. 'After all the stuff he did at school!'

'Excuse me?' I said incredulously, looking at him. 'Who's the one who's supposed to be in danger and the reason he came back? He's doing what any parent would do: looking out for you. Any you've got a pretty poor way of being thankful, saying he's lecturing you. He would do the same for me if I was the one in trouble.'

Harry was about to say something back to me but Hermione cut him off. I don't think he appreciated me saying that but someone had to. For once I was glad Hermione interrupted. Course, then the two of them had a major argument about what had happened to Crouch again so I just walked off.

Over the next week or so, between revising for our exams, lessons and lunch-breaks, Hermione, Ron and I spent all the free time we had helping Harry learn as many spells, hexes and jinxes as we could find in the library, also making sacrifices by being the test dummies for Harry as he tried each of them out. Ron was saved being Stunned again though when the bell rang and we had to go to Divination while Hermione went to Arithmancy.

That Divination lesson was the most eventful to date since the lesson when Harry shouted out he hoped his death wouldn't be too painful. It was swelteringly hot up in the North Tower seeing as she still had the fire lit in the middle of summer, and Trelawney had pulled out a small model of the solar system contained in a glass dome. As Ron and I stared at it, eyelids drooping, we hadn't noticed Harry next to us by the windowsill had actually dropped off to sleep. It was only till we heard his yell that we realised. Well, a little before for me.

I'd been sitting beside him leaning on my hand when my chin slipped off it out of sheer drowsiness and my hand brushed Harry's arm.

_A high-backed chair in an old room … a man, a snake and a voice …_

_Now, Wormtail, perhaps one more little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you …_

_My Lord … no … I beg you …_

_Screaming the a man writhing on the floor …_

I let out a sharp gasp when I withdrew my hand from him as he started yelling as well, falling out of his chair and on to the ground. Ron and I jumped out of our chairs in shock and crouched beside him as he yelled in pain, Trelawney running over to us as well as the class crowded round. Eventually, Harry stopped yelling and opened his eyes to look at us.

'You all right?' Ron asked, voice shaking.

'Of course he isn't!' said Professor Trelawney. I looked at her; she sounded excited. 'What was it, Potter? A premonition? An apparition? What did you see?'

While Harry tried to convince her he was all right and finally escape to go to the hospital wing, or so he said, I was still thinking about what Trelawney had said. Premonitions … what were they? But if she thought Harry had just had one … Thoughts were buzzing round in my head as Harry left and as soon as Divination had finished, I left Ron and ran off to the library instead of heading to dinner with him.

I spent about an hour or so reading up on premonitions and magic using thought in a copy of _The Mind and its Magic_ I'd found in the Divination section of the library. I wasn't surprised to see it was the smallest section; Divination was only popular as a dos subject. No one really cared about it.

Anyway, back to the book. I looked in the index and turned to the page on premonitions. Premonitions, according to what it said, are when future events and in rare occasions, past events as well, are foretold. It is usually triggered by touching things or people or through dreams where thoughts are concentrated on one thing. Premonitions were a more common power in witches who studied Wicca magic rather than medieval magic (or what we learn because of Godric Gryffindor and that lot!).

So that's what I kept getting. Premonitions. And that must've been what Mum used to get as well. But I had no history of Wicca witches in my family. Or at least, none that I knew of. But then again, I knew very little about my family history so it could be possible … I was finding out strange things about myself every year and it was getting quite tedious. What else didn't I know about myself?

With my new "power" in mind as well as what I had seen from touching Harry, I returned to the common room to find Hermione and Ron in our usual corner but no Harry. And when I asked where he was, neither of them knew. He hadn't turned up to dinner.

Harry turned up at around ten o'clock when everyone else had gone to bed. And yet again, he had a whole host of things to tell us. When he had fallen asleep in Divination, he'd seen something from Voldemort, him torturing Wormtail for failing in something. Well, that explained what I'd seen, I guess.

Also, when Harry had left Divination, he went to find Professor Dumbledore like Dad had suggested he do next time his scar hurt. But when he got there, Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore had been arguing about how the connections between Bertha Jorkins, Crouch and the death of some Muggle called Frank Bryce were unreliable.

Finally, Harry explained also how he'd gone into Dumbledore Pensieve, a magical object which a witch or wizard could contain ones thoughts in. Inside it, Harry had seen three trials: one of Igor Karkaroff giving names of Death Eaters; a second of Ludo Bagman of all people; and the last of four people accused of being Death Eaters, one being Barty Crouch Jr, his son. This made my ears perk up.

'What did the other three look like?' I asked, curiously.

'Two men and a woman,' said Harry, thinking back. 'One was thin and quite nervous, shaking a bit. The other two were more confident. The second man was very well built, with dark hair and eyes, staring blankly at Crouch. The woman, though, looked confident. She had long black hair and heavily hooded eyes, pale thin lips and stuff.'

My heart sank. I knew those descriptions. It had been my cousin, Bellatrix and her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange. The other man, I didn't know who he was but I recognised them and I realised what trial it was; the one over the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom, Neville's parents.

'Are you all right, Jenna?' I heard Hermione ask me. I'd drifted off slightly.

'Yeah,' I said quietly. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'

Besides my little fading out of the conversation, there was something else which was bugging Hermione. Rita Skeeter and how she'd told us that she knew things about Bagman which would make even Hermione's hair curl. But it didn't make sense, he was cleared. Lastly, Harry added about Fudge thinking it was Madame Maxime who'd attacked Crouch. Hermione quickly stomped out that theory, saying who needs that sort of prejudice. She was right. I hated the prejudice I got and others like me received.

For the next couple of weeks, Hermione, Ron and I helped Harry practice spells every lunchtime we had in the empty Transfiguration classroom (McGonagall was sick of walking in on us) and soon, he'd mastered all of those which we'd find in the library, including a helpful one called a Four-Point Spell Hermione had found, telling him which direction was north. And when we weren't helping Harry, we were revising. One day while we were helping though, we saw something very odd.

'Come and look at this,' Ron said, calling us to the window.

Down in the grounds under some trees was Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. They were all gathered together in a close group, Crabbe and Goyle keeping watch while Malfoy was talking into his hand. Strange.

'He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie,' said Harry.

'He can't be,' said Hermione instantly, and out with another "you can't use Muggle things in Hogwarts" speech again.

Dad's Owls were now coming very regularly, some with helpful tips for the third task, others reminding Harry to stay close to us or keep out of the grounds at nighttimes or that with Dumbledore's protection, Harry was still safe. With each one that came, I couldn't help but wonder if he would show the same concern for me? And I was hating myself for doing so.

The day of the task finally came, as well as the last exam, History of Magic, for me, Ron and Hermione. Thank God! Soon it would all be over, both the Tournament and exams and life could return to normal. Well, things couldn't get better though without getting a little worse first. And again, it was in the form of another Rita Skeeter article.

Now she was calling Harry "disturbed and dangerous" because she'd found about him falling asleep in Divination and saying his scar hurt. She was making him out to be someone insane, saying that his scar was showing confusion or attention seeking tendencies. Talk about ridiculous! But on top of that was an interview from Malfoy about Harry being a Parselmouth and how it was considered the greatest mark of a Dark wizard.

'Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?' remarked Harry, folding up the paper. Course, the Slytherins enjoyed jeering him about it.

Again, Hermione was puzzled to how Skeeter knew about it. She started ranting on about her again and how she couldn't have been in the North Tower or heard him in the grounds when all of a sudden … she stopped and her eyes glazed over as she ran her hand through her hair.

'Jenna,' she said slowly, her eyes turning on me, 'you can transform into any animal, can't you?'

'Er, yeah,' I said, confused. What was she on about? 'Why?'

'Can you transform into insects and stuff?' she asked.

'I think so.'

'Can you do so now?' I nodded and transformed into a cockroach, something I had never really tried before, not caring who saw me seeing as the whole school knew I was an Animagus. I turned straight back. Hermione continued to stare at me.

After Ron asked her if she was all right, Hermione started muttering breathlessly about something before taking off to the library ten minutes before our exam. Whatever she'd found out, it had better have been worth it if she was willing to miss the start of an exam.

Hermione made it on time for the exam. All in all, it wasn't too bad, and I managed to get down everything I knew goblin rebellions so I think I did all right in it. I had about five minutes to spare to check everything I'd done, a total of two and a half rolls of parchment, something to rival Hermione's essay lengths. I was pretty impressed.

After the exam, Hermione dragged me back to the library though I was dying to go and have some lunch. I hadn't had much breakfast and I was starving! Still, I went with her and she showed me what she'd found. Talk about taking Muggle bugging to the extreme but I had my doubts whether Hermione was right or not.

Lunch itself was an uncomfortable affair. Mrs Weasley and Bill had turned up to support Harry in the last task and was happily talking with him, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny but when Hermione and I joined them, she turned very icy towards us, stiffly greeting Hermione and not even acknowledging me. That was when I remembered she read _Witch Weekly_.

Feeling very uncomfortable, I said quietly, 'I think I'm just going to go.' and turned away from them when something grabbed my arm. I looked back to see it was Harry.

'Jen, come on,' he said quietly. 'Just stay.' I looked at Mrs Weasley.

'I'd rather not,' I muttered back to him. 'It's one thing having students hate you. It's another when your friend's parents do. I'd rather not impose.'

'Well, then come down to the start of the task,' said Harry. 'I'm allowed to take someone with me. And I want it to be you.'

'Harry,' I started but he cut me off by saying, 'No buts. You're meeting me there.'

I hated it when he was stubborn. But I guess that's one of the reasons we get along so well, because we're as stubborn as each other. Oh, _boys!_

As I was instructed, I went down with everyone else towards where a giant maze had been grown in the grounds and, instead of climbing into the stands along with Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys, I walked into the tent where the Champions were. Cedric gave me a small smile from where he was with his father and mother before Harry pulled me over to him.

'You all right now?' he asked.

'I'm fine,' I replied, grinning. 'Got to support you now.' Harry grinned back. Just then, the music of the Hogwarts school band (a one off treat) started playing.

'Well, let's get out there.'

Harry and I walked out of the tent along with Professor Dumbledore at the back after Cedric and his father, Fleur with Madame Maxime and her little sister, Gabrielle, then Krum and Karkaroff and a man who I assumed to be his father. Harry was starting to look a bit off colour again.

Behind us was everyone cheering in the stands. Harry waved as he saw the faces of the Weasleys and Hermione. In front of us were four entrances to the maze, towering over us, at least twenty foot tall. Each entrance had a small coloured square representing each of the champions, brown and grey for Krum; blue and silver for Fleur; yellow and black for Cedric; and red and black for Harry. Professor Moody was standing by Harry's.

'Silence!' Dumbledore called and silence fell in the stands. 'Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze.'

I glanced over my shoulder at Moody as he took another swig at his hip-flask. My suspicions of him had somewhat died as the year continued but I was still wary of him.

'Only he knows its exact position. Now as Mr Diggory –' all of Cedric's friends started cheering, '– and Mr Potter –' I saw all the Gryffindors cheer, '– are tied for first position, they will be the first to enter the maze. Followed by Mr Krum –' Krum's fellow Durmstrangs cheered, '– followed by Miss Delacour.' Fleur's friends cheered. I glanced at Harry and grinned at him. I was sure he was going to win this. I knew he was. 'The first person to touch the Cup will be the winner.

'I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter,' finished Dumbledore. 'At any point a contestant wish to withdrawal from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with their wands. Contestants, gather round!'

I watched as Harry walked over to Dumbledore with the other champions for a last minute word. As he walked back to the entrance, I smiled encouragingly at him.

'Good luck, Harry,' I said. 'I know you can win this. You've got this far, I just know you can do this.' and I gave him a hug.

_A man placing the Cup in the maze _… _people gathered in a graveyard … a flash of green light … a boy lying dead on the ground … a man reborn, caressing his face, holding his wand … a duel begun and wands locked with a beam … escaping death …_

I let go of Harry and took a wobbly step back from him. My head was hurting like never before. That had been one painful premonition and one that scared me badly. I recognised two of the people from it … Cedric and Harry. Without knowing, the cannon sounded and Harry and Cedric had entered the maze. I turned and looked at him just as the bush closed him off. Soon, Krum and Fleur too had entered in.

After half an hour from getting that vision and a lot of thinking, I started panicking, wondering what on earth the vision had been about and what to do about it to stop it from coming true. Someone died in it, _Cedric_ had died in it and I was the only one who knew. But there was also the short one before it; of Moody putting the Cup in the maze. But why had that come up? Quickly, I glanced up at him. He was pacing outside where the entrances had been.

_I have to touch him_, I thought to myself. _Somehow, I have to touch him._ But whether I could force a premonition to happen, I didn't know.

Walking over to him calmly, I said 'Professor Moody.' loud enough to gain his attention. He looked at me, magical eye spinning. 'I'd just like to thank you for teaching us this year,' I said, trying not to sound nervous. 'You've been a great teacher and it would have been nice if you could continue next year.'

'I'm going back into retirement,' growled Moody, leaning on his staff. 'This year's been eventful enough for me.'

'Well, it's been a pleasure being taught by you,' I said, holding out my hand. He seemed to eye it warily at first, then shook it. And I got what I was hoping for. Another premonition.

_A potion brewing in his office … a young man with dirty blond, almost brown hair standing over it … an odd twitch in his face … placing the Cup in the maze and muttering a spell at it … a strange grin on his face …_

I withdrew my hand calmly and said, 'Thank you, Professor.' and I walked away. 'Thank you indeed.'

Not wanting to look suspicious to him, I walked slowly over to Professor Dumbledore yet fast enough so that I wasn't delayed in telling him what I thought was to happen.

'Professor Dumbledore, you've got to stop the task immediately,' I said hurriedly to him. 'The Champions are in danger. Whoever touches that Cup is in danger.'

'And why do you believe this, Miss Black?' asked Dumbledore curiously, his blue eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

'Someone's put a spell on the Cup,' I said, not saying it was Moody. 'Whoever touches it first is in danger.'

Dumbledore just seemed to stare at me, before finally asking, 'And how do you know this?' I came to a dead end. I couldn't just tell Dumbledore I'd received a vision from Harry or Moody. No one knew about my premonitions. However, Dumbledore didn't press the matter. 'I'll go and speak with the judges.'

He walked off. I looked at him desperately as he went away. The champions had been in the for just over an hour and already a scream had been heard and Fleur had been rescued from the maze. The other three must have been so deep in it that no more sounds were heard beneath the crowd. Looking around, desperately trying to think of something and coming to one conclusion, I ran out of the stadium and out of tent.

Once out of the tent, I spread my arms out at my sides and thought of the phoenix. Slowly I felt the feathers sprout on my body as my clothes changed to them and, with one flap, I flew into the air at great speed and flew upwards so I was overlooking the maze. I couldn't see anyone in it. It was so dark in the grounds and the maze itself was pitch black. However, I could see the centre of it and the light of the Cup.

Flapping my wings, I flew as fast as I could from above the stadium and towards the centre of the maze. I heard people gasp and shout below me but ignored them. I had to get to Harry and warn him. I had to stop that vision from coming true. Cedric didn't deserve to die! As I flew, it seemed to take forever to reach the path leading up to the Cup but after a five minute flight, I saw it was below me and dove towards it.

I landed down in the central path leading towards the Cup and transformed back, standing straight and looking around me, lighting my wand to see through the darkness. It looked terrifying in here. But there they were! Just to my right, Harry and Cedric standing in front of the Cup. They hadn't taken it yet; they seemed to be arguing about something.

'Harry!' I shouted at him but he didn't hear me.

I took one step forwards to hurry over to them when all of a sudden, a strong wind started blowing and the entrance to the path I'd landed it began to close up, the bushes starting to join together behind me. I had no choice to run. I ran as fast as I could up the path trying to get away from the hedge, branches thrashing out at me. Ahead of me I saw Harry and Cedric glance back but did not see me.

'Go on, take it!' I heard Cedric shout. 'You saved me! Take it!'

'Together,' said Harry. 'One – two –'

'Harry, Cedric!' I yelled at them, still running from the hedge. They finally looked at me, their hands poised over each handle. 'Don't touch the Cup!' I shouted. 'It's a trap! Don't touch it!'

Their hands inched closer in the seconds I ran towards them. They were just about to grab it.

'Don't touch the –!'

I grabbed on to Harry's shirt just as his and Cedric's hands grabbed the handles. I felt a tug at my waist and the three of us disappeared from the maze, landing with a thump a few seconds later exactly the place I'd seen in my vision … the graveyard …

* * *

**AN: ooooh, i know i've left it on a bit of a cliffhanger and you can kill me later but i wanted to keep voldemort's rebirth separate from the tournament. hope u liked the chapter, keep reading and plz keep the reviews coming, they're so helpful ;)**


	19. Reborn and the Man in Two Places

Chapter 18

Reborn and the Man in Two Places

Coughing slightly from being winded from landing hard on the ground, I stood up and looked around, gripping my wand in my hand. Beside me, Cedric and Harry had also got to their feet. As I'd seen from my premonition, we were in a graveyard, nowhere near Hogwarts. The castle had gone, there were no mountains, and the sounds of the crowd had vanished. Behind me, Cedric had gone back over to the Cup.

'It's a Portkey,' he said, leaning over it. 'Did anyone tell you the Cup was a Portkey?'

'Nope,' said Harry.

He too had his wand out and was looking around warily just ahead of Cedric and I. He was standing next to a large gravestone with an angel holding an axe. In front of that, in a small area encircled by gravestones was a cauldron. I remember now; there was a cauldron in the dream I had back in December.

'We're not meant to be here,' I said, not bothering to hide the fear in my voice. 'Someone set a trap.'

'How do you know –?' Cedric started to ask me but Harry cut him off.

'I've been here before,' he muttered, 'in a dream.' His voice was as shaky as mine. I looked at him when he said this. He'd seen it as well? 'Cedric, Jenna, we have to get back to the Cup! Now!'

'What are you talking about?' asked Cedric.

'Never mind that,' I said desperately. I didn't care, we just _had_ to get out of there. 'Listen to him. We've got to get back to the Cup.'

I went to grab hold of Cedric's arm to pull him back but he walked forwards to Harry. But when I looked ahead of him, I froze when I saw a man walk out from a small tomb. It was Wormtail. Then, all of a sudden, as flames bloomed underneath the cauldron, Harry started yelling in pain as his scar started to seer with pain.

'What is it?' asked Cedric.

'Get back to the Cup!' shouted Harry. He'd fallen to his knees, hand clamped to his forehead, gasping as his scar seared. Cedric stood beside him. He didn't realise what was happening.

'Cedric, listen to him!' I said. 'We've got to get out of here!'

In front of us, Wormtail drew closer, a small bundle of robes in his arms. Cedric saw him walk nearer to us. He stood straight and took a step away from Harry, holding his wand up and pointing it at Wormtail. He was now standing in front of me. I was a few feet behind him and Harry.

'Who are you?' shouted Cedric. 'What do you want?'

But it wasn't Wormtail who answered. I stared in horror as I saw a small, repulsive, mangled face in the blankets. And as it answered, it's voice sounded like that of a snake.

'_Kill the spares!_'

That voice! It was the one from my dream. I knew what was coming. The green light …

Wormtail started towards me and Cedric, drawing his wand, before shouting cruelly, '_Avada Kedavra!_'

The green light burst from the tip of his wand as he pronounced the Death Curse upon us, just like in my dream and vision. It headed straight towards us. Cedric was hit first, being flung backwards towards me and I felt it hit me as well. I could hear Harry yell somewhere near us. At that moment, I knew I was dead. But when I felt a gravestone behind me connect with my back as I was flung backwards, I realised I couldn't be dead. I wouldn't have felt that if I was. The spell hadn't hit me; I'd only been caught with the shockwaves of it hitting Cedric; he'd gotten the full blast.

But still, as I hit the gravestone, I felt my head connect with it and I was knocked unconscious …

'Oh, tut, tut, tut,' said a cold, unfeeling voice above me. 'Such a handsome boy.' I heard a couple of footsteps approach me. Something touched my face and I felt it turn on to its other side. 'And what a pretty girl.'

'Don't touch them!' shouted another voice. It was strained. The footsteps went away from me.

Feeling air return to my lungs, I slowly opened my eyes to see the black night above me. There were stars dotted about in it. To my right I could hear voices. The one that had shouted, the one that sounded strained … it was Harry's. The other though, was speaking again. Ignoring my headache and trying to be as quiet as possible, I transformed into a mouse and rolled over in the grass.

Looking up, I saw there was a whole group of people dressed in black robes, some without masks over their faces and theirs hoods down, gathered in a circle around the tombstone from earlier where Harry was being held. Amongst them was Lucius Malfoy. It was the Death Eaters. And in the centre of their circle stood a man talking, again dressed in black robes but his were more loose, flowing back and forth as he walked around in front of them; he had no hair on his head and from what I could see, had virtually no nose, only slits for nostrils and deep, blood red eyes.

Voldemort had risen again.

Though I could feel myself shaking in fear, I quickly and quietly crawled from where I was behind the nearest gravestone and transformed back. Crouching behind it, I looked over it to see Cedric lying dead near to where I had been a few moments ago. He was lying there, completely still; his grey eyes were wide open with shock, his mouth slightly open. His skin had already turned pale. I felt the tears start to burn at my eyes but held them back to concentrate on Harry, listening to what Voldemort said.

'I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it,' he said. 'My curse rebounded upon me by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon me.' He was talking about the night Harry had defeated him. 'Aaah … pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost … but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know … I, who have gone further than anybody along that path that leads to immortality. You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked … for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself … for I had no body, and every spell which might have helped me required the use of a wand.

I felt chills run down my spine as I listened to what Voldemort said. As I watched, he paced from side to side, moving here and there in front of Harry and his Death Eaters, saying his speech. I couldn't see Harry clearly as he was being held up against the tombstone.

'You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?' continued Voldemort. He faced towards Harry. I ducked back further behind the gravestone. 'The Boy Who Lived. How lies have fed your legend, Harry. Shall I reveal what really happened that night thirteen years ago? Shall I divulge how I truly lost my powers? It was love. You see, when dear sweet Lily Potter gave her life for her only son, she provided the ultimate protection. I could not touch you. It was old magic, something I should have foreseen. But no matter, no matter. Things have changed ..' Voldemort streaked forwards so he was right in front of Harry. He had one arm raised, his long white finger outstretched. 'I can touch you now!'

Voldemort pressed his finger down on to Harry's forehead, right over his scar it sounded like from the yells of pain Harry let out. They cut through me like a knife. I couldn't take listening to them. I covered my ears, trying to block them out. Underneath them, I could hear Voldemort laughing a cruel laugh. Eventually both stopped as Voldemort stepped back.

'Astonishing what a few drops of your blood will do,' he said.

'Only one power remained to me,' Voldemort continued on with his story. 'I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals – snakes, of course, being my preference – but I was little better off inside them as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill-adapted to perform magic … and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long …'

Voldemort seemed to take great joy in telling his story to the Death Eaters, enjoying the small torture he had done to Harry. I remained hidden behind the stone, listening to him. A part of me was telling me to use the phoenix's escape trick and return to Hogwarts, to get Dumbledore and bring him back here but I didn't know if I could take someone with me if I did that; the other part, a stronger voice inside me, was telling me to do something to help Harry and help him escape. But I didn't know what to do.

Voldemort's story passed through what had happened in Harry and mine's previous years at Hogwarts, in our first and second years with the Philosopher's Stone and the diary. After that, he mentioned Wormtail's return to him last year, causing anger to burn in me; because of his escape, my Dad was still a convicted murderer on the run. But then he mentioned Bertha Jorkins and how he _persuaded_ her to tell him of the Triwizard Tournament coming to Hogwarts though when he'd finished, her mind was beyond repair and so he disposed of her, also placing a servant at Hogwarts for him.

'Wormtail's body, of course, was ill-adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead,' Voldemort went on, 'and would attract far too much attention if seen. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, week body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth … a spell or two of my own invention … a little help from me dear Nagini.' Voldemort indicated a snake circling his heels. I froze as I looked at it. I hadn't realised it was there. 'A potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided … I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.'

That explained what I had seen when Harry, Cedric and I had first arrived at the graveyard. Voldemort had been meddling with evolution, creating himself a body to inhabit. It made me want to throw up.

'I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortal. I set my sights lower … I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength.

'I knew that to achieve this – it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight – I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail?' Oh, great pun (I'd noticed Wormtail now had a silver hand surrounded by bloodied robes). 'Flesh given by a servant …

'My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here,' said Voldemort, his voice as cold as ever, 'where he was buried. But the blood of a foe … Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not Wormtail? Any wizard who hated me … as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful that I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago, for the lingering protection his mother once gave him, would then reside in my veins too …'

'No,' I breathed silently to myself. That explained why Voldemort could touch him when back in the first year, when Voldemort had been possessing Professor Quirrell's body, he could not bare to touch him. Harry's protection that Lily had given him was useless now.

'You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me.' Voldemort seemed to be coming to the end of his speech. 'But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now –' my stomach lurched in fear, '– in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to protect him, and no mother to die for him. Only a silly little girl to help him.'

I froze, not hearing the rest of what he said. He couldn't possibly …

'Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand,' commanded Voldemort. 'And bring the girl to me.'

OK, now I knew I was in deep trouble. Turning so my back was fully against the gravestone, I tried to think desperately of what to do, feeling my whole body shaking in fear. But not a second later, a voice said above me, 'Hello, poppet.' and I looked straight up into the eyes of Wormtail.

Next second, Wormtail's silver hand was holding me around my throat, lifting me up off the ground a few inches when Wormtail himself was only slightly taller than me. I gasped at his strong grasp, my hands trying to pull it away. Next, after throwing Harry's wand at his feet (he was on the ground now), he threw me to the ground in front of Voldemort before returning to his place in the circle.

Looking up from behind my hair, I came face to face with Voldemort.

'Now, who do we have here?' he said softly, looking down on me. Suddenly, a pain started in my back making my body go straight and I was lifted off the ground again. 'The little girl still alive? Who is it I have the pleasure of meeting then?' I didn't reply. 'No matter. I already know your name … Jennifer Black … Hmm,' he mused briefly, looking at me. 'So familiar you are to me.'

Not knowing what made me do it, I said, 'I try to avoid familiarities with Dark wizards.' I could hear my voice shake as I spoke. Voldemort's face twisted into a mirthless smile, his red eyes gleaming in the darkness.

'Yes, now I know,' he said silkily. 'Exactly like her. Very forward like her.' My eyes widened slightly. I knew who he meant. 'You know of who I speak. But whether its bravery or stupidity …'

Voldemort didn't finish his sentence but flick his wand over to the angel gravestone. My body was moved against it and held in position with the axe up by my throat where Harry had been minutes beforehand. I could see him crouching at the foot of it, staring up at me.

'Let her go!' he shouted at Voldemort.

'Now why would I do that?' laughed Voldemort cruelly. 'I want her to watch you die before she dies as well. Pay the price for meddling in other people's affairs.

'Now, pick up your wand, Potter,' he said. Harry remained where he was. 'I said pick it up! Get up! Get up!' Harry got up shakily as Voldemort swiftly darted back then turning round to face Harry. He had his wand gently grasped in his fingers. 'You have been taught how to duel, I presume, yes? First we bow to each other.' Harry didn't. 'Come now, Harry, the niceties must be observed. Dumbledore would not want you to forget your manners, now would he? I said bow!'

I watched as Voldemort pointed his bone-like wand at Harry, forcing him to bow. It was like an invisible hand was pushing him downwards. I shouted at Voldemort to leave him alone but he was not listening. Next, Voldemort shouted, '_Crucio!_' and Harry began twitching on the ground, yelling with the pain. I could feel the tears in my eyes again. I just wanted it to stop. Finally, Voldemort let up before using the Imperious Curse on him.

'A little break,' said Voldemort softly, 'a little pause … that hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?'

Seconds ticked by but Harry did not move nor answer until –

'I WON'T!'

The words burst from Harry all of sudden, making me jump. Voldemort just laughed.

'You won't?' he said silkily. 'You won't say "no"? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to tech you before you die … perhaps another little does of pain? Now, _Crucio!_'

Voldemort put the Cruciatus Curse back on Harry and he began to yell in pain again. Not being able to bear it, I let my body transform into a snake so I could slide out from under the stone axe, landing on the ground. Changing back, I ran at Voldemort.

'Get off him!' I shouted. 'Leave him alone!'

But Voldemort turned on me.

'Slippery little brat, aren't you? _Crucio!_'

All of a sudden I fell to the floor and screamed in pain. It felt like a thousand knives were stabbing me all at once. I could feel the tears burn in my eyes as I screamed. I could feel myself twitch and shake and jerk. I just wanted it to stop. Why wouldn't it stop?

After what seemed forever the spell stopped and I remained still in the grass, panting from pain. But I felt something grab me under my arm and I was hauled to my feet and pulled backwards.

'Make sure she doesn't get away this time,' Voldemort snarled at his Death Eaters. Looking up, I saw Malfoy smiling maliciously down at me.

Voldemort then turned back on Harry. He was still on the ground from when he'd last used the Cruciatus Curse on him.

'Atta boy, Harry,' laughed Voldemort. 'Your parents would be proud. Especially your filthy Muggle mother.'

He walked over to him. As I watched, Harry shouted, '_Expelliarmus!_' at him but Voldemort easily deflected the spell, causing Harry to be thrown back a little more. Voldemort took another step forward, crouching over him.

'I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter,' he said quietly. 'I'm going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my powers. After tonight, if they speak of you they'll speak only of how you begged for death, and I being a merciful Lord obliged. Get up!'

Voldemort thrust his hand out and moved it slowly over Harry. He was lifted back up to his feet. Then, as Voldemort moved back to get more room, Harry ducked behind one of the graves.

'Don't you turn your back on me, Harry Potter!' shouted Voldemort, sending another curse at him. It missed, blasting off part of the gravestone. 'I want you to look at me when I kill you! I want to see the light leave your eyes!'

Voldemort was going to kill Harry. And I was to watch him die. I was going to watch my best friend die before I did too. As I watched, Harry came out from behind the gravestone. His face was contorted in anger and his eyes were narrowed.

'Have it your way,' was all he said before –

'_Expelliarmus!_' A red beam burst from Harry's wand.

'_Avada Kedavra!_' A green beam burst from Voldemort's wand.

'No!' I shouted.

As the curses flew at each of them, I swiped my hand behind me with my nails as claws and scratched Malfoy's arm. He let me go as he gripped his arm and I ran forwards just as the spells hit each other. I stopped as they connected, an blinding light coming from them, a powerful shockwave passing through me. As I looked up I saw the spells fighting against each other, connected in the centre; they looked like molten beams of metal, dripping on the ground. Voldemort was merely standing there while Harry was holding on to his wand with both hands. He looked like he couldn't hold on.

Instantly, I ran over to him and took hold of his hands around his wand, helping him to fight it. They felt like they were on fire; I could feel the heat beneath them. Harry was struggling for breath as he fought to keep the spell going. It was getting closer to his wand. He looked at me as I grabbed him.

As Voldemort shouted at his Death Eaters to do nothing, I shouted at Harry over the noise of the spells, 'I know you can do this! Just hold on! Don't let go!'

Harry nodded at me shakily then looked back at Voldemort.

As he did so, the spell connection began to be forced back the other way, towards Voldemort. I could almost feel the power coming off Harry as he fought back. I could feel it surge inside him. Turning back to the beam, I saw the ends of the red and green beam move closer to Voldemort's wand. It got closer and closer until … the beam touched the tip and a golden cage formed around us, blocking out the Death Eaters, and a familiar song to me started playing.

Next, I saw a shape come out of Voldemort's wand. A smoky hand came from it, Wormtail's silver hand. Then a larger shape came from it made of very dense smoke, a gull grey colour but bright from the cage. First a head, then shoulders and chest … it was Cedric. He merely floated in the air, staring at me and Harry. He didn't look real or like a ghost. He wasn't the only one to come from Voldemort's wand. He was followed by an old-looking man wearing a jacket and cap. He merely surveyed the scene in front of him.

'He was a real wizard, then?' he said distantly. 'Killed me, that one did … you fight him, boy …'

Next, the old man was followed by a younger woman. Her shadow dropped on to the ground beside the old man before standing straight and observing us.

'Don't let go, now!' she shouted. 'Don't let him get you, Harry – don't let go!'

Lastly, another two ghosts or shadows burst from Voldemort's wand at the same time. They floated over us before landing beside me and Harry, one after another, one either side. As they formed I looked at them, Harry also doing so, and I gasped quietly. It was James and Lily.

'Harry, when the connection is broken, you must get to the Portkey,' James told him, his voice echoing as if it was far away from Harry when he was right beside him. 'We can linger moments … but we will give you time but only a moment … you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts … take the girl and be ready to run … Do you understand?'

I saw Harry nod behind me.

'Harry …' The two of us looked up. Cedric was speaking. 'Take my body back will you? Take my body back to my parents …' Harry nodded again.

'Let go,' said the voice of his mother, Lily. 'Sweetheart you're ready. Let go! Let go!'

As the power of the spells began to force their way back to us, I felt Harry pull his wand upwards with as much strength as he had left and the connection between the two wands was broken. Instantly, I felt Harry grab my hand and we ran the twenty feet or so back to where Cedric's body was. We could hear the Death Eaters shout spells at us, blasting off bits of the graves as they missed us.

Harry pulled me behind another stone angel as a curse sped towards us. It hit hard against the grave, blasting stone from it. I could feel Harry gripping my hand tightly.

'Stand aside!' yelled Voldemort behind us. 'I will kill him! He is mine! Him and his little girlfriend!'

'Hold on and get ready to grab the Cup,' he told me, panting. I nodded.

In a moments noticed, Harry pulled me forwards and we ran to the last bit towards Cedric. We fell to the ground beside him, Harry forcing my hand and his down to grab Cedric's arm and pointed his wand at the Cup.

'_Accio!_'

The Cup flew towards us and with my free hand, I grabbed the handle as Harry grabbed the opposite one. A sharp tug around my waist, and we disappeared from the graveyard. We were going back …

My body smacked hard down on the ground as we returned to the stadium. I released the breath I'd been holding in as I heard the cheers and music around us. We were home. But as I opened my eyes and looked beside me, I saw Cedric just lying there … dead. My hand was still be gripped by Harry's but I let go of the Cup, it falling from us. Beside me I could hear Harry cry and I felt my own tears start to fall. I'd failed … I didn't stop Cedric dying …

A loud scream came from the crowd.

'Harry! Harry!'

The music slowly began to stop as did the cheering. I heard footsteps running towards us and next second, I saw Dumbledore leaning over us. He tried to prise Harry away from Cedric's body but he wouldn't move. I felt a pair of hands also grab my shoulders and I was pulled away, my hand slipping from Harry's. Looking up I saw it was Professor McGonagall. Students had also flocked down from the stands.

'For God's sake, Dumbledore, what's happened?' said the voice of Cornelius Fudge.

'He's back!' cried Harry. His voice was strained. 'He's back! Voldemort's back! Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back! I couldn't leave him, not there!'

'It's all right, Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'It's all right, he's home, you all are.'

I just continued to stare at Harry and Cedric, tears falling down my cheeks. I didn't even hear Fudge tell Snape to keep people where they were nor the gasp that travelled round the stadium when he said, 'A boy has just been killed.' I just felt like it was all my fault. That I hadn't got there quick enough. Telling myself if I'd have gone a little sooner or flew a little faster Cedric would still be alive.

'The body must be moved, Dumbledore … too many people. He and the girl will need to go to the hospital wing.'

Then another voice, a more frantic one came running towards us.

'Let me through!' It was Amos Diggory and his wife. I stepped backwards as he pushed past me. 'That's my son!' he shouted. 'That's my boy!'

More guilt swelled inside me as Mr Diggory burst into tears, crying beside his son. His wife's grief seemed beyond tears as none were falling from her eyes as she crouch beside her son. It was my fault, I hadn't got there quick enough … it was my fault …

By now, Professor Moody had pulled Harry to his feet, holding him upright before leading him away from the grounds. I looked at them as he pulled Harry away and I remembered all that I'd seen and heard that night. Anger flared inside me though tears still fell down my cheeks.

'Come on, Black!' he growled at me as they passed me. 'Need to hear your story as well.'

But I didn't go to tell a story. I went because Harry was in danger. Looking back briefly at the crowd, I saw Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys staring at me, but I turned away and hurried after Moody.

Still gripping on to Harry, I followed Moody away from the crowd at the stadium and back up to the castle. And as I suspected, he wasn't taking us to the hospital wing like Fudge had said we should. Instead, he led us to his office into an area far at the back. Taking a couple of stools and placing them down in front of his trunk, Moody forced Harry to sit down before closing the door behind us. I sat cautiously beside him.

'Are you all right, Potter?' he asked Harry, bending down in front of us. 'Does it hurt?'

'Not so much now,' muttered Harry.

'Perhaps I'd better take a look at it.'

Taking hold of his arm, Moody pulled back the ripped sleeve of his shirt. I didn't dare stop him yet; I had to wait until he'd turned away. Looking at Harry's arm, I saw a bloody gash on it in the shape of a skull and a snake. _Blood of a foe_ I remembered Voldemort say. Wormtail must have cut that into Harry's arm when he brought Voldemort back.

'The cup was a Portkey,' said Harry quietly. 'Someone had bewitched it.' Moody looked up at him.

'What was it like? What was he like?'

'Who?'

'The Dark Lord.' Harry flinched as Moody's thumb pressed down on his cut before stomping away. 'What was it like to stand in his presence?'

'I dunno,' said Harry, not watching Moody. 'It was like I'd fallen into one of my dreams. One of my nightmares.'

Instead of listening to Harry though, I watched as Moody began to shake. His hands were tensing and he started wheezing and gasping for breath. He then took out his hip-flask to take a sip from it but it was empty. Then he disappeared out of the room to another. But I'd already recognised his symptoms having seen it two years previous and the potion I'd seen being brewed in my head came back. That wasn't Moody and had never been … I was right. It was an impostor.

While Moody fumbled about with what sounded like glass jars in the other room, I turned to Harry and grabbed his arm.

'We've got to get out of here,' I whispered urgently to him. I didn't want Moody to hear me. 'Now! He's not who we think it is. That's not –' but I was cut off by Moody's voice.

'Were there others?' said his gruff voice. 'In the graveyard, were there others?'

I looked at Harry as he answered, his face showing his confusion. 'I … I don't think I said anything about a graveyard, Professor.'

He looked at me and I nodded, a silent agreement made that he shouldn't have known that. I glanced at the door and indicated to Harry we had to go but before we'd even gotten off the stools, Moody appeared at the arch he'd walked through moments ago. His face looked blank and oddly twisted, more than usual with all the scars on it.

'Marvellous creatures dragons, aren't they?' he said in a sardonic tone, not his own. 'Do you think that miserable oaf would have led you into the woods if I hadn't suggested it?' Moody stomped over to a cabinet, mine and Harry's eyes following as he began searching in it. 'Do you think Cedric Diggory would have told you to hold the egg under the water if I hadn't have told him first myself?'

Now I understood. I'd seen Moody both times when he was talking to Cedric and Hagrid, and both times they had been discussing the tasks. And by the looks of it, Harry was beginning to understand too.

'Do you think this sneaking, little girl,' he growled, leering at me, 'would have realised you needed Gillyweed without Longbottom, the witless wonder, having the book I'd given him that led her straight to it? Huh?'

Harry looked at me. OK, so I hadn't told him I'd snuck into Moody's office and done a bit of snooping. It was after I'd got the vision from Winky. The boy in the vision had had the same twitch I'd seen Moody have each time before he drank from his hip-flask so I'd gone to investigate but before I found anything, Moody had returned to his office. He must've known it was me in there from the eye and because everyone knew I was an Animagus by then … I'd hidden underneath his cabinet as a mouse until he'd gone again.

As Moody continued to search his cupboards, I slowly took Harry's hand and gently pulled him so as to get him to move so we could run before anything worse happen.

'It was you from the beginning,' he said. 'You put my name in the Goblet of Fire. You bewitched Krum. But …'

Moody cut Harry off by mocking him.

'You won because I made it so, Potter,' growled Moody. 'You ended up in that graveyard tonight because it was meant to be so. And now the deed is done.' He stomped back over to us and grabbed Harry's arm, pressing his fingers on the cut. Harry flinched and tried to pull his arm back. 'The blood that runs through these veins runs within the Dark Lord.'

Moody licked the blood off his fingers. Next to me, Harry pulled me to my feet and pushed me behind him, and behind the trunk on the floor. Moody heard us and span back round.

'Imagine how he will reward me when he learns that I have once and for all silenced the great Harry Potter.'

He drew out his wand and pointed it at us. We were backed up against the wall. And in those few seconds, I saw in Moody's Foe-Glass three people becoming clearer and clearer in the glass, as if they were getting closer. Then all of a sudden, the door exploded open and Moody was thrown backwards into a chair, hitting the wall. Harry and I jumped; I screamed slightly.

Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape ran into the room. They were the figures in the Foe-Glass. Dumbledore ran into the room followed by the other two. He grabbed Moody around the neck, forcing him back in the chair.

'Severus …'

Snape stepped forwards with a small bottle of clear liquid in his hand. He opened the lid and poured the entire contents into Moody's open mouth. McGonagall was standing beside me and Harry. Dumbledore pointed his wand over Moody. I could see why he was the only wizard Voldemort feared; the anger on his face as he stared down at Moody I'd never seen before.

'Do you know who I am?' he asked Moody.

Both Moody's eyes were on him as he replied, 'Albus Dumbledore.' snarling at him.

'Are you Alastor Moody?' This time, he didn't answer. 'Are you?'

'No.'

'Is he in this room?' As he refused again, Dumbledore's grip around his throat tightened. 'Is he in this room?' Moody didn't nod but his eyes darted to the trunk Harry and I were standing behind. Dumbledore looked at it. 'Harry, Jenna, away from there!'

Harry and I came out from behind the trunk, McGonagall moving us away from it. Walking over to it, Dumbledore had taken the keys sitting on Moody's desk and, one by one, fitted each key into each of the seven locks. Turning them, the chest opened itself, several small chest lids appearing one after another until the seventh had opened. Inside it, I saw a man sitting there in his undergarments. He had half a leg and an eye missing. It was the real Mad-Eye Alastor Moody.

'Are you all right, Alastor?' Dumbledore called down to him.

'I'm sorry, Albus.'

'That's Moody,' gasped Harry, looking into the trunk, 'but then who's...?'

I glanced at Snape to see he'd taken Moody's hip-flask, taking a sniff from it and confirming it was Polyjuice Potion.

'Now we know who's been stealing it from your store, Severus,' said Dumbledore. Turning back to the trunk, he shouted down to it, 'We'll get you up in a minute, Alastor.'

Moody just let out a pained moan. The Moody that was in the chair though had started making noises, groans. His face seemed to melt as his body twitched. He yelled in pain as he tore of the eye belt, it falling to the floor as the false leg was kicked away. Harry and I watched as the Moody we'd known disappeared to be replaced by a young man with dirty blond straw hair. When he looked up at us, his eyes were narrowed and he was twitching.

Suddenly he lunged forwards at Harry and me but Dumbledore thrust him back into the chair, wand held over him again.

'Barty Crouch Junior.'

'I'll show you mine if you show me yours,' snarled the young man. He rolled up his sleeve and thrust his arm out in front of him. On it there was a black skull and snake, writhing on his arm. The Dark Mark. 'You know what this means, don't you?' he asked, grinning. 'He's back. Lord Voldemort has returned.'

'Send an owl to Azkaban,' said Dumbledore, looking away from him and addressing Snape. Next, thick ropes came from his wand and bound themselves round Crouch's arms and legs, binding him to the chair. 'I think they'll find they're missing a prisoner. Then go down to the kitchens, and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here.'

'Dumbledore, they ought to –' started Professor McGonagall, 'look at them – they've been through enough tonight –'

'They will stay, Minerva,' said Dumbledore sternly. 'They need to understand. Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.'

Both Professors McGonagall and Snape left. But what did I need to understand? Harry was the one who'd been through this, why did I need to be here? I just wanted to leave, forget all this, forget what had happened and go to the hospital wing. I just wanted to cry again at the guilt I'd felt for not managing to stop it _from_ happening.

Once both had returned, Winky flinging herself at Crouch's feet when she saw him and wailing loudly, Harry and I heard the truth. From when the trouble had started at the Quidditch World Cup to what happened between Crouch and his son, and how Crouch had ended up dead. I just listened silently, not knowing what to believe now, all the while wishing I could leave this behind.

'I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner,' said Barty Crouch's insane voice softly. 'Turned it into a Portkey. My Master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honoured by him beyond the dreams of wizards. I'll be welcomed back like a hero!' Crouch shouted at us.

'Perhaps,' muttered Dumbledore, unimpressed. 'Personally I've never had much time for heroes.'

Dumbledore led Harry and I out of the room with Professors McGonagall and Snape.

'Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry upstairs?' McGonagall nodded. 'Severus, please take Jenna to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here after dealing with her. We need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me.'

Snape nodded. I felt his hand on my shoulder and turn me out of the room. As I left, I glanced back at Harry. He looked terrible. I remained silent as Snape led me from the office and up the four floors to the hospital wing. I didn't feel like speaking. As we got to the hospital wing I could hear voices from inside the room. It was Ron, Hermione and the others. I just sighed. I didn't want to see them.

'You're to go straight inside, Black,' said Snape. 'Tell Madam Pomfrey to return to Moody's office as soon as she's done with you. I must go and find the Minister.'

Looking at the door as he left, I sighed again and took the handle in my hand, preparing for what was to come. I didn't want to face them and their questions. Twisting it, I pushed the door open just enough to slide inside and closed it behind me. Inside as I suspected was Ron, Hermione, Bill and Mrs Weasley. They all looked up when they heard me.

'Jenna!' gasped Hermione and all four of them hurried over to me.

In seconds I was embraced in a tight hug from Hermione followed by Mrs Weasley. I flinched from their grips. I hadn't noticed how sore my body was from being attacked by the maze and Voldemort's curses.

'Oh, Jenna, dear,' she said, almost in tears. 'Are you all right? I was so worried when you and Harry reappeared on the ground. I thought you'd all died. I'm so glad you're all right!'

'What happened?' asked Ron.

'Molly, please,' said Madam Pomfrey from behind. I looked up over Mrs Weasley's shoulder. For once I was glad to see her. 'Miss Black's been through a lot tonight.'

She came striding up to us with a steaming potion in her hands and removed me from Mrs Weasley's grip. She led me over to a bed where she conjured some pyjamas and told me to change into them, leaving me behind the screens. Once changed Madam Pomfrey came back and handed me the potion.

'Professor Dumbledore wants you to go down to Moody's office,' I muttered quietly. My voice hurt. 'Alastor Moody needs to be rescued from his trunk.'

Madam Pomfrey nodded and left to be replaced by Mrs Weasley and the others. I just looked at them. They still looked really worried. I was surprised. Not a few hours ago Mrs Weasley was refusing to acknowledge me.

'I'm fine,' I said though I knew I wasn't but I didn't have the strength to cry any longer. 'I just want to sleep.'

'All right, dear,' said Mr Weasley. She bustled me into bed and smoothed the covers over me unnecessarily. Next, she gave me the potion. 'Drink up.'

I drank. Not a few seconds later as I lay down, my eyelids began to droop and I fell into a dreamless sleep. My sleep did not last though.

Not half an hour later I woke up hearing shouts coming from outside the hospital wing. Opening my eyes, I saw Harry lying asleep in the bed next to mine but a few seconds later, the shouts came inside. Mrs Weasley and Bill were standing between mine and Harry's beds. I remained silent as I watched.

'Where's Dumbledore?' demanded Cornelius Fudge's voice. He and Professor McGonagall had entered the room. He sounded very angry.

'He's not here,' said Mrs Weasley. 'This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to –'

'What has happened?' That was Dumbledore's voice and he sounded as angry as he did back in Moody's office. 'Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you – I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch –'

'There is no need to stand guard over him any more, Dumbledore!' shrieked Professor McGonagall. 'The Minister has seen to that!' I narrowed my eyes as I watched. What had happened? 'I told him you would never allow Dementors to set foot inside the castle, but –'

'My dear woman!' roared Fudge. 'As Minister for Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous –'

'The moment that – that thing entered the room,' screamed McGonagall, pointing at Fudge, 'it swooped down on Crouch and – and –'

She didn't need to say anymore. I understood what had happened. The Dementor had sucked out his soul. He was worse than dead.

The shouting continued between Dumbledore and Fudge and what had happened when Harry and I were in Moody's office with him, what had been said when Dumbledore forced Barty Crouch Jr to drink the Veritaserum Snape administered. But when Dumbledore reached the art about Harry witnessing Voldemort's rebirth, a curious smile lingered on Fudge's face when he stated that Harry and I were not to be questioned.

'You are – er – prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?' he asked. 'And the girl's?'

A knot tightened in my stomach. Did he not believe Harry or something? Of course, Dumbledore believed us and he vouched for our story but Fudge seemed not convinced.

'You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, a half-breed girl who shouldn't have even got into the maze, and a boy who … well …'

'You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr Fudge?'

I sat up when I heard Harry speak from beside me. Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron and Hermione turned to look at him, not realising we were awake.

'And if I have?' said Fudge, looking at him. 'If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet?'

'Then you are wrong!' I said, making the Mrs Weasley, Bill, Ron and Hermione turn to me. 'Mr Fudge, there is nothing wrong with Harry's sanity nor mine. We saw Voldemort come back!'

'And you expect me to believe the words from your mouth?' asked Fudge, looking at me. 'An illegal Animagus with a murderer for a father? And a Parselmouth, eh?' he added, turning back to Harry. 'And having funny turns all over the place?'

Dumbledore's reply to that was spoken very coldly. He defended Harry's sanity, even claiming I was as normal as everyone else when Fudge accused me of being untrustworthy because of my Animagus thing. The anger coming off of Dumbledore was something I'd never seen before. Even Fudge seemed weary of him.

'You'll forgive me, Dumbledore,' he said, 'but I've heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before …'

'Look, I saw Voldemort come back!' shouted Harry, being held in bed by Mrs Weasley. 'Jenna and I saw him! We saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy!'

With each name Harry mentioned, Fudge merely brushed it off, saying whether they'd been cleared or whatever. I couldn't believe Fudge wasn't listening to two eyewitnesses to what had happened all because of what Rita Skeeter had written. Even Professor McGonagall was outraged by it. But Fudge's lunacy only continued when he refused to take Professor Dumbledore's suggestions on what to do about Voldemort's return.

'The only one against whom I intend to work,' said Dumbledore after Fudge's comment about him working against the Ministry, 'is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side. If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius, we have reached a parting of ways. You must act as I see fit. And I – I shall act as I see fit.'

Fudge's answer didn't come straight away. But when he did answer, his voice wasn't as confident as before.

'He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be …'

'There!' I started slightly as Snape spoke up and strode forwards Fudge. He pulled back the sleeve of his robe and thrust his forearm in front of Fudge. 'There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was, an hour or so ago, when it burnt black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burnt into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing each other, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side.'

Fudge didn't say anything more as he stared down at Snape's arm but stepped back from him. All he did say was that he'd had enough and would be in touch and needed to return to the Ministry. He only stopped to turn back to Harry and give him his winnings from the Tournament. He then left the hospital wing.

Dumbledore instantly took charge and sent Bill to find Mr Weasley and notify him of what had happened and he would be in contact soon. After Bill had gone, he asked Madam Pomfrey to leave the hospital wing to check on Winky and return her to the kitchens. Once she had gone too, Dumbledore looked towards the rest of us.

'And now,' he said, 'it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius … if you could resume your usual form.'

Sirius … no way, he couldn't mean –

'Sirius Black!' screamed Mrs Weasley suddenly. I looked round to see a man standing where a dog had been previous. I didn't even know he'd been there.

'Dad!' I shouted in surprise. He instantly looked at me and ran over to my bed, wrapping his arms around me in a hug while Ron told his mum to shut up.

'Jenna, thank God you're OK,' he whispered to me, holding me. I just hugged him back; fighting my tears again.

But then Dumbledore ordered him and Snape to bury their differences and agree to a truce to trust each other. When they shook hands I could see neither of them liked it. They were eyeing each other with great loathing.

With that done, Dumbledore then gave out instructions to both of them, Snape first and sending him away. He did look quite pale though which was unusual for him as he left the hospital wing. He then turned to Dad.

'Sirius, I need you to set off at once,' he said. 'You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while, I will contact you there.'

But I didn't want him to go. Of all people I needed right now after the incident, Dad was the one I needed the most and he had to go again? It just wasn't fair. But he was going to be at Lupin's. Maybe he'd be there when I got home. As I thought all this, Dad was saying goodbye to Harry before he came to me. As I looked at him I knew there were tears in my eyes.

'I'll see you at Remus's,' he whispered to me as he hugged me a second time.

'I know you will,' I replied quietly. I buried my head in the shoulder of his robes for a second before pulling back. 'See you soon, Dad.'

He smiled down at me, nodded at Dumbledore before getting off my bed and running out of the hospital wing, changing into Padfoot as he went. And he was gone again.

As soon as he'd gone I lay back down on my bed facing away from everyone while Dumbledore spoke to them a little longer. I didn't want to speak, I didn't want to see anyone, I didn't want to think. I just wanted to go back to sleep and forget about everything till the next morning. Apart from a small thump created by Hermione, ('Sorry.') I was left alone and fell back into the dreamless sleep from earlier.

The next morning after Harry and I had had breakfast we were taken to see Mr and Mrs Diggory. Mr Diggory still cried about his son's death, even more so when I told him how he got the full blast of the curse and because he was in front of me, I didn't get hit though I thought I had. Mrs Diggory again seemed beyond tears in grief. When they asked how I knew though I was left in an awkward position.

'I just had a feeling something wasn't right,' I said, carefully thinking about what to say. 'But when the teachers I spoke to did nothing, I tried to stop it myself by flying over and into the maze.' (They knew I was an Animagus from the articles). 'I'm just sorry that I survived and he didn't though I tried to warn them.'

For the rest of the last week of term after I left the hospital wing I resigned myself to my dormitory when I wasn't in class. In the corridors, nobody bothered me nor Harry about what happened though I received as many stares as Harry did now. I guess they too were wondering how I'd ended up in the maze. But I kept my silence; my guilt about letting it happen stopped me from speaking. But then when I was faced with someone I'd hoped not to see, I was forced to speak.

On my way back to the Tower on Thursday before dinner (there were no more Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons so we had that time free) I ran into Cho. And she did not look happy to see me … alive …

'How is it you survived but Cedric was killed?' she screamed at me, tears in her eyes, when I tried to walk away. I didn't want to have this conversation. 'Why did he have to die when you both weren't meant to be there?'

'Cho, I don't know,' I said. I stopped in the corridor and turned back to her. 'I don't know, all right? Theoretically I should be dead too considering the curse was for both of us, not just him. Why I'm not is a question I ask myself every day.' Cho just glared at me. Didn't she think Cedric's death had affected me as well? 'I regret his death as much as you do but there is nothing we can do. He's gone … and he's not coming back.'

I walked away from her, wiping away the tears in my eyes. Now I just wish that I could have remembered that moment when Dad died. Then maybe I wouldn't have … I'll get to that later.

On the last day the usual feast happened at lunch before we were sent home on the trains. I was with Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. Above us, there were banners but not in the house colours of the one that won the House Cup. They were black in memory of Cedric.

'Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss,' Dumbledore said in his speech. 'Cedric Diggory, last week, as you all know, was killed during the Tournament in the third task. But I think, therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died.'

At this, I looked up at Dumbledore. Until then, I'd been staring at my plate next to Harry. I glanced at Harry as well to see he too was staring at Dumbledore. He caught my eye and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, a reassuring smile. This whole event had given Harry and I a strange bond, one that I couldn't explain, but one that made our friendship stronger than it had ever been before and one that would last to the very end, changing in a way that I never expected it to.

'You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered,' said Dumbledore clearly, a gasp going round the Hall, 'by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory.' Dumbledore's eyes wandered over all of us in the few seconds silence. 'Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, reminds us that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events, the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever.

'Remember that and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. You remember that, and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true right to the very end. Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities which distinguish Hufflepuff house. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard working, intricately fair minded, and most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend.'

He asked us all to stand and raise our goblets to him. We did so, everyone mumbling his name. I held mine in front of me and said quietly to myself, 'To Cedric. I'm sorry.' But Dumbledore did not end there.

'There are two other people who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death,' he continued. I looked back at him. 'I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter and Jenna Black.' I felt my stomach sink and glanced around as dozens of eyes turned on Harry and me. I'd never had this sort of attention before.

'They managed to escape Lord Voldemort,' said Dumbledore, the eyes returning to him. 'While Jenna tried hard to warn both myself and Cedric and Harry of what she feared would happen, Harry risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. They showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honour them.'

Dumbledore turned to face us both and raised his goblet. The whole Hall did so as well, muttering our names like they did Cedric's. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I was relieved once the feast was over and took refuge in a corner of the courtyard as we said our farewells to the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, watching as Fleur and her sister said goodbye to Ron and Krum hand Hermione a piece of paper the other side. As I watched the other students saying goodbye to one another, I smiled, the first one in days. But I couldn't help wonder if these friendships would last with Voldemort returned.

After the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students left in a procession through the corridor around the courtyard, I saw Harry standing alone there, leaning against the wall. I walked over to him as Ron jumped out from behind him through the stone window and Hermione came round the corner.

'Do you think we'll ever just have a quiet year at Hogwarts?' asked Ron.

'No,' said Hermione, Harry and I in unison. The four of us then started laughing.

'Didn't think so,' shrugged Ron. 'Oh well, what's life without a few dragons?'

Harry, Ron and Hermione started to walk down to the grounds for the carriages to the train but I remained standing by the wall, my hand resting on the stone, looking towards the castle. Harry and the others looked at me.

'Everything's going to change now, isn't it?' I asked quietly. Harry walked back over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him.

'Yes,' was all he said.

'Promise you'll right this summer,' said Hermione more cheerfully, linking her arm in mine as I joined them walking down to the carriages. 'All of you.'

'Well, you know I won't,' shrugged Ron. We all laughed.

'Harry will, won't you? And you, Jenna?'

'Yeah,' said Harry, slightly sarcastically, 'every week.'

'I'll try,' I said. I think I was the only one trying to be honest.

Once on the train I felt much better in the fact I was going home to Lupin's and might be seeing my Dad there. Of course, the train journey had to have its events too or the Hogwarts year wouldn't have completely finished. Harry had pointed out that the _Daily Prophet_ and Rita Skeeter hadn't done anything about what had happened with the third task which intrigued us all.

'Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task,' said Hermione happily. 'As a matter of fact, Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her.'

Harry, Ron and I had no idea what on earth she was on about. Then I remember what she had shown me in the library after our History of Magic exam. And when we asked her what she was talking about, Hermione's grin broadened even more.

'Well, it was you and Jenna who gave me the idea, Harry,' she explained.

'We did?' said Harry and I together.

'_Bugging_.' and she pulled out a jar from her bag. Inside it was a small beetle with jewel-like markings on its wing covers, just like the glasses Rita always wore. She was an illegal Animagus.

'When we saw Malfoy under that tree …' said Ron slowly, catching on.

'He was talking to her, in his hand,' said Hermione. 'He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid.'

And then who should walk in but the one, the only, Malfoy (imagine fake trumpet sounds and you'll get my sarcasm!). Just what we needed. He just had to stir it with me and Harry about Cedric's death. He'd been whispering and talking through Dumbledore speech at the last feast and when Harry had pointed it out to us afterwards, it really got on my nerves.

'You've picked the losing side, Potter!' he said viciously. 'I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riff-raff like this!' He jerked his head at me, Ron and Hermione. 'Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers and blood traitors first! Well – second – Diggory was f—'

That was what tipped the scale for me and Harry. So we hexed him. All of us. Me, Harry, Ron, Hermione _and_ Fred and George. Nice mix of hexes they had, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, so we rolled them into the corridor and returned to our own conversations. Turned out the person Fred and George had been blackmailing was Ludo Bagman and they explained to us what happened. Who'd have thunk it, eh?

Eventually the train pulled into the station and, gathering our things, we left it. I saw Harry hold Fred and George back for a minute and hand them his winnings seeing as the Diggorys didn't want it. I smiled; it was good of Harry to that. Hermione and Ron and the Weasleys were the first to go, saying their goodbyes and disappearing off with their families so I was left with Harry.

'Well, see you in September,' he said to me.

'Yeah, see you,' I replied, smiling. 'Hopefully before then but you never know.' I gave Harry a tight hug, which he returned, and pulled back when I heard Lupin calling me. 'And thanks, Harry,' I added, grabbing my trunk and owl. 'Thanks for saving my life.'

'Right back at you.'

Just before I left though, I said one last thing to Harry.

'Things are going to change, Harry, in a way none of us will expect. Soon we'll all have choices to make, between what is right ... and what is easy.' I looked at him. 'I hope none of us ever have to make those choices.'

I waved back at Harry as I walked over to Lupin, only to be dragged forward into a hug from him as if he life depended on it. Once disentangled from him, we caught a taxi to the Leaky Cauldron and Floo-ed back home. And who was waiting for me the moment I got out of the fireplace?

'Welcome home, Jenna,' said Sirius.

* * *

**AN: there, the end of GOF done and dusted. hope you enjoyed the chapter and plz keep on reading and reviewing. you're all stars for doing so, especially both and i couldnt be more thankful ;)**


	20. Summer Challenges, part 4

Chapter 19

Summer Challenges part 4

That summer I was only at Moonlake Cottage for a maximum of three days. Dad had been staying there since the day after the last task when Voldemort came back. The day after I got back though, a letter came for Dad from Dumbledore. He left immediately afterwards and when I asked him where he was going he gave me no answer, only that he'd see me again.

The first Monday of the holidays, Lupin told me we were going somewhere and to pack up my school trunk again, getting together any things from my bedroom that I wanted to take with me. Though curious, I didn't question him. Very late that night, Lupin placed a Disillusionment Charm on me and together, we set off on our brooms and flew from the outskirts of London right into the city centre.

We landed down in a dark, empty street, a row of houses to our left. From the ones I could see, they were numbered Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Thirteen and Fourteen. But where was Number Twelve? Lupin led me with my trunk a little way down the street to where Number Twelve would be and handed me a piece of parchment. I looked at it. All it said on it in emerald ink was _Number Twelve Grimmauld Place_. But there was no Number Twelve. Then, all of a sudden, a house began squeezing itself between two others. First the roof, then the top floor, then the ground and the garden. I just stared at it.

Next, Lupin and I quickly walked up that path towards the house. He rang the doorbell on the doorframe. A large shriek suddenly issued from behind the door as well as footsteps running through the hall. The door opened and there was Dad. The shrieks burst out into the night; it sounded like an old woman was being murdered.

'Remus, I warned you not to ring the bell,' shouted Sirius through the screams. He said a quick hello to me before pulling us both inside. The screams were even worse now and I could hear what they were saying.

'_Scum of my flesh!_' screamed the woman. '_Bringing filth to my home! Blood traitor!_'

I put my hands over my ears in order to try and block out the yells, wherever they were coming from. They were so loud and were coming from across the hallway.

'_Blood traitors and half-breeds!_' she bellowed. '_Tainting my house!_'

'Oh, shut up, you old hag!' shouted Sirius. He walked away from me and across the hall. I followed him with my eyes. He'd walked over to a pair of musty curtains which were blowing open. The voice which was screaming seemed to be coming from behind them. Moving closer I saw what it was.

It was a large portrait of a woman in her late sixties, early seventies. She had greying black hair drawn back in a bun and black robes over her well endowed chest and body. She was sitting in a thrown-like chair. Her eyes were the same sort of grey as Dad's. And when she saw me, they narrowed so dangerously I thought she would leap from the painting and attack me.

'_Who is that?_' she shrieked, pointing a finger at me. '_What filth have you brought into my house? Besmirching it even more than you already do with your own filthy blood!_'

'That is my daughter,' snarled Sirius. He grabbed one of the curtains and began to force it over the portrait. He called Lupin over to help him as I stared at the woman. 'She is my flesh and blood and you will not torment her like you did me.'

'_Blood traitor!_' yelled the portrait violently. '_You bring half-breeds and more filth into my house! You dishonour your name! The family name!_'

'Silence!' bellowed Sirius over her. And with one final effort, he and Lupin shut the curtains again and the painting fell silent.

'Who is that?' I asked Dad, removing my hands from over my ears.

'That,' panted Sirius, leaning against the wall by the portrait, 'is your grandmother.'

Whoa. If that was my grandmother on my Dad's side, I'd hate to see what the rest of my family were like. I already had a rough view of them; I knew they were all in support of Voldemort's ideas of pureblood supremacy and whatnot but I hadn't taken Dad seriously about being cast off because he wasn't in Slytherin with the rest of them. Now I did.

Dad returned to me afterwards. I saw that he'd cleaned up a bit and finally got a haircut.

'Hi, Jenna,' said Sirius. 'Sorry about that.' He gave me a hug. But as he did so, I got a very strong scent of something that seemed to be alcohol, like the stuff you could by in the Three Broomsticks, coming from him. And Dad stank of it.

'Dad, have you been drinking?' I asked him. He just shrugged and smiled.

'Might have had a bit of Firewhiskey,' he said, 'nothing much. Being back here brings back bad memories.' Dad's tone had dropped slightly as he said that. 'Still, I warn you: best be quiet when coming downstairs or you'll wake her up again.'

That was something I knew I didn't want to do. Whenever I came down from my room, I always had to tiptoe past that portrait. I didn't much appreciate being called a half-breed by my own grandmother.

Grimmauld Place had to be the most depressing house I'd ever been in. And it was extremely filthy. The room I was staying in was dark and dank, the windows encrusted with mould as with every other room in the house. In the basement was the kitchen which was about the warmest room in the house, when the fire was lit or the stove was on. There was also another someone who did not appreciate my presence there; Kreacher, a house-elf with a very low opinion of everything and everyone, who was meant to obey me, took one look at me and instantly muttered, 'Scum of my mistress's flesh. Filthy half-breed.' Lovely.

I was in Grimmauld Place for a total of two weeks before I got any company other than Dad or Lupin. I was told to try and clean up as much of the house as I could by myself, seeing as Kreacher hadn't cleaned anything in years, and I was to keep away from the kitchen at certain times of the day. When I asked why, Lupin said it didn't concern me. During that time though, I discovered something about Dad that made me doubt the relationship I would have with him.

Dad had told me not to go up to the second floor (Grimmauld Place was a _big_ house), and that it was off limits. And as I'm sure I've already stated, curiosity got the better of me, something I got from both my parents seeing as they were both Marauders.

I'd gone past the stairs to it when I heard something scratching. I climbed the stairs and followed the sound. There was only two doors, one with the name _Sirius_, the other _Regulus._ Opening the door on the right I saw Buckbeak in there. I bowed to him and got one back. I gave him a friendly pat. As I looked around, I saw the room was as dank as the others. There was a large bed, a tall window with velvet curtains and a chandelier on the ceiling. There were loads of posters on the walls as well as old faded Gryffindor banners. I looked up at them, brushing off the dust. Dad must have really hated his parents to do this to annoy them.

There were only four photos on the wall. One was of him and his friends when they were at Hogwarts. But it was a different one that got my attention. It was one of Dad and his brother. He looked oddly familiar to me. As I stared at him, at Dad's brother, something in the back of my mind was niggling at me. What was it about him that I recognised?

Just then the door opened behind me and I looked up. It was Dad and he did not look happy. In fact, he looked more like the man I'd seen in the photos two years ago in the _Prophet_ when he'd escaped Azkaban.

'I thought I told you not to come in here,' he said darkly, striding up to me and taking the photo out of my hand.

'Sorry, Dad,' I said. Surely it didn't really matter? 'I just heard something in here and I went to have a look.'

'Jenna, I told you not to come in here and you disobeyed me,' snapped Sirius. 'Don't you know the meaning of "off limits"?'

'Dad, come on,' I said. I'd backed away from him slightly; he was scaring me, I'd never seen him like this before. 'All I did was feed Buckbeak and look at some photos.'

'You are _not_ to come in here again!' shouted Sirius suddenly. It made me jump. I don't think he'd even heard what I'd said. 'This room is out of bounds! Now get out!'

I just stared at him, my heart thumping and breathing heavily from the shock of him shouting. There was so much hatred and anger in his face as he stared down at me. His eyes didn't look like the kind ones I'd seen before. And as I stared at him, his expression suddenly changed as if he'd seen something in me he'd seen before.

'Jenna, I –' he started but I didn't stick around. I'd just seen a side of my Dad I never wanted to see again and I ran out of the room. Straight into Lupin.

'Jenna?' he gasped, quietly. I jumped and stared up in shock at him. 'What the – what on earth's the matter?'

'Dad, he –' I started shakily but I couldn't speak. 'He just shouted at me for no reason, he … he hates me.'

'What? Why would you ever think that?' asked Lupin.

He led me away from the room and back downstairs to the kitchen. He could see how shaken I was and made me a drink to calm me down. Once I had, he asked me again why I'd said what I said and I explained to him what happened a few minutes beforehand. And what he said in response to it made my heart sink.

'Jenna, what you've got to understand,' began Lupin almost sadly, 'is that Sirius has had a very distressing life. He was hated by his parents and looked to his friends for relief from that, acting the fool and being immature. And when he was sent to Azkaban, he never really had a time to mature from the prankster he'd been at school. Sure, he'd matured somewhat when he finished and married your Mum but he was twenty­-one when he was falsely imprisoned.

'He didn't have the responsibilities he does now. For the years he was in prison, he blamed himself and was absolutely unhinged by James and Lily's deaths and on top of that, he thought you were dead too so he had more guilt at letting Tala down when he lost you.' Lupin let out a sigh and pushed back his hair. 'Now that he has you, he … he doesn't know how to take care of you. The last time he did, you were barely a year old and all he had was the basis Tala had set him, his experiences from his parents and help from me, Lily and James.'

'But that doesn't explain why he just – _snapped_ at me for no reason,' I said. 'OK, yes, I went in the room he told me to keep out of but there was no reason to just lose it.'

'Sirius, unfortunately, inherited his father's quick temper,' explained Lupin. 'Never once though did he lose it at school; Tala always put him in his place one way or another when things got him angry. He only really lost it once … when Tala was raped.' I gasped. My Mum had been raped? 'I don't know why Sirius shouted at you, Jenna, but you do tend to not do as you're told … just like he did. You look so much like your mum _and_ are like both her and Sirius himself that perhaps you remind him of what he lost so it's hard to cope with at the moment, always having you here. Plus he has the responsibilities of being Harry's godfather –'

Hold on, what? Responsibilities of being Harry's godfather? He's my father, first and foremost, I should take precedence over Harry, not the other way around. I'm his bloody daughter for God's sake. Surely he should look after me first?

'What's Harry got to do with it?' I asked Lupin. 'This isn't about him, this is about me and how _my_ Dad overreacted for no reason.'

'Jenna, Harry is Sirius's godson. Like it or not, Sirius has to look out for him as well as you. James was Sirius's best friend at school and so he, Lily and Harry will always be an important part of his life.'

'And what about my Mum?' I said, my voice shaking. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Plus I couldn't believe what I was saying. 'Was she not important? Was she part of his life or just the sister of his friend? Or will he just brush off his own daughter for someone who isn't even his own blood?'

'Jenna, I don't mean that at all,' said Lupin tiredly. 'You're just going to have to learn that he has more than one person to look after, not just you.'

'He's my father!' I shouted suddenly, standing up from my chair. It just burst out of me. 'I've only just got him back! Surely he should first get to know his own child before running about after someone else's! Make up for those years I spent without anyone! He knows nothing about me! He should put me first, not Harry! I have the right to him!'

'Jenna –!'

I didn't want to hear anymore so I walked away, Lupin calling after me. I went straight to my bedroom and sat on my bed in the darkness. Someone did knock on my door about ten minutes later and Dad called through it to me but I didn't answer. I was thinking again, and feeling ashamed of myself for saying what I did. Harry was my best friend, how could I have acted like that when he was mentioned. What was wrong with me?

I started thinking about what had happened last year. Actually, the events of last year had never really left my mind. Every night in my dreams I was always back in the graveyard, reliving the moment Cedric died in front of me; it would stop straight after that because I'd been unconscious. I wouldn't cry anymore though. I hadn't cried since when Cho had shouted at me about him. I physically couldn't cry about anything actually. But this time, however, I was thinking about Harry. Harry and the relationship he'd had with my Dad the previous year. Dad had been so concerned for his safety, always writing to him and never having any messages for me in the letters. He only really cared about how I was when I was in the hospital wing. A horrible twinge went through my stomach, and it was one I'd felt before: jealousy. But me? Jealous of Harry? Why should I be? We had literally everything in common. What did he have that I didn't?

It turned out to be something I craved more than anything in the world. Something I had but never realised.

Two weeks before the end of July, some more people turned up at Grimmauld Place. A whole load of people actually. I'd been up in my room when I heard the yells of my grandmother's portrait come from downstairs so I went out on to the landing looking over the banister to see who it was.

It was the Weasleys. All of them, apart from Percy. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Mr and Mrs Weasley. And not just them but Hermione as well. What were they all doing here? The only other people I'd seen come in and out of Grimmauld Place were people who came at random times of the day and stayed down in the kitchen; I'd discovered that whenever they were here, some sort of meeting was taking place. The Order was mentioned but the only Order I knew of was the one I'd kept hearing about when my Mum died. I'd met some of them too: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance and Nymphadora Tonks, my cousin and boy, was she cool; she was a Metamorphmagus and could change her appearance to anything she wanted and was usually seen with bubblegum pink hair (only I knew what she really looked like). She ruled!

Anyway, once the screaming had gone thanks to Lupin and Dad closing the curtains over the portrait, I went downstairs to greet Ron, Hermione and the others. Coming downstairs, Dad moved us all into the kitchen so we could talk properly. Mrs Weasley was pleased to see me though not at my appearance ('Remus, don't you feed her at all?' she asked) and gave me the usual tight hug. Once free from that, I went over to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

'What are you guys all doing here?' I asked after I'd greeted them. 'Not that I don't appreciate the company. All I've been doing here is cleaning. And where's Percy?'

'Don't mention Percy in front of Mum or Dad,' warned Ron in a low voice. 'He's um … not in their good books.'

I looked at him and raised my eyebrow, 'Something to do with the Ministry?' Ron nodded.

Turned out Percy had completely sided with Fudge over the whole "Lord Voldemort has returned" thing and now that he was Undersecretary to the Minister or whatever he was now made him even more big-headed than he normally was because of his higher position.

'And we're here because Mum just told us to pack our trunks and not to ask questions.'

'We were actually hoping you could tell us why we're here,' said Ginny. 'She said we were going to see you and that was about all.'

'I've been here since the beginning of the holidays,' I said. 'Mainly cleaning and keeping away from the kitchen anytime Lupin told me to do so.' I didn't mention the incident with Dad or him smelling of alcohol. 'Random people kept turning up and stuff.' I lowered my voice. 'They keep having these weird meetings down here,' I whispered, 'calling themselves the Order of the Phoenix. Even Dumbledore's been here.'

'What do they talk about?' asked Hermione.

'I'm not sure. The meetings have only been about half an hour long. All I've heard from being upstairs when they leave is that they're trying to set up some sort of headquarters. You noticed that the house sort of appears, right?' The three of them nodded. 'Well, apparently they put the Fidelius Charm or something on it.'

Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked at each other then back at me. They seemed to agree with me. Something weird was going on.

By the end of July, me, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George spent our time going round various rooms of the house which we were going to use and cleaning them from top to bottom (not forgetting to send Harry some things for his birthday, we all chipped in). Some were so dirty they took more than a day to do. And under Mrs Weasley's supervision, we couldn't really discuss what was happening elsewhere throughout the day.

Whatever was happening down in the kitchen became more regular as July faded away and more and more people were seen coming to and from the house. We only got to meet them if we purposely walked downstairs as they left. Our curiosity of what happened when they came was immense, so much so that we took it in turns to try and listen in at the door but they kept catching us; we tried these long flesh-like things Fred and George had invented called Extendable Ears but soon the door had an Imperturbable Charm put on it; I even tried hiding in the cupboards but Lupin knew me so well, he always knew if I was hiding somewhere. So, no luck there and we were still in the dark.

We did managed to find some things out though. Grimmauld Place had become the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix I'd found out about before Hermione, Ron and the rest of the Weasleys had got here hence the Fidelius Charm put on the house. Dumbledore was in charge of the Order and all those people we'd met were part of it, including Mr and Mrs Weasley, Lupin, Dad, and Bill and Charlie. And the main topics we heard were about Voldemort and stuff to do with him. But also, Harry was brought up regularly in conversation.

Harry was still at Privet Drive. Me, Ron and Hermione sent regular letters to him but his replies never seemed to be happy. Least he hadn't been reading the _Daily Prophet_. Fudge had been building on the rubbish Rita Skeeter had written over the previous year and virtually all the wizarding world thought Harry was a dirty liar and Dumbledore was a crackpot, not that I hadn't doubted his sanity in the past. Even I was mentioned and I'd only been involved by accident.

Still, what were we to do when we were always busy cleaning and forbidden by Dumbledore himself from telling Harry where we were and stuff. I was the busiest out the three of us though; twice during one week Kingsley, Auror in charge of the search for Dad, had called me in for questioning and pretended not to know me as he did so, always apologising afterwards for his roughness.

By the start of August, still nothing had been done to get Harry away from the Dursleys (which in previous years had happened by now) and I was getting agitated by all the stuff going on in Grimmauld Place. And not being allowed to tell Harry got me even more annoyed. I knew what it was like to be kept in the dark about something (my Dad being Sirius Black for example) and considering now what they talked about involved Harry somehow, I believed he had a right to know. So I did something about it.

On the first of August, I spent most of the day sneaking things into my multi-coloured school bag from the kitchen and various other things I thought I'd need including my wand while I wasn't busy cleaning with the others. Of course, that afternoon before I was to leave Ron, Hermione and Ginny caught me and I had to explained to them what I was going to do.

'You're going to fly over to Harry's?' said Hermione shrilly. It sounded so bad when she said it … so what? 'Jenna, do you know how much trouble you'll be in if you get caught?'

'Well, I'm not going to be caught, am I?' I said. 'Because you three are going to cover for me and not tell Lupin or Mrs Weasley or Dad where I've gone. And anyway, I'm not using a broom so I won't be seen.'

'What are you using then?' asked Ron curiously.

'Ever heard of Thestrals?' I said. The three of them looked at each other, then at me and shook their heads. 'Thestrals are winged horses which are invisible to those who haven't seen death.' Hermione and Ginny gasped slightly. I rolled my eyes; they could be such girls sometimes. 'So I'll be invisible to anyone who sees me. Plus they have an excellent sense of direction.'

'Jenna, you shouldn't go,' said Hermione worriedly. 'You could get injured or something.'

'You ain't seen me fly, Hermione.'

I went over to the window in my bedroom and forced it open. There was so much grime and dirt on it you could barely see out of it. When it was open enough for me to slip through (I was very thin normally anyway) I climbed out of it and hung on to the windowsill, my feet against the house. I could still hear Hermione whining inside. Next, pushing myself away from the house and going into freefall, I quickly thought of a Thestral and felt its wings spread at my shoulder blades before the rest of my body changed.

Flapping high enough to look over Grimmauld Place, I looked down to my window before turning round and flying off towards Surrey, my old home.

OK, I didn't anticipate how fast Thestrals could fly. It was usually about an hour and a half by car or something (I'd been to London on a day trip when I was about six with The Refuge) but this was going much faster. With each flap of the wings on my shoulders, I streaked over countryside and houses with a blink of an eye. London soon disappeared and Surrey began to loom. And what was strange was that I knew exactly where I was going yet I'd never been to Privet Drive in my life. But seeing as it didn't take too long, I decided to take a little detour.

I flew over to the centre of Surrey and back to The Refuge.

I landed in one of my old haunts, a large tunnel I'd found beneath a road bridge. Transforming back, I climbed out of the tunnel and looked around. Nothing had really changed here. It was still as run down and as graffitied as it'd always been. There was still the "AiN't GivE nO ShIt!" painted on the wall. God, I missed it; first swearword I learnt. Never used it though, funnily enough. Walking out from under the bridge, I climbed up the bank and on to the main road. The traffic was as busy as always. Shouldering my bag, I headed back to my old home.

The walk to The Refuge didn't take long. It was nice walking back along the old streets I used to wander so often. I saw the park, the café, the police station (yes, the police station. Well, they did take me back to the orphanage so often) and I saw that old library where that guy had given me that book I'd never read. Ah, the memories. Continuing on, I turned the corner on South Street into Juxton Avenue and there it was: The Refuge Orphanage.

Slowly I walked up to the old building I'd lived in for ten years and pushed open the door. I saw that it had had some refurbishment; the door had been replaced, the walls had been painted and there was new furniture in the reception. It had really changed a lot. Wanting to see who was still here and what else had changed, I went over to the desk and rang the bell.

It was a few minutes before anyone came out. It was Matron! She'd aged a bit but when she saw me, her face seemed to take on a look of disbelief.

'Could it be?' she said slowly, taking in every inch of me. 'It couldn't be little Jennifer, can it?'

'Yeah, Matron,' I said, 'it's me, Jenna.'

Matron covered her mouth with her hand as she gasped.

'Jenna, my, how you've grown!' she said, coming out from behind the counter and giving me a hug. 'Your hair, your clothes, you look so mature and grown up.' I looked down myself; all I was wearing were some jeans with a pattern on the right thigh, a pale rainbow shirt and a Hogwarts Gryffindor hoody round my waist (probably not a good idea), while my hair was thrown into a loose long plait. 'You've changed so much from the little girl you were.'

'Really, I haven't changed at all,' I said, quite embarrassed.

'And how's your uncle?' asked Matron. 'And school?' I hesitated slightly. I couldn't tell her about Hogwarts or being a witch.

'Um, he's good,' I said. 'And school's a lot of fun. One of the top in my year with my best friend and I'm doing my OWL— I mean, GCSE's now. Chemistry, History, you know.'

The next half an hour or so Matron kept me talking about this, that and the other on what had happened after I left the orphanage. Once I got away, I went to have a look around. The rooms had improved a lot and the beds had all been replaced by newer ones. I saw several kids run past me and in the TV room none of whom I recognised except one …

'Well, look who's come crawling back.'

I looked behind me to see a girl a little bit shorter than me with short curly red hair and brown eyes: Mandy. She'd changed so much. Her face was plastered in make-up, she was wearing a skimpy green tank top and a short brown skirt that left nothing to the imagination.

'Wittle Jenna been dumped again, has she?' she asked, striding up to me.

'Mandy, still here?' I said sarcastically, watching her carefully. 'Oh, one more year and you'll be on your way to the halfway house, right?' She glared at me.

'Watch it, bitch,' snarled Mandy. She thrust her hand forward so it was on the wall behind me level with my face; she stepped up to me so we were literally face-to-face. 'We're not little girls anymore and I can do a lot more damage than I used to.'

I smirked. Oh, if only she knew what I could do to her, that would put her right.

'And just what would that be?' I asked. I expected Mandy to do something to me when footsteps began approaching us. 'You haven't changed a bit,' I said slowly. 'Well, except into a slut. Never having the guts to do anything wrong in plain sight.'

'Mandy!' called a voice behind her. 'Who you talking to?' The pair of us looked up. A guy with long, floppy brown hair with red and blond highlights in it came striding up to us. He looked oddly familiar to me. He was also pretty cute. 'Who's this pretty girl then?' he asked. He smiled at me.

'She's anything but pretty,' said Mandy, glaring back at me but stepping away. 'You remember Jenna, don't you?'

'Jenna?' repeated the guy in disbelief. I looked at him curiously. 'Mandy, could you give us a minute.' It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Mandy glanced at him.

'Don't be too long, Rick.' Her voice had changed; it was more … sweet, almost sickly. She even ran her hand down his chest before walking away, swinging her hips. I just watched amazed, my eyebrow raised in disgust.

Once she'd gone, I turned to the guy.

'Rick?' I said hesitantly. He turned to face me. 'Not the little boy I knew all those years ago? The only boy I actually got on with?'

'Sort of, Jenna,' he said, laughing slightly. My face broke into a smile and he pulled me into a hug. Wow, I couldn't believe how much he'd changed. 'It's been a long time, Jenna,' said Rick, pulling back. 'How come you haven't visited or kept in touch?'

'I've been through a lot since I left here,' I said, smiling. 'And half of it you wouldn't even believe if I told you.' Well, he wouldn't.

'Doesn't seem to have done you any harm.' I noticed Rick's eyes wander up and down my body. 'You look amazing.' OK, I hadn't expected that. I never liked comments about my appearance.

'But what about you?' I said, changing the subject. 'You can't still be here?'

'Nah, I got adopted two years after you,' shrugged Rick. 'I just come back regularly to visit.'

'And what about Mandy?'

'She's still here.' That wasn't what I meant.

'I meant that … thing just now.'

'Oh, that.' Rick looked at his feet and rubbed his neck. 'Mandy's got it into her head that I … _like_ her just because I asked her to the cinema once. In all honesty she's just a bit of a slut.'

Couldn't agree more.

Rick and I spent ages talking, leaving the orphanage together and going to the nearby park. We sat on the swings together and just continued talking. It was so nice catching up. It turned out that he'd been adopted by a couple who couldn't have anymore kids and had a foster brother named Jaden yet they were both at different schools.

It was half nine and was starting to get dark so I decided to find a place I could camp out as an animal overnight before going to Harry's the next day. I have to say I didn't want to leave Rick; I wanted to continue talking to him, to catch up after not seeing him for five years but I needed to find somewhere to stay.

'Well, it was nice seeing you again, Jenna,' said Rick, giving me a hug.

'Yeah, you too,' I said. 'Take care of yourself, Rick. And I'll see you when I next see you.'

'Yeah.' Rick smiled before brushing back my loose hair and kissing my cheek. 'Bye, Jenna.'

Though stunned that Rick had kissed my cheek (certainly not the first boy to do it) considering I hadn't seen him for so long, I said, 'Bye.' before walking off, my hand on my cheek where he'd kissed me.

That night I spent in my tunnel under the bridge, curled up as a cat on the ground. It wasn't exactly that comfortable but it was dry and cool so it wasn't too bad. Took me a while to get comfortable and I didn't fall asleep for a few hours but all in all, I've had worse. I fell asleep at midnight thanks to the traffic then woke again at seven when the rush hour started towards London. I'd changed back into my normal self during the night.

Getting out of the tunnel, I pulled out my bag and took out a clean shirt, a brown checked one with pockets on the chest and rolled up sleeves. Pulling it on and wrapping my hoody round my waist, I set off toward the main road and back towards my old primary school. From there I roughly knew where I was going. Stopping off at the newsagents to grab something to eat (Hermione had lent me some money while I was hanging out the window at Grimmauld), asking where Privet Drive was, before I set off.

It took me a good part of the day to find Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk. I caught a bus which led me near to it but it took two hours just to get there. It was way past lunch by the time I got off and so I went to get some fish and chips. Wandering around eating my chips, I saw a batty-looking lady walk past me with two string bags full of cans, muttering about something. I recognised her. It was Arabella Figg. She'd been to one of the meetings at Grimmauld Place earlier in the summer. I didn't know she lived near Harry. Shoving my chips in my bag, I followed her at a distance.

She led me through the streets and into a large cul-de-sac. She'd brought me right into Wisteria Walk and Magnolia Crescent. I'd never seen so many houses packed into one area, all looking exactly alike, even the gardens! All so perfect and repetitive. Knowing I was now near Harry's house, I stopped in the nearby park and hid in the bushes, also noticing something. This was the park I'd been left in all those years ago.

Anyway, I hid in the bushes and pulled out a quill and piece of parchment I'd brought with me in my bag. Quickly, I scribbled a note on it before rolling it up and placing it back in my bag. Sticking my head out of the bushes and seeing no one about, I stepped out of them, transforming at the same time into a black dog, before running off after Mrs Figg, still keeping my distance though.

It was late afternoon now and it was swelteringly hot. Walking down the pavement, I looked over each of the small hedges looking for Number Four. Every one of them had the same pristine flowerbeds with the same little flowers. It was almost sickening.

Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere came a loud _crack_, exactly like the one that sounded when someone had Apparated or Disapparated. I instantly took cover by leaping over the low bush into someone's garden. If I was caught now, I'd be done for. I crouched low in the flowerbed, peering through the branches; across the road I could hear someone's low voice growling at something or someone before –

'Out! Get out, you mongrel!'

I felt something hit my leg and saw Mrs Figg swinging a broom at me. I'd leapt into her garden. Getting to my paws, I leapt back over the bush and ran down into the next street. Looking back, she was still waving her fist at me. But behind me, I heard footsteps go past. It was Harry! Quickly, I turned tail and ran after him.

I followed Harry all the way back to the park I'd hidden my bag in. What luck. But it took ages to catch up to him. Harry was striding up the path at a rate of knots, walking with his hands in his pockets and a glare on his face. Several times I barked at him but he never responded. I even ran up to him and jumped at his feet, like a dog would do, but I merely got, 'Get lost!' Pleasant. Still following, I watched Harry vault over the park gate before squeezing through the bars after him considering someone had locked it. Harry had gone and sat on the swings.

Still acting as if I was a dog, I padded up to him and sat at his feet, tilting my head to one side and looking at him.

'What do you want?' he growled at me. 'Find someone else to bug!'

I merely raised one of my ears before getting on to my hind legs and resting my front paws on his shoulders. I stared straight into his eyes. And as he looked back, he seemed to realise who I was. Well, not at first.

'Sirius?' he whispered, almost hopefully. I continued to look at him curiously. 'Jenna?' he tried again.

I let out a happy bark before running off to the bushes and getting my bag and that piece of parchment I'd written on earlier. Taking it back to him, I placed it on his lap before looking back at him. Harry picked up the parchment, opened it and read it, before looking around and at me and nodding.

A few seconds later, I stood in front of Harry in my usual form.

'Hey,' I said happily, 'took you long enough. I said be over soon so, here I am!' (I'd said so in the birthday card I'd sent him).

'Jenna, what are you doing here?' said Harry, disbelievingly. 'Does Lupin and Snuffles know you're here.' Ah, about that …

'Yeah,' I said. 'He let me come see some of my old friends.' I looked at Harry for a second before changing the subject. He'd changed quite a bit: he was taller and thinner than when I last saw him but not like Ron, an unhealthy thin. Plus his hair was a little longer as well but still as messy as always. 'Harry, you look as thin as I do. Good job I've got these.' I dug into my bag and pulled out the last of my chips. 'Sorry they're a bit cold but least it's food.'

'Oh, thanks, Jen.' Harry took them gratefully and started eating them. Then, 'Would you mind telling me what's been going on?'

That left me in a very bad position. I hadn't not expected this but certainly not as soon as this. I ended up not telling Harry very much, only that I'd been somewhere which wasn't my home since the beginning of the summer and that Ron, Hermione and the other Weasleys had joined me two weeks ago. Harry didn't seem to happy; his eyes had darkened and he wouldn't look at me. That was when I noticed something.

A group of boys, no older than Harry or me and certainly a lot bigger, came walking past the park, laughing and guffawing with each other. I watched as they passed. They seemed to be laughing about just having beaten someone up by the sound of it. Beside me, Harry was watching as well. Once they'd passed, I spoke.

'Who were they?'

'No one,' said Harry. He got up off his swing and started to walk off.

Getting up, I followed Harry. He vaulted the gate again, me climbing over after him, and up the road towards where the large boys had been a few minutes ago. I had to walk quickly to catch up with Harry. He was going after the last boy who was walking towards Privet Drive.

'Hey, Big D!' Harry had shouted to the guy. The boy stopped and looked back at us.

'Oh,' he grunted. 'It's you.'

Harry strode up to him, me just behind and said, 'How long have you been "Big D" then?' I looked at the guy. He was big with short sandy blonde hair; he was wearing a red and blue t-shirt and a thick gold chain round his fat neck. And it clicked. It was Dudley! Harry's cousin. Boy, had he changed.

'Shut it,' he snarled, turning away. 'Who's the chick?'

I let out a hiss of annoyance at that while Harry replied who I was before continuing to goad Dudley about his name. He just kept teasing him, even pulling out his wand, as if he was enjoying it, following him as Dudley walked onwards into an alley. But seeing Dudley get more and more angry scared me slightly and I moved back behind Harry. But then he said something that got to me as well.

'Not this brave at night, are you?' sneered Dudley suddenly, causing Harry to stop.

'This _is_ night, Diddykins,' replied Harry, glaring at him. 'That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this.'

'I mean when you're in bed.' I looked at Dudley curiously then back at Harry. Harry had stopped walking. I stopped too.

'What d'you mean, I'm not brave when I'm in bed?' he asked, nonplussed. 'What am I supposed to be frightened of, pillows or something?'

'I heard you last night,' said Dudley, breathlessly. 'Talking in your sleep. _Moaning_.'

'Harry, what is he talking about?' I asked but Harry didn't answer.

'"Don't kill Cedric!"' My heart sank the moment Dudley said that. How did he know about Cedric? '"Don't kill Cedric!" Who's Cedric – your boyfriend.'

'I – you're lying,' said Harry instantly but something in his voice didn't sound right.

Then, all of a sudden, a chill went down my spine and I felt the warm summer night suddenly turn very cold. And it wasn't the normal sort of cold. It was a cold I'd felt so many times in my life that I could never mistake it for anything else. And Harry hadn't even noticed; he had Dudley up against the wall, pointing his wand at him.

'Harry,' I said slowly, glancing up into the night sky cautiously.

'Don't ever talk about that again,' snarled Harry viciously. 'D'you understand me?'

'Point that thing somewhere else!' said Dudley.

'I said,_ do you understand me?_'

'Harry,' I said again, a little louder and gently pulling his sleeve.

'_Point it somewhere else!_'

'DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?'

'Harry!' I shouted desperately now.

'GET THAT THING AWAY FROM –'

Dudley suddenly stop talking and gave an odd, shuddering gasp. And I saw it, floating above us in the sky. Two tall, black, ripped masses of material, their faces and scabbed hands hidden in the cloaks: Dementors. Beside me, Dudley was whimpering for Harry to stop whatever he was doing but he wasn't doing anything while Harry was telling him to shut up. I, meanwhile, was reaching into my bag trying to find my wand.

'I'll t-tell Dad!' whimpered Dudley. 'W-where are you? What are you d-do—?'

'Will you shut up?' hissed Harry. 'I'm trying to lis—'

Next moment there was nothing but silence. I tried to look around the alley but it was in completely darkness. Somewhere beside me, Dudley was now threatening Harry who had finally realised what was going on and was trying to make him shut up when there came a WHAM and I heard Harry yell and something push me to the floor as it ran past me.

'Harry?' I said worriedly. I'd dropped my wand. 'Harry, where are you?'

'DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! JENNA, KEEP STILL!'

I couldn't see Harry anywhere. Then, there was a light beside me and I saw Harry's wand just across the alley from me, illuminating me. Then, all of a sudden, my body tensed as I felt the familiar feeling of my happiness draining from me, my worse memories coming to light. My time in the orphanage; Harry hating me; Cedric's death; Voldemort's cruel laughter ringing through me head …the Dementor was going to kill me … I'd never see my friends again, Ron or Hermione or Harry … Harry …

Trying to get a grip on myself, I shouted, '_Accio_ wand!' and my wand came back to my outstretched hand. Then, thinking of Harry again, I gripped it tightly, thinking of the day I first met him and shouted, '_Expecto Patronum!_'

My horse Patronus burst from my wand shining brightly white in the dark black alleyway: Hooves. It stood over me for a second or two before rearing up on to its hind legs and charging at the Dementor behind me. Then –

'_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_'

A second later another white light started to my left and I saw the antlers of Harry's stag Patronus thrust away the second Dementor. Together, both of our Patronuses chased away the Dementors as they tried to get at me, Harry and Dudley (the one that had attacked me was about to give Dudley the kiss), until they finally retreated back into the sky, the warmth of the summer night returning. On the ground, Dudley was lying curled up in a ball, Harry near to him standing in the alley. I merely released the breath I was holding and leant back against the wall. Dementors in Little Whinging.

And just as I was about to put my wand away –

'Don't put it away, idiot boy!' came a shrill voice from the end of the alley. 'You two, madam! What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to _kill_ Mundungus Fletcher!' It was Mrs Figg.

Damn it. Busted.

To say Harry was completely bemused would have described it perfectly. He had no idea Mrs Figg was a witch, or rather a Squib. And of course, he didn't have a clue who Mundungus Fletcher was. But I knew who they were and they knew who I was and now I'd been discovered all hell to pay was going to break out when Lupin and Dad found out if my cover at home hadn't been blown yet.

'He left you completely without cover when I'd _warned_ him –' Mrs Figg was saying angrily. 'By the way, _missy_,' indicating me, 'when your father hears you have runaway down here, he will go barking mad. You knew you weren't supposed to see Harry till later –'

Harry cut her off by asking her more questions, which I was thankful for because it got her off the subject of my running away. As Harry did this, she turned on to Dudley and told him to get his "fat bottom" off the floor and that we needed to get out of the alley if the Dementors came back. She tried to pull him up but he wouldn't move. In the end, Harry and I both hauled him to his feet and together carried him back to Privet Drive.

On the way though, Harry turned to me after questioning Mrs Figg.

'Lupin didn't know you were here, did he?' he asked.

'Er … no,' I replied. No point in lying now was there?

Before we got there though, we met someone else, just Apparating in front of us: Mundungus Fletcher.

''S'up, Figgy?' he said jovially. 'Hi, Jenna.' I just nodded my head slightly as he started staring from Mrs Figg to Harry, to me and Dudley. 'What 'appened to staying undercover?'

'I'll give you _undercover_!' cried Mrs Figg. '_Dementors_, you useless, skiving sneak thief!'

She began to hit him with her string bag as he tried to block her hits.

'Ouch – gerroff – gerroff, you mad old bat!' shouted Dung in pain. 'Someone's gotta tell Dumbledore!'

'Yes – they – have!' yelled Mrs Figg, swinging the bag of cat food at every bit of Mundungus she could reach. 'And – it – had – better – be – you – and – you – can – tell – him – why – you – weren't – there – to – help!'

'Keep your 'airnet on!' said Mundungus, his arms over his head, cowering. 'I'm going, I'm going!'

And with another loud _crack_, he vanished.

Mrs Figg continued to mutter about the incident all the way back to Privet Drive. Harry also continued to question her about what she was on about. I merely kept silent, helping Harry support his fat cousin back to their house and thinking about how badly Lupin was going to kill me when I got back to Grimmauld Place. When we finally made it back to Number Four, I stowed my wand back in my bag as the front door opened. Mrs Figg had already disappeared.

'Diddy!' said a voice, opening the door. It was Harry's aunt. 'About time too, I was getting quite – quite –' I watched as a terrified look went over her face. '_Diddy, what's the matter?_'

I lifted Dudley's arm off my neck as Harry did the same and stepped back from him. He swayed dangerously for a minute before leaning forwards and vomiting all over the doorstep. Eww, gross. 'DIDDY!' shrieked Petunia. 'Diddy, what's the matter with you? Vernon? VERNON!'

Harry's Uncle Vernon came charging from wherever he came from and looked at the sight of us on the doorstep. Meanwhile, Petunia was still fussing over Dudley, asking what had happened and stuff and bundling him inside. Neither of them seem to notice me or Harry, him just in the hallway and me standing by the doorstep, away from the vomit. Then, a loud yell pounded from a nearby room and Vernon came back to the hall.

'BOY! COME HERE!'

Harry and I looked at each other briefly, him giving me a secret nod of his head to get out of there. His uncle was glaring at both of us.

'I'd better go now,' I said slowly, pointing behind me and turning away.

'Oh no,' shouted Vernon. 'You're staying here till I know what's happened! What have you done to my son?'

I sighed and followed Harry into the living room (their house was immaculate!) and stood beside him nervously in the presence of his uncle. Harry had replied to his question but he did seem to believe him. And because I'd helped bring Dudley home, I was being accused as well.

'What did he and the girl do to you, Diddy?' asked Petunia. 'Did he use – his _thing?_'

Dudley nodded.

'We didn't!' shouted Harry. 'We didn't do anything to him, it wasn't us, it was –'

'The girl's a – like _you_?' bellowed Vernon. His small eyes glared at me.

'Yes, _Jenna's a witch_,' snapped Harry impatiently.

But just then a screech owl came swooping into the kitchen through the window, almost cuffing Vernon on the top of his head, and dropped a letter at Harry's feet as Vernon bellowed in anger about owls.

It was from the Ministry of Magic. Harry and I had been expelled from Hogwarts. I'd been expelled. I wasn't going back. It was over. I felt a numbness start down my body and I looked across at Harry. He took was looking extremely shocked. But then, he turned out of the kitchen, pulling out his wand.

'Harry?'

'Where d'you think you're going?' yelled Vernon. Harry didn't reply but kept on walking. Vernon blocked the doorway into the hall. 'I haven't finished with you boy!'

'Get out of the way.' said Harry quietly.

'You're going to stay here and explain how my son –'

'If you don't get out of the way I'm going to jinx you,' said Harry, raising his wand.

'You can't pull that one on me!' snarled Vernon. 'I know you're not allowed to use it outside that madhouse you call a school!'

'The madhouse has chucked me out, me and Jenna,' said Harry. 'So we can do whatever we like. You're got three seconds. One – two –'

'Harry, stop it!' I shouted but another loud _CRACK_ stopped me.

Harry span round looking for where it had come from. And there on the windowsill was an old, tired-looking, ruffled barn owl: Errol. Harry tore the message away from his leg and opened it; I stepped forwards and read it over his shoulder. It was from Mr Weasley, telling us to stay here, Dumbledore was sorting it out and not use anymore magic. Well duh!

'Right,' said Harry. 'I've changed my mind. I'm staying.' and he took a seat at the kitchen table. Feeling his aunt and uncle's eyes on me, I slowly took a seat next to him.

The next half an hour or so was spent listening to Petunia and Vernon trying to get an answer out of Dudley, which of course was completely false. I just kept silent, listing to them and Harry arguing about it. Wow, they really did hate him. Dudley though was making little sense.

'Felt … felt … felt … as if … as if …'

'As if you'd never be happy again,' Harry supplied dully.

'Yes,' Dudley whispered, still trembling.

'So!' said Vernon, voice restored to full and considerable volume as he straightened up. 'You put some crackpot spell on my so he'd hear voices and believe he was – was doomed to misery, or something, did you?'

'How many times do I have to tell you?' said Harry, temper and voice both rising. '_It wasn't me! _It was a couple of Dementors!'

'A couple of – what's this codswallop?'

'De – men – tors,' said Harry slowly and clearly. 'Two of them.'

'And what the ruddy hell are Dementors?'

'They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban,' said Petunia.

OK, how did Petunia know that? She suddenly covered her mouth as if she'd said something rude. Harry was amazed as I was and asked her how she knew. With Petunia saying she heard it from Harry's dad once, Harry got angry at how she'd referred to them as "awful boy" and "_her_". Once we'd established it was Dementors who'd attacked Dudley though, another owl appeared.

Now Harry and I weren't expelled but were having to face a hearing at the Ministry of Magic, a week after my fifteenth birthday. Great! Well, least we weren't expelled at that moment.

With Vernon muttering about "effing – owls" and asking what exactly happened to Dudley, Harry finally lost his temper.

'Dudley, Jenna and I were in the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. Dudley thought he'd be smart with me, I pulled out my wand but didn't use it. Then two Dementors turned up –'

'But what are Dementoids?' asked Vernon furiously. 'What do they DO?'

'I told you – they suck al the happiness out of you,' said Harry 'and if they get the chance, they kiss you –'

'Kiss you?' said Vernon, his eyes popping slightly. '_Kiss_ you?'

'It's what they call it when they suck the soul out of your mouth,' I said quietly.

Petunia uttered a soft scream. 'His _soul_? They didn't take – he's still got his –' She seized Dudley by the shoulders and shook him, as though testing to see whether she could hear his soul rattling around inside him.

'Of course they didn't get his soul, you'd know if they had,' said Harry, exasperated.

'Fought 'em off, did you, son?' said Vernon loudly. 'Gave 'em the old one-two, did you?'

He was kidding, right? Give a Dementor the old one-two? How stupid can you get?

'You can't give a Dementor _the old one-two_,' said Harry through clenched teeth.

And in came the fourth owl of that evening, right out of the fireplace. And it was from my Dad. Oh dear.

_Arthur has just told us what's happened. Don't leave the house again, whatever you do. Both of you! And Jenna, you're going to be in serious trouble when you get back here._

Damn it!

Eventually, establishing what had happened over the last hour or so and trying to figure out why Dementors were in Little Whinging in the first place and Vernon coming to the conclusion it had to have been because of Harry, Voldemort was brought up (not as soon as I thought he would have been) and Vernon ran out of fire power.

'Lord – hang on,' he said, 'I've heard that name … that was the one who –'

'Murdered my parents, yes,' Harry said dully.

'But he's gone,' said Vernon impatiently. 'That giant bloke said so. He's gone.' Oh, gone was he? Wouldn't he like to know!

'He's back.' said Harry heavily,

'We saw him,' I added, looking at Harry carefully, 'both of us.'

Neither Petunia nor Vernon seemed to know what to say. It was also strange that Voldemort's name had been mentioned and neither of them had flinched. Then, out of the blue –

'Well, that settles it,' said Vernon, his shirt front straining as he inflated himself, '_you can get out of this house boy_!_'_

'What?' said Harry.

'You heard me – OUT! And take your _friend_ with you!' Vernon bellowed.

I jumped at the hatred in his voice. Even Petunia and Dudley jumped in shock.

'OUT! OUT! I should've done this years ago! Owls treating this place like a rest home, puddings exploding, half the lounge destroyed, Dudley's tail, Marge bobbing around on the ceiling and that flying Ford Anglia – OUT! OUT! You've had it! You're history! You're not staying here if some loony's after you, you're not endangering my wife and son, you're not bringing trouble down on us. If you're going the same way as your useless parents, I've had it! OUT!'

And in came a _fifth_ owl but this time holding a red letter: a Howler. And instead of giving it to me or Harry, it deposited it on top of Petunia's head. Harry went to get it but Petunia beat him to it. It was addressed to her as she pointed out to Vernon when he told her not to open it but it had already begun to smoke. It was going to explode any second. Harry kept telling her to open it, that he'd hear it anyway, but it had already exploded into flames.

'_Remember my last, Petunia_.' was all it said before it turned to a pile of ashes.

Vernon was baffled by what it meant. So were me and Harry. Dudley was just staring stupidly at her so no change there. Vernon seemed to lose his voice as he tried to ask what on earth it meant but Petunia merely brushed it off.

'The boy – the boy will have to stay, Vernon,' she said weakly. I almost did a double-take at her. She was saying Harry was to stay? Even Vernon was surprised by it. 'He stays,' she said.

'He … but Petunia …'

'If we throw him out, the neighbours will talk,' she said. She was very pale. 'They'll ask awkward questions, they'll want to now where he's gone. We'll have to keep him, and the girl. We'll say it's a sleepover.'

Hang on, what? Why did I have to stay? And where would I stay anyway?

'You're to stay in your room,' she said, turning to Harry. 'You're not to leave this house. Now go to bed, and take the girl with you,' she added, pointing at me. 'She can sleep on the floor of your room.'

Harry didn't move but asked, 'Who was the Howler from?'

'Don't ask questions,' Aunt Petunia snapped.

'Are you in touch with wizards?'

'I told you to got to bed!'

'What did it mean? Remember the last what?'

'Go to bed!'

'How come –?'

'YOU HEARD YOUR AUNT, NOW GO UP TO BED!'

Harry merely glared at his aunt before turning on his heel and running upstairs. I hastily followed. When I got to his room I saw him leaning over his desk, scribbling something on three pieces of parchment before pacing his room in anger. I'd never seen him like this before. I just silently watched, standing in front of the closed door.

'About time!' snarled Harry when Hedwig flew in the window. She had a dead mouse in her beak. 'Take these straight to Sirius, Ron and Hermione,' he said, tying the parchment to her leg, 'and don't come back here without good long replies. Keep pecking them till they've written decent-length answers if you've got to. Understand?'

Hedwig ruffled her feathers but took off after Harry told her to get going. After that he threw himself down on his bed, still fuming. Deciding it was best to leave him alone, I put my bag down on the floor and changed into a cat, curling up beside his wardrobe to go to sleep.

That night though I woke with a start after having a nightmare. It had started like usual, seeing Cedric's death again in my head. But after that it was different.

_I looked around to see I was in a room full of people. None of them were taking any notice of me. But they weren't even people, they were … shadows. As I continued to look around I saw something lying on the floor. It was a body. Slowly, I walked over to it. As I got closer, a pain started around my neck, where I wore my mother's necklace. My heart was racing as I got closer to the body and its face got clearer._

'_Dad?' I ran the last few steps and I dropped to my knees beside the body. 'Dad? Dad, wake up!' He didn't; he just lay there still, cold and empty. 'Come on, Dad, it's no time to joke! Dad! Dad, please!'_

'_Jenna, wake up.'_

_A voice was shouting at me. It sounded so distant. Then, I felt something grab my arm and something on my face._

'Jenna, wake up!'

I woke with a start, sitting up on the floor and staring through the darkness in front of me. I could feel my heart beating so hard and I was panting heavily. My brow was damp with a cold sweat and I was shaking.

'Jenna, are you OK?' I looked up to see Harry kneeling beside me. I was sitting on his bedroom floor. I just stared at him.

'What happened?' I asked shakily.

'You were having a nightmare or something,' said Harry. His voice had changed from what it was like a couple of hours ago. It was more concerned. 'The feather in your necklace was glowing really weirdly and you tossing around like mad. I thought it was better to wake you.'

I continued to look at Harry for a few more minutes before looking away.

'It was nothing,' I said, though I knew it wasn't; it was another premonition. A premonition of my Dad lying dead somewhere. 'Just a nightmare …'

'Here.' Harry took my hand and pulled me to my feet, getting up as well. Next he led me to his bed and made me lie down on it, then stepping over me and lying behind me with his arm round my waist in a hug. 'It was just a dream,' he said comfortingly. 'It's over now.'

I felt him give me a gentle squeeze around the waist. What on earth was he doing? I'd never been in this close proximity to Harry before but it didn't feel strange, just a thing that a friend would do to comfort someone. But this was Harry, who I'd known since I was eight. It didn't seem like him.

'Try and get some sleep,' he said.

Still thinking about what was happening, I closed my eyes and bent my legs up closer to me. Harry's arm was still round my waist as he fell back asleep. And eventually, I fell asleep next to Harry.

* * *

**AN: well there you have it. Chapter 19 is up and before i said it would be too. pretty impressed with that. i have to say it's not one of my better chapters and i ended it quite badly but i got across wat i wanted even if weirdly done. well hope you like it and don't forget to leave me a review with your opinions of what i've done. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	21. Consequences and Congratulations

Chapter 20

Consequences and Congratulations

The next morning I woke up as soon as the sun came up. I have to say it was quite a shock to find myself face to face with Harry on his bed and I instantly fell off, my legs still half on, waking Harry in the process. As I sat up rubbing my head, he was sitting up and looking down on me.

'You all right?' he asked, putting his glasses back on.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' I replied.

Not!

I was stuck at Harry's for a grand total of four days until the Order came to get us, including on my birthday (fun!). In that time I spent sitting on Harry's bedroom floor, occasionally speaking to him as he paced his room waiting for Hedwig to come back, the rest of the time dreading what Lupin, Dad and Mrs Weasley were going to do to me when I got back to Grimmauld Place. This was exactly what Lupin was talking about; I went behind everyone's back to come and see Harry when I knew it wasn't allowed. But I felt so strongly about Harry being kept in the dark that I had to do something about it, even if I didn't really give him many answers when he asked. Least Harry felt a bit better when I told him I'd defied both Dad and Lupin to talk to him properly.

The other thing playing on my mind was the dream I had on the first night in Privet Drive. It had been another premonition, I knew that much, but (I could only guess) it had been so much in the future. And the place I was in, I didn't even recognise it. All I could remember was the fact there were shadows of people whispering around me and Dad lying dead on the floor. But what was weird was what Harry told me afterwards; I'd apparently been tossing badly in my sleep, and my necklace had been glowing. What was that about?

On the subject of food, Harry's aunt provided us with enough for barely one person which was shoved through a cat-flap in Harry's door at mealtimes. But I saw a way round that. I still had some money left which Hermione had given me and so I snuck out of the window as a bird once during each day in order to get us some food which would actually taste nice, though it didn't really do anything for our hunger.

That Friday night, we had an unscheduled visit from Harry's uncle around dusk. Turned out he, his wife and Dudley were going out somewhere and Harry wasn't allowed to touch anything in the house and he was to keep his _friend_ in his room. Not that I cared. Harry's reply was monotonous and blunt and, with a suspicious look, Vernon left. A few minutes later we heard the engine and the car pull out of the drive, going off up the road.

'You know,' I said, once the sound had gone, 'I really don't blame you for hating them.'

'You've been here for four days,' said Harry. 'Try spending a lifetime.'

Over the next couple of hours we remained in silence, only having the gurgle of pipes or creak of floorboards sounding. Harry stayed on his bed, not even bothering to switch the light on as it got darker. I remained in my corner on the floor, dozing against the wall until –

_Crash!_

Something had been broken downstairs, alerting both me and Harry. Instantly he was on his feet, wand in hand, facing the door. I watched silently from behind as he clicked open his door and followed him out on to the landing. It was pitch black but I could tell Harry was listening hard out for something. That was when I had a strange feeling that we were being watched, one I got only when a certain someone was about. And sure enough, not minutes later my suspicions were confirmed.

'Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out.'

It was Mad-Eye Moody, the real one. Harry was completely stunned when he heard the voice but I wasn't. I'd seen Moody again back at Grimmauld Place. Of course, after being locked up in his own trunk for months on end, he was even more suspicious than he normally would have been. And he wasn't the only one here.

'It's all right, Harry,' said another voice. 'We've come to take you away. And Jenna, you're in serious trouble.' I swallowed. It was Lupin.

A third voice then spoke which was my cousin, Tonks. She'd come to. I wasn't surprised; she'd wanted to meet Harry the minute I first mentioned him. It was her who took us out of the darkness by lighting her wand.

'Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would,' I heard Tonks say. I saw in her wand light she still had her hair violet and spiky that moment. 'Wotcher, Harry!'

'Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus,' said Kingsley next. 'He looks exactly like James.'

'Except the eyes,' said a wheezy-voiced wizard I didn't know. 'Lily's eyes.'

'And there's my elusive niece,' finished Lupin, staring at me. I shrank back into the darkness.

Back to Mad-Eye, like I said, he was cautious whether they were getting the right person, asking, 'Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin? It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum.'

'Harry, what form does you Patronus take?' Lupin asked. A smile flickered on my face as I heard the relaxed tone in Lupin's voice. Yeah, I wasn't going to be hearing that in a few minutes.

'A stag,' said Harry nervously beside me.

'That's him, Mad-Eye.'

We came downstairs, Moody barking at Harry about wand safety, and went into the kitchen where Harry was introduced to the other people there, including Kingsley, Dedalus, Hestia, Elphias Dodge, Emmeline Vance, and Sturgis Podmore. Harry I don't think could have been more relieved to see them. I, however, once Lupin had shook his hand, gave me a angry look. I just smiled hesitantly back at him, waiting for the moment when he'd kill me.

Well, the Dursleys apparently had been tricked by Tonks into going off to some phoney lawn competition which they'd supposedly won in order for the Order to come get Harry and get me back where I should have been five days ago. Moody was also not pleased that I had snuck over here; when Harry asked him what was going on and mentioned I hadn't said much, he barked a, 'And so she shouldn't have!' looking towards me.

With introductions over and Moody's mad eye bobbing about in a glass of water (Eww!) Lupin sent Harry upstairs with Tonks in order to pack his stuff.

'Meanwhile,' he added, turning to face me, 'you and I need to talk.'

As soon as Harry had gone upstairs with Tonks I counted in my head three, two, one –

'Jenna, what were you thinking?' snapped Lupin, right on cue. He'd sat me down on a chair and was standing over me like I was some eight-year-old who'd stolen some sweets. He wasn't happy at all. I kept my gaze firmly away from him and the others there and tried very hard not to roll my eyes. 'You knew perfectly well you were not to see Harry until we did something to collect him from here. Did you even think of what could have happened if you'd been seen or the dangers you put yourself in?'

'I was careful, Lupin,' I said in my defence. 'I didn't fly as anything that could be seen or would be recognised as something abnormal. And anyway, virtually all the wizarding community knows there's an illegal Animagus running around somewhere because of the article last year.'

'You disobeyed me, Jenna,' said Lupin angrily. 'You disobeyed Professor Dumbledore and Sirius.'

'Like he'd care,' I muttered. I was still a bit bitter about what happened earlier in the holiday. Lupin heard me.

'He cares for you very much.' I glanced up to see Lupin had come down to my level and was staring at me eye to eye. His hands were on my arms. 'He was worried sick when we found you were missing. You put Ron, Hermione and Ginny in a difficult position in covering up for you.' I looked away from him. Lupin sighed. 'Sometimes you're a little _too_ like your mother for my liking,' he said with a hint of laughter in his voice. 'But you wouldn't be her daughter if you weren't.'

I looked back up at Lupin and gave him a weak smile. I knew how much Lupin cared for me and that I was the last thing he had of his sister, my Mum. I don't know what he'd do if he lost me; I never really think about it when I do these foolish stunts, like trying to stop Cedric dying and sneaking over here. But sometimes there are things you have to do regardless of how it can affect some people, something I learnt a few years later.

'Just don't do it again, OK, Jen?'

'OK, Lupin.'

Once Lupin had talked to me, he looked at his watch expectantly as he waited for Harry and Tonks to come back down. They did so a few minutes later, Tonks bringing my bag with her.

'I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry –' he said when they came in.

'They won't,' replied Harry.

'– that you're safe –'

'That'll just depress them.'

'– and you'll see them next summer.'

'Do I have to?'

I couldn't help but grin a bit as I listened to that. It was typical Harry.

Once we were all ready, Harry and I had the Disillusionment Charm placed on us, a horrible trickling sensation running down our bodies from the wand tip, making us invisible to disguise us and I was handed my broomstick which Lupin had brought from Grimmauld. Wouldn't it just have been easier for me to fly as an animal?

A few minutes later we were out in the garden when a shower of red sparks burst into the night sky and we mounted our brooms. As green sparks came minutes later, we all kicked off and set off back to Grimmauld. Moody shouted instructions for where we had to go as we flew behind Tonks, Lupin and the others circling round me and Harry in the centre of the formation. We were flying for about an hour and it was bloody freezing out there and when Moody shouted for us to double back, I agreed with Tonks's opinion.

'ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE? We're all frozen to our brooms!'

When I saw the familiar lights of Grimmauld Place, I couldn't be more relieved. Tonks was the first to land with Harry's trunk, followed by Harry and me, then the rest of the Order who'd come to get him. Once we'd landed, Moody took out a Put-Outer he'd borrowed off Dumbledore and clicked it until all the streetlights had gone out and we were in total darkness again. We walked with our brooms up the street and came to where Grimmauld Place was. We stopped briefly just so Harry could read a piece of parchment Moody had handed him, immediately setting it alight afterwards.

And I was back at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Great.

As soon as the door was shut behind us and we were all in the hallway, the Disillusionment Charm was taken off me and Harry and we became visible again. Not moments later there were footsteps hurrying down the nearby staircase and Mrs Weasley came rushing into the hall. She embraced Harry in a tight hug, whispering frantically, before hugging me as well.

'Jenna, thank goodness you're all right!' she whispered as she crushed me in her usual hugs. 'We were so worried when you disappeared. Never do that again.'

Well, I didn't get a shouting from her. Seemed there was a bonus to having a bellowing family portrait in the hallway.

'He's just arrived,' Mrs Weasley added, turning to the older wizards with us. In other words, there was another meeting and Harry and I had to scram upstairs.

While Harry went to go for the kitchen, Mrs Weasley stopping him in the process, I headed straight for the stairs to go up to Ron's bedroom. He and Hermione no doubt would be waiting in there to see Harry. He followed after me a few minutes later with Mrs Weasley, who dashed off as soon as we were upstairs.

The moment Ron and Hermione saw Harry, Hermione burst into her usual greeting of hugging us till we're blind by her bushy hair and talking very fast about whatever she was going on about; I had no idea because she was speaking so fast. Ron merely grinned as he greeted Harry. Hedwig was also with them and she had indeed pecked Ron badly like Harry had wanted her to until he got the answers he wanted.

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'Sorry about that, but I wanted answer, you know –'

'We wanted to give them to you, mate,' replied Ron. 'Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck on your own without news, partly why we couldn't blame Jenna for doing something about it, but Dumbledore made us –'

'– swear not to tell me,' Harry finished for him. 'Yeah, Hermione's already said.'

I looked at Harry cautiously as the conversation moved to Dumbledore. I'd already seen how he reacted to the fact that Hermione, Ron and I had all been here together so when he finds out all of what us three have found out …

It turned out that when Dumbledore heard that Mundungus had left his post of tailing Harry (Harry wasn't happy to hear he had been followed all summer) he got extremely angry, yet he wasn't mad at the fact I'd disobeyed a direct order. Obviously he'd left that to Dad, Lupin and Mrs Weasley. But Harry was so bitter that he even said he was glad that Mundungus had left, meaning he wouldn't have been stuck with the Muggles all summer because he did magic.

'Aren't you worried about the Ministry Hearing?' I asked. I couldn't believe he was being so casual about it when we were both in danger of being expelled from Hogwarts.

'No,' said Harry straight out.

As me, Ron and Hermione told him what the three of us had been told by Dumbledore about the letters we sent to him, his self-pitying as I put it continued. He kept muttering things in a voice which didn't seem to be his own and watching us carefully. And as he kept talking, his voice was getting louder and more angry by the moment until he finally snapped.

'SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL!' he yelled, making all of us jump. 'YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU THREE'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT – WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED ALL YOUR SKINS FROM DEMENTORS?'

'Now that's not fair, Harry,' I said, standing up from my seat next to Hermione. But he just continued to shout at us.

'WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHIXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW _HIM_ COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME! BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?'

No matter how much Ron, Hermione and I tried to convince him that we hadn't been having fun or joining in the meetings or whatever, he continued to shout at us, so much so that tears were starting in Hermione's eyes. Me, on the other hand, I was staring at Harry, astonished. He wasn't the only one who'd been through these things. Who else had to go through what happened in the graveyard trying to save _his_ skin as he put it? Me, that's who. I didn't have to go after him and Cedric but I did trying to stop what had happened from happening! I never asked to have these premonitions; I never asked to see things from the future which only I knew about and was the only one who could try and stop them.

Once he'd had a go at us three, he calmed down enough to ask to us (still quite angrily) where we were. Ron told him it was the Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, me adding what it was to answer Harry second question. He really was in a bad mood. But when he asked us about what Voldemort was doing, we couldn't tell him because we didn't know ourselves.

'We've _told_ you,' said Hermione nervously. 'The Order don't let us in on their meetings so we don't know the details – but we've got a general idea,' she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face.

We told Harry all the ways we tried to listen in on the meetings and what we had found out, like that they were guarding something ('Couldn't have been me, could it?' said Harry bluntly as Ron wondered what they'd been guarding. Honestly!) to which Harry let out a snort at Ron's ignorance. We also explained to him that all we'd actually been doing in Grimmauld was cleaning seeing as the house was so filthy because of Kreacher.

Then all of a sudden there was two loud _cracks_ and in Apparated Fred and George out of nowhere into the middle of the room, scaring the hell out of me and Hermione as usual, looking as happy as usual. They'd past their tests earlier in the year.

'Hello, Harry,' said George, beaming at him. 'We thought we heard your dulcet tones.'

'You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out,' said Fred, also beaming. 'There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you.'

I had to try very hard not to snicker at that.

After Fred and George's startling entrance, Ginny also joined us. She'd been down by the kitchen flicking Dungbombs at the door from the top of the stairs. It had been Impertubed again. Ron said it was a shame and mentioned Snape, who was also part of the Order. Bill was also here again apparently, and now it was permanent; he'd moved to a desk job at Gringotts.

'He says he misses the tombs, but,' said Fred, smirking, 'there are compensations.'

'What d'you mean?' asked Harry. I was intrigued too. I only knew Bill had been back from Egypt at the beginning of the holidays when the rest of the Weasleys had turned up here and joined me. I didn't know he'd transferred back.

'Remember old Fleur Delacour?' said George. 'She's got a job at Gringotts to _eemprove 'er Eeenglish_ –'

'And Bill's been giving her private lessons,' sniggered Fred.

_Oh, has he now_, I thought.

We also told Harry that Charlie was in the Order as well making connections with foreign wizards to which Harry asked, 'Couldn't Percy do that?'

Hermione, me, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George all looked at each other darkly. We told him never to mention Percy in front of Mr and Mrs Weasley and what had happened between them and the Ministry. Ron and the others were meant to come here before they did but it was because of Percy that they turned up when they did.

'Percy and Dad had a row,' explained Fred for Harry's benefit. 'I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts.'

Harry asked why he had been promoted especially after what had happened last year with Mr Crouch being controlled and everything and not reporting it to a higher authority.

'That's exactly what we wondered,' said Ron, who seemed very keen to keep normal conversation going now that Harry had stopped yelling. 'He came home really pleased with himself – even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that – and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out Hogwarts: Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think.'

'Only Dad wasn't,' said Fred.

It was all because Fudge was making sure no one was in contact with Dumbledore at the Ministry and anyone who was got fired on the spot all because he thinks he's creating trouble by saying Voldemort was back though it was completely true. Fudge apparently suspected Mr Weasley because he was friendly with Dumbledore; Mr Weasley meanwhile said Percy only had a promotion so he could spy on Dumbledore for the Minister. Percy had said some horrible things to it like Mr Weasley was always holding Percy back because of his reputation which was below the belt for Mr Weasley.

'_What?_' gasped Harry as they explained it.

'I know,' said Ron in a low voice. 'And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he – Percy – knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family any more. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now.'

Mrs Weasley had been in tears virtually ever since, especially when she tried to visit Percy and got his door slammed in her face.

'But Percy _must_ know Voldemort's back,' said Harry. 'He's not stupid, he must know you mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof.'

'Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row, and Jenna's,' said Ron. It was true; the argument which had brought up mine and Harry's names was worse than the one about the job according to Ron. 'Percy said the only evidence was your word and … I dunno … he didn't think it was good enough.'

'Percy takes the _Daily Prophet_ seriously,' said Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded. Harry didn't understand us when Hermione said that. He hadn't been reading the _Prophet_ thoroughly enough to know what we meant. 'Well, you need to read it cover to cover to pick it up,' she said, 'but they – um – mention you a couple of times a week.'

'But I'd have seen –' started Harry.

'Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't,' I said, shaking my head. Harry looked at me. 'We're not talking about big articles here. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke. '

'What d'you –?'

'It's quite nasty, actually,' said Hermione. 'They're just building on the Rita's stuff.'

'But she's not writing for them any more, is she?' asked Harry.

'Oh, no, she's kept her promise – not that she's got any choice,' Hermione added with satisfaction. 'But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now.'

It was true. The amount of stuff I'd read about Harry, even myself occasionally, was horrible. I'd been getting the _Daily Prophet_ delivered to Grimmauld since I arrived and scanned it carefully ever day to see if there was anything about Voldemort. There never was; only jokes and snide remarks about Harry and me were there, saying we were lying attention-seeking kids and I was as deranged as my Dad.

'They keep slipping in snide comments about you,' I explained. 'If some far-fetched story appears, they same something like, "A tale worthy of Harry Potter", and if anyone had a funny accident or anything it's, "Let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next" –'

'I don't want anyone to worship –' started Harry angrily.

'I know you don't,' I said impatiently. I wasn't in the mood for him to be tetchy again. 'But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into somebody nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going.'

Harry couldn't say anything to that, stammering, 'I didn't ask – I didn't want – _Voldemort_ _killed my parents_! I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't they think I'd rather it'd never –'

'We _know_, Harry,' said Ginny earnestly.

What annoyed me though was that the Dementor attack on the Harry (I wasn't meant to be there, was I?) hadn't been reported at all. Dementors attacking people, surely that would have been important. But apparently there'd been nothing about me and Harry breaking the International Statue of Secrecy. Hermione believed it was because they were waiting for us to be expelled before going to town on it.

Seconds later, Fred and George disappeared as Mrs Weasley came into our room. The meeting had finished and she was wondering who'd left the Dumgbombs outside the kitchen. Ginny said it was Crookshanks. She left the room afterwards to wash her hands with Mrs Weasley, leaving Harry alone with us three.

'Look …' he started, but Ron shook his head, Hermione saying afterwards, 'We knew you'd be angry, Harry, we really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we _did_ try to persuade Dumbledore –'

'Yeah, I know,' said Harry shortly.

'And I didn't disobey Lupin for nothing,' I added. Harry looked at me.

'I know you didn't.'

The next few minutes were spent in silence. We knew Harry wouldn't want to speak about Dumbledore any longer and we all sat there trying to think of a new topic of conversation. It turned out to be about Kreacher, the Black family house-elf. Hermione got all huffy when Ron called him a nutter but I didn't have a problem with it and I was his mistress! Hermione hadn't given up on SPEW yet, sorry, the "Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare" … whatever.

After that we decided to go downstairs seeing as the meeting was over and we could go down to the kitchen now. But as we got on to the landing, Ron stopped us as some of the Order were still in the hallway. We all leaned over the banisters to see if we could listen in, an Extendable Ear dangling down in front of us from Fred and George above. But they all moved away from us before we heard anything. The front door then closed.

'Snape never eats here,' Ron told Harry quietly. 'Thank God. C'mon.'

'And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, Harry,' Hermione whispered.

When we got downstairs, Mrs Weasley told us we were eating in the kitchen again and we were about to go to the door that led down there when –

_CRASH!_

Tonks had knocked over the umbrella stand. Looking up, I saw the moth-eaten curtains of my grandmother's portrait blow open and her voice started screaming through the quiet hallway. Instantly, I covered my ears with my hands, not wanting to hear her insults again. She looked differently though; her chin sagged now and she was drooling unlike last time, like she'd been Stunned or something.

_'Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Animal of a granddaughter! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers_ –'

While Tonks was apologising profusely about it, Lupin and Mrs Weasley had seized the curtains and were trying to force them shut over the portrait. Harry was just standing transfixed beside me, Ron and Hermione. I watched as Mrs Weasley soon started to Stun the other portraits as they woke up while another man burst through the door to the kitchen. It was Dad.

'Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!' he roared. He took hold of the free curtain and started pulling it shut again. '_Never_ speak of my daughter like that again!' When the woman saw him she screamed even more like last time, calling him a blood traitor as usual. 'I said – shut – UP!' shouted Dad again, and he and Lupin pulled the curtains closed. I let out a sigh of relief and removed my hands from my ears.

Leaning against the wall, Dad looked up, panting heavily, to see Harry standing with us and said, 'Hello, Harry. I see you've met my mother.'

To say Harry was shocked by that revelation would have covered it. While Dad explained to him about Grimmauld Place, I walked downstairs with the others to the kitchen. Inside it was still as gloomy as ever, chairs piled into it from the meeting, and bottles littering the table. Mr Weasley, Bill, and Mundungus were still in there. Bill was gathering up all the scrolls from the meeting, something Mrs Weasley snapped should be done straight away.

Dinner was a quiet affair, well for me at least. I kept my head down and didn't look at Dad; he was too busy talking to Harry anyway. I did notice though Dad look pointedly at me at one moment. Mrs Weasley was busy with the cooking and she had a go at Fred and George when they almost toppled the food and cutlery. I just watched as the madness continued. As we ate, Tonks was entertaining Hermione and Ginny again with her nose gags; Mr Weasley, Bill and Lupin were going on about something to do with goblins; and Mundungus was telling Ron, Fred and George some random story about toads.

After dinner though was when the "fun" started.

Harry had finally asked what had obviously been bugging him since I got to his place. And all hell broke loose between Dad and Molly. They just started shouting at each other again. They'd been doing so a few days after the Weasleys arrived and always about Harry. I just watched, my head going from one to another, like I was watching some demented Muggle tennis match.

'It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing,' I heard Dad say to Fred and George about them wanting to join, 'that's your parents decision. Harry on the other hand –'

'It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!' interrupted Mrs Weasley. 'You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?'

Mrs Weasley's line of defence about telling Harry what he didn't need to know was that Dad was getting him confused with James. I personally thought that was below the belt but in some ways I was agreeing with Mrs Weasley; the way Dad sometimes was with Harry was more like best friends than a guardian and child.

'What's wrong, Harry, is that you are _not_ your father,' she said, 'however much you might look like him! You're are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!'

'Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?' demanded Sirius. He was getting angry again, exactly like when he had shouted at me.

'Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and –'

'We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!' said Sirius loudly.

Mr Weasley wouldn't back his wife when she asked for it, only saying Dumbledore knew the circumstances would have changed. Even Lupin agreed with him, so long as Harry didn't get all the facts. I was surprised by that.

'I think it better that Harry gets the facts,' he said, 'not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture – from us, rather than a garbled version from others.' He looked at me.

Mrs Weasley was fuming.

'Well,' she said, 'well … I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart –'

'He's not your son,' said Sirius quietly.

'He's as good as. Who else has he got?'

'He's got me!'

'Yes,' said Mrs Weasley, her lip curling, 'the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him, let alone your own daughter, while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?'

I looked up straight away at this and said, 'Leave me out of this.' I wanted nothing to do with this conversation. I knew Dad hadn't looked after me … I didn't need reminding.

Lupin was the one to put an end to the argument, saying Harry was allowed to decide what to do. Dumb statement really, of course he would say he wanted to know what was going on. Mrs Weasley agreed to Harry to stay but tried to send the rest of us to bed. Fred and George objected by saying they were of age, Mr Weasley adding that she couldn't stop them; Ron, Hermione and I were next to be sent to bed but Dad said she couldn't stop me and Ron said Harry would tell us anyway so we were allowed to stay; Ginny, unfortunately for her, was marched up to bed by her mum, raging all the way.

And we were told what had been happening. Well, within reason. The first thing that was covered was were Voldemort was; he hadn't killed anyone yet and there weren't any strange disappearances due to him not being out in the open yet, because Harry and I had messed up his return.

'He doesn't want to draw attention to himself,' said Sirius. 'It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up.'

'Or rather, you and Jenna messed it up for him,' said Lupin.

It was true. I wasn't meant to be there and Harry shouldn't have survived. And because we alerted Dumbledore, the one person Voldemort didn't want to know, he was able to call up the Order of the Phoenix.

The Order had been doing a lot of work, mainly convincing people within the Ministry that Voldemort had returned. Dumbledore believed he was trying to build up his army again, both Death Eaters and Dark creatures like giants. But the problem was Fudge; he was trying to do everything he could to discredit him, that he'd take over being the Minister for Magic if he could. Ironic though that he always asked for Dumbledore's help when he started.

Harry was outraged that they thought he and Dumbledore were making it all up but Dad explained its because they hadn't dealt with Voldemort for fourteen years, basically Harry's lifespan, and accepting he's back means more trouble for the Ministry so they chose to ignore the witnesses.

'You see the problem,' said Lupin. 'While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place.'

Hearing this and about the _Prophet_ being made not to report Dumbledore's rumours, Harry asked whether they were trying to tell people. Well, Dad's comment was certainly entertaining.

'Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a tern thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?'

Lupin, of course, wouldn't really be welcome at anyone's home because of being a werewolf and Tonks and Mr Weasley would both lose their jobs if they said anything. We already had a few Aurors on our side, like Kingsley which Lupin said was good seeing as he was in charge of finding out where Dad was hiding.

But like I said, all the Ministry were really trying to do was discredit Dumbledore. Apparently he'd lost his Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards and had been demoted from Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Course, Dumbledore didn't really care so long as he was still on the Chocolate Frog cards. And with Dumbledore about, Voldemort wasn't likely to try anything with him wise to what he's doing. Gathering followers was Voldemort's main plan, jinxing and blackmailing them into doing so. But that wasn't the only thing he was after but before we found out what it was, Mrs Weasley had shouted, 'That's enough!' and we were sent to bed.

The minute Mrs Weasley had left me and Hermione in our bedroom and had gone upstairs with the boys, Ginny instantly started questioning us about what happened. She hadn't been asleep at all. Figures. So, we told her what we'd found out.

'But what could this weapon be?' Ginny asked when we'd finished.

'I don't know,' said Hermione. 'But if Voldemort wants it, it's probably –'

'Ssh!' I hissed quickly. I was by the door listening for footsteps. Some were coming down the stairs. As quickly and as quietly as possible, Hermione, Ginny and I got into our beds and lay quiet until the footsteps had gone. Once they were, I sat up and said, 'We better not speak anymore or your mum will hear us.' I assumed the others nodded through the darkness and we went to bed.

The next few days were devoted to cleaning again, as usual. De-Doxying the drawing room was first. We waited for Harry and Ron to arrive (late as usual) and were wearing tea-towels over our faces when they finally came in. Then, Mrs Weasley lined us all up in front of the curtain to spray it. What fun. Twice the doorbell rung while we were cleaning, the second time drawing Mrs Weasley away from us so we were able to stop and look out the window to see who had come. It was Mundungus and a whole bunch of cauldrons. As Mrs Weasley's screams permeated the house louder than my grandma's, George made to close the door when I finally saw the one thing I hated more than the portrait. Kreacher.

He took no notice of any of us in the room as he shuffled about in his dirty loin cloth, muttering as usual. But when Fred spoke to him, he did a little bow as he apologised for not seeing him, adding in an undertone but very clearly, 'Nasty little brat of blood traitor it is.' And when he went on insulting George, I decided to step in.

'I should watch your tongue, Kreacher,' I said, glaring at him and his orb eyes turned on me.

'My apologies Mistress Jenna. I wouldn't want to offend Mistress's friends.' he replied, bowing again to me, then adding, 'She's back…disgusting half-breed granddaughter of my mistress, oh, how she would be shocked.'

Nice. Especially when Kreacher called Hermione a Mudblood and yet she still refused to believe he was insane. What topped it off though was when he saw Harry and he wondered how Harry had defeated Voldemort ('Don't we all?' said Fred) but Dad put a stop to it when he walked in and sent Kreacher away.

'– comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around,' he muttered as he walked away, 'oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he's back, they say he's a murderer too –'

'Keep muttering and I will be a murderer!' Sirius said after him, slamming the door.

After that Mrs Weasley came in with some lunch for us after she'd given Mundungus an earful about the cauldrons. As the rest of us ate, I noticed Dad standing by a big tapestry in the room with Harry. It was the Black Family tapestry with all our names on it, well, bar the ones who were blood traitors. My name had been magically sown on it with Mum's when Dad married her but both had been blasted off, probably by Kreacher. I saw it earlier during the holidays. When I read it, I saw my Uncle Regulus had been killed about fifteen years ago. It fitted quite well in my mind; he had refused to kill my Mum and was obviously put to death sometime after that.

As Harry and Dad spoke together about the tapestry, I heard one or two bits of the conversation as I sat with the others. Only one bit got me though.

'As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family,' said Sirius. '_She's_ certainly not my family. I haven't seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming into Azkaban. D'you think I'm proud of having a relative like that? Jenna being related to her? No, Jenna's my family.' I glanced up through my hair over my shoulder at Dad. He was watching me. 'She's my family. I know I would never forgive myself if I lost her again.'

I looked away and smiled slightly. Maybe he did love me.

While we were cleaning, we found loads of stuff to chuck out that belonged to my family, none of which I particularly wanted to keep considering most of it was Dark Arts stuff. The only thing though that caught my interest was a locket; it was a heavy gold one with a snake engraved on to the front which no one could actually open. But as I stared at it, a strange feeling started in me, telling me to keep the locket safe, that it was more than what it seemed. Checking no one was looking, I shoved it into my pocket to hide in my room once we were finished.

During that time, my grandmother's yells were heard whenever someone came to the house. Snape appeared several times but was never here for long; Professor McGonagall appeared once in a Muggle dress and coat which was very odd; Tonks occasionally hung round to help us; and Lupin, he'd been here since the start of the holidays with me but was now disappearing very regularly to which I found very depressing. It felt like he was slipping away from me. It was the first summer I'd spent without him always there. It was strange.

At night, my dreams were still haunted by the graveyard, always ending the minute I felt the gravestone hit my back as I was thrown backwards by the shockwaves of the Death Curse. But now, that dream I'd had back at Harry's house was repeating itself to me as well. I could see Dad just lying there in front of me in a room full of whispering shadows and he would not wake no matter how much I shouted for him. I'd always wake up panting and shivering, sitting up in bed and staring into the darkness. Why did this premonition keep repeating itself? Why was it different to the others? What was it trying to tell me?

The night before the hearing though, I got a rather nasty surprise. Well, at least in my opinion it was nasty. We'd been sitting down for dinner in the kitchen, as usual, when Mrs Weasley brought it up and said to me after speaking to Harry, 'And, Jenna, I'm sure Hermione will lend you one of her dresses for the hearing.'

I instantly choked on my food at that. She had to be kidding, right?

'With all due respect, Mrs Weasley,' I said, coughing slightly, 'but I _don't_ wear dresses.'

'Well, I'm sure you can make an effort for tomorrow.'

The next morning, I woke up early from my nightmares again and decided to go downstairs. When I got up I saw a dress lying at the foot of my bed but it wasn't one of Hermione's. It was a pale blue, knee-length summer dress with spaghetti straps with light, short sleeves covering my shoulders and a embroidered dark blue vine pattern going down the left side on the top. It was so beautiful, I didn't want to put it on. But seeing as Mrs Weasley was expecting me to wear a dress, I did so and went downstairs to the kitchen. I didn't expect anyone to be in there at five in the morning but when I opened the door, I saw Dad sitting at the table. He looked up at me when I walked in.

'I see you found the dress,' he said, standing up and walking over to me. He was smiling.

'Yeah,' I responded. I walked past him and got myself a bowl and some cereal from the cupboard and made myself some breakfast. I didn't notice the strange look Dad was giving me as I sat down.

'That dress belonged to your mother,' I heard him say. I looked up. Dad walked over to me. 'She wore it the last night we spent together. You look just like her.'

'Why are you telling me this?' I asked. I didn't want to know how they spent their last night together, knowing how Mum had died. And I didn't need reminding that I looked like her when I never knew her. Dad bent down in front of me and placed his hand on my cheek, gently stroking it.

'Because you have the right to know. Jenna, I don't want to keep secrets from you and I most certainly don't want you to hate me for what happened. You deserve better. I know I had a go at you when you went into my room,' continued Sirius uncomfortably, 'but there are memories in there I don't want you to see, memories of how miserable my life was. And I don't want you to have that.'

'You don't have to do that,' I said. I didn't need to be proven to by my own father. 'I just need you to be here for me. To be the Dad I've dreamed of.'

'I promise, Jenna,' said Sirius earnestly. 'I promise, I will always be here for you and I'll always protect you. I'll never leave you.' He pulled me forwards and hugged me, holding me tightly. 'I promise.'

Half an hour or so later, Lupin, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and Tonks were all in the kitchen with us. Mrs Weasley started to cook breakfast and made me a more decent one ('She's thin enough already, Sirius,' she said, 'give her something proper to eat!') to which I rolled my eyes at before I felt my hair being tugged backwards as she attempted to pull it back into a bun. No matter how much she tried, half my hair was still loose and my fringe still covered my eyes. Later, Harry too came down. I glanced up to see him looking quite smart in the clothes Mrs Weasley had laid out for him, even if his long hair was still quite messy. I could feel the smile playing on my lips as I watched him.

Hold on – what? A smile playing on my lips as I watched him? I instantly looked away as I thought that and back at my plate of half eaten toast. I suddenly wasn't hungry.

Before we left with Mr Weasley in his pinstriped trousers, they all had encouraging words.

'Amelia Bones is OK, Harry,' said Tonks. 'She's fair, she'll hear you out.'

'Don't lose your temper,' said Sirius. 'Be polite and stick to the facts, _both_ of you.'

'The law's on your side,' added Lupin quietly. 'Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations.'

If that's supposed to be encouragement, why did I feel so sick?

'Good luck,' said Lupin, coming over to me and hugging me tightly. 'I'm sure it will be fine.'

'And if it's not,' said Sirius. I looked back at Dad to see him shrug slightly. 'I'll see to Amelia Bones for you …'

We walked to the underground station through the run-down streets of London in silence, well apart for Mr Weasley's enthusiasm about ticket machines when we got there. We then got off the train in the centre of London into a street full of people and steaming with traffic. For a moment as Mr Weasley asked where we were, I had the horrible feeling we were lost, but next minute I was hurrying to catch up with the other two through the crowds. But when we came to a stop by a red telephone box by a graffitied wall, I was thinking, _You're kidding, right?_

Stepping into the phone box, Mr Weasley dialled a number on to the keypad and a second later, a cool female voice sounded around us. It asked us our business and then gave badges to me and Harry saying "Disciplinary Hearing" on them out of the coin dispenser when Mr Weasley told her. The Muggle world suddenly began to disappear as the floor of the phone box sank to the ground. A moment later we were facing a brightly lit golden hall, a water fountain in the centre of the hallway.

So this was the inside of the Ministry of Magic. A pale blue ceiling with changing golden symbols on it; gilded fireplaces on either side spitting out or swallowing the odd wizard occasionally; and a giant golden fountain. As we walked past it, I looked at it to see it was of a house-elf, goblin, centaur and witch, all gazing up adoringly at a wizard, his wand tip spurting out water. _How wrong they are_, I thought silently to myself. There was very little respect for wise wizards these days. Look at Dumbledore. Least it was collecting money for St Mungo's.

After getting our wands checked by a rather grump wizard (who took a moment to stare at Harry's scar before Mr Weasley steered us away), we climbed into another lift and ascended to wherever Mr Weasley worked. It was quite clever they used Muggle paper aeroplanes to deliver messages instead of owls. The windows were also pretty impressive, how they changed and depicted whatever weather they wanted. When we got out we passed Kingsley and I had to stand on Harry's foot and whisper '_Don't!_' to stop him from speaking to him. We weren't meant to know who he was, were we?

Mr Weasley's office barely had any room for me and Harry once we were there. It was choked full of various posters of Muggle things like post boxes and overstuffed cabinets. It was tiny! But we weren't there for very long. Mr Weasley's colleague, Perkins, suddenly rushed in, telling us that the hearing had been changed to eight o'clock and was down in one of the lower dungeons. With a loud yelp, Mr Weasley jumped up from his seat and ran out of his office, Harry and I after him, Perkins flat against one of the cabinets.

He muttered furiously as he jabbed the button for the lift. With a brief hello to another colleague, Bode, Mr Weasley dashed out of the lift again when we reached the Department of Mysteries, me and Harry on his tail, and down the corridor until I was caught sharply under the arm and dragged to a long flight of stairs. I caught a quick glimpse at the door in front of us before I was hauled to the left. We ran down the stairs (God, I was glad I was fast from doing all that Animagus training) and eventually came to a panting stop outside a heavy iron door. With a good luck from Mr Weasley, Harry and I regained our breath and walked inside.

We were in a large dungeon of all places. Wizards and witches were staring down on us from high benches on all sides and in the centre of the open floor were two chairs with chains attached to the arms. And the first thing we heard was, 'You're late.' Looking up, I saw it was none other than Mr Fudge. There was a witch with a monocle to his left and on the right was someone else but I couldn't see her through the dark. Slowly, Harry and I both sat down.

'Very well,' said Fudge. 'The accused being present – finally – let us begin. Are you ready?' And it was Ron's brother Percy who answered. Oh, crap. 'Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August,' said Fudge; his voice rang in the room, 'into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey and Jennifer May Black, resident of Moonlake Cottage, Farnborough.'

I could already tell this wasn't going to be good. Just the imposing nature of Fudge and the other members of the Wizengamot told me so. It was only when another voice spoke from beside me and Harry that he faltered.

'Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.' Huh …? Nice name. I looked up to see Dumbledore sweep serenely into the room. But he did not look at us. Next minute, he'd conjured a chair and was sitting with the tips of his fingers touching, staring up at Fudge.

As Fudge started reading out the charges, I merely remained silent as Harry tried to explain things through Fudge's accusations, only answering the question to confirm who I was. The bit that got me though was how impressed Madam Bones (the woman on Fudge's right) was that we had both conjured corporeal Patronuses.

'Yes,' said Harry, 'it's a stag and Jenna's a horse, they're always a stag and horse.'

'Always?' asked Madam Bones. 'You have produced a Patronus before now?'

'_Yes_,' said Harry again, 'I've been doing it over a year.'

'And I've been doing it for two years,' I added.

But when the subject of Dementors came up, that was when we saw Fudge's real side. Madam Bones had trouble believing it while Fudge insisted Harry had made it all up. Harry tried to tell him it was true but he would have it. It was only when Dumbledore cleared his throat that he shut up. He had a witness. It was Mrs Figg. Percy disappeared off for a moment and then, slippers slapping the floor, in she walked, looking more batty than ever.

_Oh, God help us!_ was all I could think of at that moment.

Besides the rather lame ending of the story, Mrs Figg told them exactly what happened that night. The Dementors appearing in the alley, them attacking us and Harry and I raising our Patronuses. Her description of the Dementors was a bit painful to hear but when she said she felt them, my heart stopped sinking. But still Fudge refused to believe us.

Then Dumbledore finally spoke, saying that the Dementors must have been ordered there. To me it made pretty good sense but had Voldemort already got them on his side? Of course, Fudge just brushed it off. Silence followed. And in that silence, me and Harry saw the other woman next to Fudge; she looked like a toad, squat and flabby with a wide mouth. Plus she had no dress sense whatsoever but then again, neither do I. The black bow on the top of her head really finished off the frog image. But when she spoke, she did so with a horribly girlish, high-pitched tone and I knew there would be trouble.

'I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore,' she said sweetly. 'So silly of me. But it sounded for s teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic ordered the attack on this boy and girl!'

'If it is true that the Dementors are taking orders only from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two Dementors attacked Harry, Jenna and his cousin a week ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks,' said Dumbledore politely. 'Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control –'

'There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!' snapped Fudge, who had turned red.

Dumbledore still managed to twist things so that it came out with the two of us being innocent due to Clause Seven or whatever it is about Underage Wizardry, getting Fudge slowly even more flustered.

'But naturally, you would not care how many times you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice,' said Dumbledore.

'Serious miscarriage, my hat!' said Fudge at the top of his voice. 'Have you ever bothered to tot up the number of cock-and-bull stories this boy has ever come out with, the girl always involved as well, Dumbledore, while trying to cover up his flagrant misuse of magic out of school?'

Nice. OK, yes, I always somehow got involved in whatever Harry got into but we didn't just find these things. They usually found us. But Harry got really narked off about the whole Hover Charm business when it was Dobby who did it. Fudge even brought up the fact Harry had blown up his aunt a couple years ago, which Fudge had dismissed back then.

'Plus Dad had broken out of Azkaban and they thought he was after you,' I whispered to Harry.

Dumbledore soon cleared that up by saying the Ministry was not here to punish us for every single bit of magic Harry and I'd ever done. And once he'd asked for the verdict, he just sat back in his chair, fingertips together, and waited for the jury to decide. And in a matter of minutes which seemed like hours, hands were raised in decision to clear us, lots of them. Only Fudge, the witch on his left and a couple others were against it. We were cleared. We'd got cleared!

'Very well, very well …' said Fudge though you could tell he wasn't happy, 'cleared of all charges.'

'Excellent,' said Dumbledore instantly. And he left the room without even looking at us.

We left the room a few minutes after that just because of being stunned that we got off. Mr Weasley, who we almost collided with as we left, was delighted to hear we'd been cleared. He was amazed though when he saw the Wizengamot come out a few minutes after us.

'Merlin's beard!' exclaimed Mr Weasley wondering, pulling Harry and me aside to let them all pass. 'You were tried by the full court?'

Not many acknowledged us, certainly not Fudge or the toad like witch or Percy.

I couldn't be more happier at that moment. I was still going back to Hogwarts. I would still see all the amazing things there and be with the people I care about. Nothing more could possibly go wrong. Well, until I felt Mr Weasley grab me and pull me back a few steps. I looked up at him to ask why he'd stopped but then a voice in front of me told me why.

'Well, well, well … Patronus Potter,' said Lucius Malfoy coolly. Oh great. 'And my delightful young cousin.'

'Please,' I replied, trying to be polite, 'never call me that, Mr Malfoy. I am no relation of yours though I am in blood.' He merely smiled a thin-lipped smile at me.

'The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter,' he drawled. 'Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes … _snakelike_, in fact.'

'Yeah,' said Harry, 'yeah, I'm good at escaping.'

I watched silently as Mr Malfoy begun to talk to Mr Weasley. I could see the tension on his face as Mr Malfoy continued to dig into him. Beside me, Harry flinched occasionally and I noticed Mr Weasley's hand clenching on his shoulder. A few moments later, he and the Minister had gone.

'Why wasn't he waiting outside Fudge's office if they've got business to do together?' asked Harry furiously. 'What was he doing down here?'

'Trying to sneak down to the courtroom, if you ask me,' said Mr Weasley. He was very agitated. 'Trying to find out whether you'd been expelled or not. I'll leave a note for Dumbledore when I drop you off, he ought to know Malfoy's been talking to Fudge again.'

'It'd be just like him to go tell Draco if his cousin was expelled,' I muttered bitterly. But hey, I wasn't expelled! 'What private business have they got together, anyway?'

'Gold, I expect,' said Mr Weasley angrily. 'Malfoy's been giving generously to all sorts of things for years … gets him in with the right people … then he can ask for favours … delay laws he doesn't want passed … oh, he's very well connected, Lucius Malfoy.'

With a brief stop for Harry to empty his gold bag into the fountain in the Atrium, we returned to Grimmauld Place.

Everyone was ecstatic that me and Harry had got off. I just thought it was pure luck. Fred, George, and Ginny were all dancing round the kitchen, shouting, '_They got off!_' again and again despite Mrs Weasley telling them to be quiet. And while they danced about, Mr Weasley told Dad about Malfoy being at the Ministry. After he left, we had lunch and while the others all talked about it, I just sat there listening, eating my lunch though I wasn't that hungry.

'Yeah, he swung it for us,' Harry was saying. 'I wish he'd talked to me, though. Or even _looked_ at me.' But then he stopped and let out a short gasp. I looked up at him.

'What's up?' said Hermione, looking alarmed.

'Scar,' Harry mumbled. 'But it's nothing … it happens al the time now …'

The next few days I noticed Dad go back to his moodier self I'd seen a bit at the start of the holidays. He'd just wander round the house with a glare on his face, he wouldn't even speak to me. And deciding it was best to not make him angry like before, I left him be. Harry felt quite bad about it but Hermione told him not to feel guilty and that he probably felt guilty for thinking that we wouldn't get off. That he got his hopes us. Both Harry and Ron were quite sceptical about Hermione's theory but I agreed that it was a bit harsh, especially when he'd only just got to see me and Harry again.

'Suit yourselves,' said Hermione dismissively. 'But I sometimes think Ron's mum's right and Sirius get you confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry.'

'So you think he's touched in the head?' said Harry heatedly.

'No, I just think he's been very lonely for a long time, what with his wife dead and his daughter supposedly vanished,' said Hermione simply but Mrs Weasley came into the room before anything more could be said, saving another argument.

She tutted when she saw we hadn't cleaned much of the room we were in but when Ron complained, she merely threw back in his face that we wanted to help the Order and by helping, that meant cleaning. And when Ron muttered that he felt like a house-elf, that just started off the whole spiel about S.P.E.W. again and what could be done for it to raise money for it.

'I'll sponsor you to shut up about _SPEW_,' Ron muttered irritably, but only so me and Harry heard him.

Nothing much happened for the next few days and any conversation to do with the Order was kept strictly out of earshot from us by Mrs Weasley. The next major thing that happened was when our Hogwarts letters for the next year arrived.

I'd been in my bedroom with Hermione and Ginny when Fred and George suddenly Apparated into it. I'd finally stopped jumping when they did that and merely said, 'Hi, guys.' when they appeared, not looking up from my book.

'Hogwarts letters for you,' replied George. He walked over to us and handed the three of us our letters. 'One of you've got a really heavy one though,' he added, looking at me and Hermione, and with that, they Disapparated again.

Taking our letters, I said, 'Oh yeah, we become prefects this year, don't we?' Looking through them, I gave Ginny hers before handing Hermione hers. I needn't have guessed the badge would be in her letter. I knew from the moment I met Hermione that she'd be a prefect when we were older.

When Hermione opened her letter, she squealed in delight when the gleaming red prefect badge tipped out of it. I just smiled. I was glad she'd got it. Hermione deserved it and anyway, I didn't want to be a prefect. Meant that I'd have to obey the rules and set an example. I was happy as I was.

While she and Ginny suddenly started talking about what Hermione would have to do, I decided to go see Harry and the others, wondering whether either of those two had a prefect badge. I have to say I doubted whether either of them would. To me, Dean or Seamus would be a good choice for Gryffindor Prefect. But when I walked into their room, I was met with Fred and George's outburst about Harry not being one.

Ron had got the badge! I couldn't believe it but I wasn't totally shocked I have to say. And when Hermione came it, she made it ten times worse when she saw Harry holding Ron's badge.

'I knew it!' she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. 'Me too, Harry, me too!'

'Hermione,' I said quietly though she didn't hear me, 'you're going to embarrass yourself.'

'No, said Harry quickly. He pushed the badge into Ron's hand. 'It's Ron's, not me.'

Hermione went bright red when she realised it was Ron who'd got the badge and when she congratulated him, she didn't really know what to say, George _helpfully_ filling in her pause and making her blush even more. Mrs Weasley's reaction though was priceless. She was so happy for Ron, hugging him and kissing him and making such a fuss.

'I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!'

'What are Fred and I, next-door neighbours?' said George indignantly. I held in a snigger at that.

The best thing though was that Ron was getting a new broom out of it. And while he and Hermione were out of the room, I watched Harry as he sat there on his bed. I'd been watching him throughout when Mrs Weasley had been in the room and had seen had disappointed he seemed to be. Walking over to him, I sat beside him and gently rubbed his arm.

'Don't worry, Harry,' I said quietly. 'I didn't get one either. It doesn't matter. And jealousy really doesn't suit you.' He looked up at me at that but I merely walked off. Well, it didn't!

That night Mrs Weasley had prepared what looked like a miniature version of a Hogwarts feast in the kitchen along with a scarlet banner hung above the table saying "Congratulations" to Ron and Hermione. Everyone there was congratulating them however I think Moody's one sort of put Ron off a bit. I was over with Lupin by the table as I watched them talk. I looked up at him though when I felt his eyes on me.

'You shouldn't feel discouraged because you didn't get the badge,' he said to me quietly.

'I'm not,' I said. I looked back at Ron and Hermione. 'I'm glad for them. They deserve it. And besides, means I can still break the rules,' I added, grinning shiftily at Lupin out the corner of my eye.

'Not what I mean,' said Lupin with a distinct unimpressed tone. I just smirked.

I looked away from him as Tonks started telling Ginny beside me about how she hadn't been a prefect because she was too clumsy. I have to say that was probably a good thing. By now, Harry had joined us and was listening too. Dad was also with us. I watched him carefully before saying, 'What about you, Dad? Did you make a prefect?'

Dad just laughed it off saying no one would have made him a prefect because he was always in trouble with James. It was Lupin and Mum who'd got the badges. OK, now I did feel bad. I felt like I'd let my Mum down, and Lupin. But then I thought what would my Mum rather have? A daughter who toed the line and didn't live a fulfilling life? Or a daughter who wasn't afraid to fight back and be independent, even if it meant I broke the rules once in a while? I smiled slightly, knowing which one she'd want.

The rest of the party I spent at the back of the room, just watching as I usually did. Watching as people laughed and joked with each other, having fun. I smiled to myself. This was the life I'd dreamed of when I was six. But as my eyes lingered on to Dad, I couldn't help but worry about my relationship with him and my dream. What did it mean? Did it mean that he was going to be taken from me? Did it mean he was going to die? I decided I had to talk to someone about it, but who? I didn't want to tell Dad, he'd just shrug it off with a laugh, and Lupin, well, he'd tell me not to worry. There was only one person I could talk to.

Before the party ended, I went upstairs to find Harry, seeing as he'd disappeared early on. I crept quietly up the stairs past my grandmother's portrait and the shrunken heads and along the landing to Harry's room. Knocking on the door beforehand, I opened it and stuck my head round it. Harry was sitting up on his elbows on his bed.

'Hey,' was all he said.

'Hey,' I replied. I remained at the door for a few seconds silently before continuing, hesitantly, 'Can I talk to you?' I only asked this because of how sensitive Harry had been.

'Sure,' said Harry. I came into the room and walked over to the bed, sitting by his feet. 'Jen, we've known each other since we were eight. You don't have to ask to talk to me. What's up?'

I instantly changed my mind. I didn't want to say it. But this was Harry. I knew I could talk to him if I needed to. But this was something I didn't want to admit I was scared of. After a few more minutes, I finally muttered, 'I'm scared.' looking away from him.

'Of what?' asked Harry.

'Of Dad dying,' I replied. I raised my eyes to his to see him watching me carefully. 'I just … it's hard to explain, I – I keep …' I couldn't explain it, I couldn't explain what I'd seen in my head to him, no matter how I tried, I couldn't say it. 'He just –'

'Hey, it's OK, Jen,' said Harry. He moved forwards and sat beside me, wrapping his arm round my shoulders. I just laid my head on his own and closed my eyes. 'Sirius isn't going to die, or at least anytime soon.'

'I keep seeing him in my dreams. He just lays there. He wouldn't answer me if I shouted for him. And not just him, Cedric too.' I felt a tear fall down my cheek. 'I can't lose him too. I can't.'

'Ssh, it's all right,' said Harry softly. 'It's all right, Jen, it's all right.'

I spent the next half an hour with Harry before Ron came to bed. I just stayed beside him on his bed, his arm round my waist and my head on his chest as we lay there. We wouldn't speak anymore, just look into the darkness of the room in front of us. But for me, it was just the reassurance he was there for me which made me feel better. When Ron came in, I said goodnight to them both and left for my room.

That night, that same dream came to my head again but this time in a different way. This time I dreamt that I was running to him but I couldn't reach him, his hand just always slipping out of reach from mine before it went to the usual him lying still in a room of shadows. I woke with a start as I usually did, staring round the room to see if I was still in my bed, seeing I was. And as I lay back down, all I could think was, _Thank God I'm going back to Hogwarts tomorrow._

_

* * *

_

**AN: Wow, i got another chpt done b4 xmas. i'm v impressed if i do say so myself. well, thx for reading and plz, plz leave a review. i've had tons of hits but so few reviews that i do wonder if peeps r enjoying it. well, happy xmas and glad u enjoyed the chpt. plz review!! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	22. A Shift in Power

Chapter 21

A Shift in Power

That night I was awoken again from my dreams but not by one concerning either Dad or Cedric or the graveyard. It was different, a bit like the one where I'm shouting for Dad but not like that.

_I was in a corridor, one I recognised but couldn't think where I'd seen it before. There was a door at the end of it. I walked forwards; my bare feet didn't echo on the floor. I heard voices as I got closer._

'_We are arresting you on the charges of attempting to break into the Department of Mysteries.'_

'_I didn't do it! Please! It wasn't me!'_

_I knew that voice, the second one. Hurrying forwards, I ran up to see who the men were, reaching out when _–

My eyes snapped open and I found myself staring at Hermione. I felt a pain on my chest and saw the owl feather in my necklace glowing again, stopping seconds later. I sat up and held it in my hand, looking at it. It was doing it again. Hermione asked me if I was all right and I said I was, turning over in my bed, staring at the wall. Someone had just been arrested and I'd witnessed it.

The next day and we were to be sent back to Hogwarts, finally. I have to say I couldn't wait to go back and get out of Grimmauld Place after being stuck there for nearly two whole months. My trip to Harry's had only been a brief respite. But still, it's not like problems didn't occur on the day of our return journey. The most embarrassing one being something I wasn't going to forget in a short matter of time.

That morning I got up at seven before Hermione and Ginny had got up so that I could have a shower before any of the others were up. Because there was only one bathroom on each of the floors at Grimmauld, another two being down in the hall and by the kitchen, I wanted to get in one before the rest of the house woke up. Only problem was that the bathroom on the landing where mine, Hermione and Ginny's bedroom was had a broken lock on it so you had to be very careful when using it. But still, needing to wash my hair and have a decent shower before going into the centre of London, I grabbed my towel and headed for the bathroom, creeping along the landing.

Once in there, I dumped my towel on the floor before turning on the water to let it run hot. While I waited, I caught my reflection in the mirror. It was an old ornate full-length mirror, luckily which didn't talk back to you so I was spared sneered comments from that object. I really was thin but I was developing some nice curves in the waist and chest departments so I didn't look flat as a pancake which in some ways is a nice relief. Saves any "You're a boy" comments from people at school. Placing my hand in the shower and seeing the water was hot enough, I took off my pyjamas and stepped inside.

I stood in the shower for several minutes, letting the hot water flow over me, my arms crossed over my chest as my long hair flowed over both sides of my body. Opening my eyes, I reached out for the shower gel when I noticed something on my arm. Three short lines, two in a cross, one on its own. I'd almost forgotten I had those. I'd had them all my life, ever since I could remember. I didn't even know how I got them. Looking down, I also saw the three lines crossing over my flat stomach; Buckbeak's talons. I ran my hand over them. I'd had them for nearly two years now. Sighing, I washed my body before going on to wash my long hair, ringing it out thoroughly. Switching off the shower, I got out.

But as I did so, I didn't realise someone else was coming into the room.

I'd stepped out of the shower and grabbed my red towel I'd placed on the floor with my clothes. I was just wrapping it round my body when I heard the door click open. The lock on the door was so old, it didn't work so anybody could come in at anytime. I span round, quickly tying the towel round me, and looked to see who'd come in.

It was Harry! I'd completely forgotten, he didn't know about the lock! Or at least, I don't think he did. He'd been here for a month, he should know. He flushed a lovely shade a pink, a colour I'm sure I flushed as well. And I was just standing there in a towel with my hair luckily falling over my chest. Talk about an awkward situation.

_Hello! This is your brain! Move!_

'Um, I –' he started, pointing at the door.

'It's all right,' I said quickly. I bent down carefully, making sure the towel completely covered me, and picked up my clothes. 'I'm done.' and I walked speedily out of the bathroom, across the landing and into my bedroom, leaning against the door afterwards to make sure no one came in.

Shit.

The next big problem stemmed from Fred and George which wasn't surprising. When I came out of my room after getting dressed after breakfast, I heard Mrs Weasley's shouts mixing with the shouts of my grandmother's portrait. Something about Fred and George sending their trunks flying and sent Ginny down two flights of stairs. Ouch! It was completely hectic as always. Still, grabbing my trunk and Gizmo's cage, I went and joined the madness just as Mrs Weasley bellowed, 'WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!'

I was told that I was going with Mrs Weasley, Tonks and Harry and to leave me stuff in the hallway with Mad-Eye Moody. I did so when I noticed a giant bear-like dog at Harry's heels. Oh no.

'Dad, please, stay here,' I said, using my best begging tone Lupin knew all too well, hoping it would work on Dad. It didn't and Harry just made it worse.

'Come on, Jen,' he said, scratching Dad's ear. 'It's only to the station.'

_He's not your Dad_, I thought silently. I then mentally slapped myself and shook my head, turning to the door.

'Oh honestly …' said Mrs Weasley despairingly from behind. 'Well, on your own head be it!'

We were greeted by an old lady just up the road (Tonks) and headed off to the station. It was a nice walk going there in the September sun; I hadn't had much exercise this summer due to being locked up in Grimmauld and so it felt nice to be able to stretch my legs. As we walked I watched as Dad jumped and barked alongside us. It did seem to do him good to be out again but I still couldn't help worrying about my dream. I still didn't understand it. Harry was laughing his head off about it while Mrs Weasley merely tutted and pursed her lips.

Twenty minutes later we were at the station and heading through the barrier on to the platform. Seeing the train reminded me that I was going back and that I'd managed to get off about the whole Hearing thing. We were the first to arrive and soon, Moody, Mr Weasley with Ron and Hermione and then Fred, George and Ginny appeared with Lupin.

'No trouble?' growled Moody.

'Nothing,' said Lupin.

'I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore,' said Moody, 'that's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus.'

Everyone there all said their goodbyes to one another, shaking hands and giving hugs. Mrs Weasley almost strangled us as she always did and Lupin gave me the usual tight hug with the usual "Don't do anything to get in trouble" spiel before he was replaced by Tonks.

'See you couz!' she said, giving me a hug. 'Great finally meeting you.'

'Bye, Tonks,' I said, returning the embrace and pulling back. I took a quick glance behind me at Dad; he was standing on his back paws with his front ones on Harry's shoulders. 'Take care of Dad for me.'

'I will. Don't worry about him. He'll be fine.' But that was the problem, I did worry.

We were all then bundled on to the train by Mrs Weasley, however, I felt something grab the edge of my jacket and I looked back to see it in Dad's mouth. He'd grabbed it to get me. I hadn't said goodbye to him.

'Bye, Dad,' I said, bending down and taking it out of his mouth. He moved forwards and licked my face. I laughed as he did so.

'_Take care, Jenna,_' he barked at me. I could understand him. '_I'm always here if you need me._'

I gave him one last stroke of the head before getting on to the train and joining the others in waving them goodbye as the train started to puff away from the platform, Dad running along to catch up with it before he disappeared.

'He shouldn't have come with us,' said Hermione in a worried voice.

'Oh, lighten up,' said Ron, 'he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke.'

I personally agreed with Hermione. What if someone had recognised him or something?

With the train moving and Fred and George going off to do God knows what, and Ron and Hermione heading to the front of the train for prefect instructions, Harry, Ginny and I headed off to find a compartment. As we walked down the train, Harry received loads of stare again, poor guy. We met Neville in the last carriage of the train seeing as none of them were empty and eventually took refuge in one with only one occupant in it.

A girl with dirty-blonde straggly hair as long as mine, large silver eyes which gave her a perturbed look, and her wand sticking out from behind her hair and Butterbeer cork necklace was sitting in the compartment Neville had been reluctant to go into reading a magazine upside-down. Ginny knew her and so we went in. Apparently she was called Luna ("Loony", very original) Lovegood. She just watched as we put our trunks and various pets away.

'Had a good summer, Luna?' Ginny asked her as she sat down.

'Yes,' said Luna. She had a very dreamy voice and was staring at Harry with a great intensity. 'Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. _You're_ Harry Potter,' she then added.

'I know I am,' said Harry. Both Neville and I chuckled at that. That's when Luna looked at us.

'You're the daughter of that murderer, Sirius Black,' she said. I secretly rolled my eyes.

'I know that,' I said. 'My Dad's on the run. He sent me a postcard.'

'And I don't know who you are,' she said, turning to Neville.

'I'm nobody,' said Neville hurriedly.

'No you're not,' said Ginny sharply. 'Neville Longbottom – Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw.'

'_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_,' said Luna in a sing-song voice.

And Luna was silent again, hiding her face behind her upside-down magazine. It was a copy of _The Quibbler_, a magazine which printed the most absurd things you could ever imagine, even for wizarding standards. Harry and Neville looked at each other with their eyebrows raised while me and Ginny were trying very hard not to laugh.

The next memorable thing that happened on the train didn't happen for quite a while. We were just sitting in silence as the countryside flashed past the windows when Neville suddenly spoke. He was talking about a new plant that he'd got for his birthday, _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_ or something like that. It looked like a mini cactus to me but it was covered in boils and was pulsing rather ominously. Harry asked if it did something and when Neville showed us, the result was not pleasant.

He'd dumped his toad Trevor on Harry's lap and taken out a quill. I watched from next to Ginny as Neville held it up in front of his eyes, tongue between his teeth, and gave the plant a sharp jab with the end of his quill. Instantly I put up my hand and put my blue force field up (I could do it whenever I wanted to now) around me as a thick, smelling, dark green liquid squirted out of the plant at all directions. The slime slid down my shield so I could see Harry covered in the stuff like Neville; letting it disappear, the slime fell with a splat to the floor.

'S – sorry,' gasped Neville as Harry spat a load of the stuff on to the floor. 'I haven't tried that before … didn't realise it would be quite so … don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous.'

That was when the compartment door slid open. Looking up, I saw it was Cho. She didn't stay for long, only to say hi to Harry and give me a rather nasty glare as she walked out of the compartment. What was that about? Then I heard a groan and saw Harry slump in his seat. I'd forgotten he'd fancied Cho. I couldn't see why. OK, yes, she was pretty but a bit unforgiving too if the glare was because she was still bitter about me coming back alive from the graveyard.

Ginny soon cleared up the mess of Stinksap with a wave of her wand and we spent the next hour once again sitting in silence as we waited for Ron and Hermione to return. Eventually they did and Ron was starving as per usual when they found our compartment. They also told us who were the other prefects for the other houses. I sat bolt upright when they told us Slytherin's.

'Malfoy's a prefect?' I burst. 'Oh, he's really going to rub this in!'

'And that complete _cow_ Pansy Parkinson,' said Hermione viciously. 'How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll …'

Ernie and Hannah were Hufflepuff's prefects and Antony Goldstein and Padma, Parvati's twin, were prefects for Ravenclaw. Good for them, I guess. I wasn't particularly bitter about not being a prefect when I knew my Mum wouldn't have cared if I was or not but I was starting to feel slightly bad again for letting Lupin down.

Luna spoke up again at that moment, stating the obvious once again that Ron and Padma had gone to the Yule Ball together. He was certainly taken aback. When he looked to Ginny for an explanation, she was trying to stop laughing yet again. Ron just shook his head and went back to telling Harry and Neville what he and Hermione had to do as prefects. He really wanted to get Crabbe and Goyle for something but Hermione told him that would be abusing his position.

'Yeah, right, because Malfoy wont abuse it at all,' said Ron sarcastically.

'So you're going to descend to his level?'

'No, I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine.'

Hermione was not impressed at all. But Ron was right; with Malfoy being a prefect for Slytherin, he had the power to deduct points, dish out detentions and everything so he could well get all four of us for really petty things like being a Mudblood in Hermione's case or a half-breed in mine. Still, he was adamant that he was going to get them first, imitating Goyle trying to do lines which made Luna get hysterics.

We all just looked at her as she laughed, 'Baboon's … backside!', clutching her sides. I just shook my head and resumed staring out of the door.

Hermione soon engaged me in conversation about the new things she'd have to do at Hogwarts while Neville and Ron and Ginny and Luna were talking in their pairs and Harry was reading _The Quibbler_ which Luna had dropped while she was laughing. We only stopped talking when Ron asked if there was anything good in magazine and Hermione tartly answered, 'Of course not. _The Quibbler_'s rubbish, everyone knows that.'

'Excuse me,' said Luna. Her voice wasn't dreamy anymore. 'My father's the editor.'

'I – oh,' Hermione stopped, looking embarrassed. 'Well … it's got some interesting … I mean, it's quite …'

'I'll have it back, thank you,' said Luna coldly. She snatched it back from Harry and started reading it again, upside-down. Nice one, Hermione.

And then, who could possibly walk in at that time to make a bad situation worse but Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle, all smirking. Brilliant, just what I needed. Not!

'What?' said Harry aggressively.

'Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention,' drawled Malfoy. 'You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.'

'Yeah,' said Harry, 'but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.'

The others all laughed. I didn't. I was watching Malfoy very carefully. I had a horrible feeling there was a reason why he was here and it wasn't to taunt Harry and me about not being prefects.

'Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?' he asked.

'Shut up, Malfoy,' I suddenly said. 'It's none of your business why Harry and I aren't prefects. It was Dumbledore's choice who he made prefects, and he obviously lacked in judgement when he picked you for Slytherin,' I added, looking up and down him.

'I seem to have touched a nerve,' said Malfoy, smirking. 'Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps in case you step out of line.'

He knew! He had to. He had to know Dad was at the station. I knew it!

'Get out!' I shouted, standing up.

Malfoy went off sniggering with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. I slammed the door shut after him and turned to give a warning look at Harry. That dogging comment had got me and I could see it had unnerved Harry just as much. But there was nothing we could. Malfoy could blab at any moment and we were powerless to stop him. This year was not going to good.

'Chuck us another Frog,' said Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing. I just groaned inwardly and suck back into my seat.

As the weather continued to change, I sat thinking about various things. About Dad, Cho and her hostility towards me, and about Harry. Our relationship with each other had certainly changed a lot since Cedric's death. I'd been jealous of him; I'd been comforted by him on two occasions which involved me being in the closest proximity to him that I'd never been before; and this morning he'd nearly seen me naked. Had Harry noticed all of this? Beside the whole business this morning, I wondered what our friendship would go through next … and whether it would remain strong enough to come through it.

When Hogwarts was half an hour or so away, the seven of us got changed in our cramped compartment and pulled on our robes, Hermione and Ron also pinning on their prefect badges. When the train finally stopped in Hogsmeade station, Ron and Hermione left us again while Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna and I gathered all our stuff and got off the train, Luna taking Pigwidgeon. As we got off, I waited to hear the usual "firs' years!" of Hagrid but instead, it wasn't him. It was that Grubbly-Plank woman who had taken us for a few classes during our fourth year for Care of Magical Creatures.

'Where's Hagrid?' he said out loud.

'I don't know,' said Ginny, 'but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door.'

In the masses, Harry and I got separated from the others. I could see him still trying to look for Hagrid but I pulled him on to the carriages. I was sure we'd fine Ginny and Neville again when we got there. When we got there, I saw the Thestrals again. They were clearer than ever now. Once you got past their initial skeleton-like appearance they were actually quite beautiful creatures. And beside me, Harry was staring at them as well. I guess he could see them now.

Ron and Hermione finally caught up with us and we'd found Ginny, Harry tried to show Ron the horses. He was completely perplexed by it, making Harry seem very on edge at the fact he couldn't see them but Ron hadn't seen death. With the other two, we all got into a carriage. I was sat next Harry by the door. He was looking out of it at the carriage behind ours; he was staring at the Thestrals again.

I glanced at it for a second before turning to Harry and saying, 'Beautiful, aren't they?'

'You can see them?' asked Harry, looking hopeful. I nodded.

'Been able to see them since we started.' I looked out of the window again at them. 'They're called Thestrals. They have an invisibility mechanism which stops them being seen except to those who've seen death.' I didn't expect Harry to remember any of this.

'You saw death before we came here?' asked Harry.

'I saw my Mum die,' I muttered. I'd never really spoken about my Mum's death to anyone but Lupin. 'Only a month old. Died at the hands of three Death Eaters; Malfoy's dad, Pettigrew and my Uncle Regulus. He backed out though for some reason and was killed because of it.'

'Jenna, I'm … I'm so sorry. I didn't know.'

I felt Harry's hand on my shoulder and I looked at him, right into his eyes. And as I looked into them, a strange feeling started in my body. It was all … tingly and shivers raced down my spine. Momentarily, I was unable to speak.

'I relived it whenever the Dementors were near me in the third year,' I said, finding my tongue again and looking away.

'Yeah, Lupin told me,' said Harry. 'He said there were things in your life you've never told anyone.' He stopped. I guess he thought he'd said too much. I looked at him again.

'There _are_ things I've never told you, Harry,' I said, gently rubbing his arm, 'but not because I didn't trust you. Because I hadn't accepted them at the time or because they were too complicated to explain. I'm sure you'll know them someday after all you are my best friend.'

'Yeah,' agreed Harry, smiling at me. 'We'll be best friends forever, won't we? Thick as thieves.' I grinned.

'Completely. We'll always be together, no matter what.'

I know now that a promise like that can never last when the world is full of fighting.

We finally arrived at school and we all hurried up the stone steps and into the castle. The Entrance Hall blazed with torches as it always did and the footsteps of the students echoed throughout the Hall. We all headed straight to the Great Hall ready to enjoy the massive start of term feast that the school always provided. Harry once again was looking for Hagrid's large form when we got in there but still he couldn't be found. But as we sat down, Harry and I did see someone we didn't not expect. A short, squat witch wearing a pink Alice band over her mouse-brown curls and fluffy cardigan over her robes.

'It's that Umbridge woman!' I gasped immediately.

'Who?' said Hermione.

'She was at our hearing, she works for Fudge!' answered Harry. He was as shocked as I was.

'Nice cardigan,' said Ron, smirking. I looked at him.

'She works for Fudge!' Hermione repeated, frowning. 'What on earth's she ding here, then?'

None of us knew. Hermione's eyes scanned the staff table and she instantly seemed to understand why Umbridge was there. I did so too; there was all the usual members of staff there, Flitwick, Sprout, Snape, Madam Hooch, no one we didn't know. And it clicked.

'No way,' I breathed.

The Sorting Hat by now had been brought out by Professor McGonagall and was singing its song as it usually did. It had changed again from last year. It was much longer than before and seemed to be talking about something it never had before. It talked about the qualities of the each of the four Houses as usual but now it was saying things like we should be united as one and not fight against each other. It seemed to be giving us a warning. Yeah, like Slytherin and Gryffindor were ever going to be friends.

'Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?' said Ron, his eyebrows raised.

'Too right it has,' said Harry.

The new Hogwarts students were Sorted as they always were into they four Houses and then Dumbledore. His voice rang loud and clear through the hall as it always did. There was always a welcoming tone in his voice. And his speech was as short as ever.

'To our newcomers,' said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and beaming smile on his lips, 'welcome! To our old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!'

A laugh and then the usual talk as people did as Dumbledore suggested and tucked into the gorgeous food of Hogwarts. This was the only food I would ever eat a lot of. Usually I was never hungry at home unless at mealtimes but the idea of Hogwarts food always made me so hungry and yet, I'd remain as thin as ever. Ron instantly dove into the food (greedy sod!) while Nearly Headless Nick, who was sitting next to us, looked on longingly.

Discussion mainly consisted around the Sorting Hat's warning. Nick said that the Hat had given warnings before in its songs but only when it predicts danger for the school. Was the school in danger though? I mean, yeah, Voldemort was back but if he's supposedly in hiding, the school wasn't in any immediate danger.

'Oh kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?' said Ron, mouthful of food. Hermione looked revolted by it while Nick asked, 'I beg your pardon?'

'How can it know if the school's in danger if it's a Hat?'

'I have no idea,' said Nearly Headless Nick. 'Of course, it lives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks things up there.'

Harry took a very sceptical view to the Hat's idea of all the Houses being friends, saying there was a fat chance that Gryffindor and Slytherin could cooperate. But it had been done; from my Mum's diary I received when I was eleven for Christmas, she'd mentioned she had been friends with Regulus, my Dad's brother so it was possible. These days though, maybe not. Nick said he shouldn't take that attitude but Harry was right.

'We ghosts,' he said, 'though we belong to separate houses, maintain links of friendship. In spite the competitiveness between Gryffindor and Slytherin, I would never dream of seeking an argument with the Bloody Baron.'

'Only because you're terrified of him,' I said before I could stop myself.

'Terrified?' repeated Nick, affronted. 'I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins –'

'What blood?' asked Ron. 'Surely you haven't still got –?'

'It's a figure of speech!' said Nearly Headless Nick.

Ron's poking fun (and my unintentional one) infuriated Nick quite a bit. Hermione tried to apologise for us, Nick didn't accept Ron's somewhat undistinguishable apology and floated off down the table to the Creevey brothers. He and Hermione then remained in a huff with each other for the rest of the meal.

'Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of attention for the usual start-of-term notices,' said Dumbledore once we'd eaten. 'First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too.'

The four of us all exchanged smirks at that. Filch still had his usual "four-hundredth-and-sixty-second" reminder of no magic in the corridors and other things which were to be found on a huge list of his on his office door. Spoilsport. There were also two new members of staff: Professor Grubbly-Plank was back as Care of Magical Creatures teacher and Umbridge was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I knew it! And for the first time, someone interrupted Dumbledore's speech with a '_Hem, hem_.'

Watching her, she stood up (she really was a short witch) and looked over all of us in the Hall before clearing her throat to speak.

'Well, it is lovely to back at Hogwarts, I must say!' She had a very pointed smile. 'And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!'

'What happy faces?' I whispered. There we none. The others sniggered.

'I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!' Still no response except Parvati making a pretty funny comment about her cardigan just down from me.

As she spoke I listened very carefully to what she was saying. The Ministry of Magic finding our education being very important? It never had before.

'The rare gifts with which you were born may come to noting if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever.'

What on earth was she on about? A "treasure trove" of knowledge that the teachers had to guard and replenish being in the "noble profession". But it was the next bit of her speech after another '_hem, hem_.' which I took most interest in.

'Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation …'

Barely anyone was actually listening to Umbridge. There was a buzz of whispers and giggling as she spoke. Hermione and I though looked at each other worriedly as she continued.

'… because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.'

Applause only came when Dumbledore started but they were as scattered as the attention had been through the speech. While he resumed his speech before Umbridge had interrupted him, Hermione instantly leaned into the rest of us and whispered, 'There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle.'

'Was there?' said Ron blankly.

'How about: "progress for progress's sake must be discouraged"? How about: "pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited"?'

'Hermione's right,' I said. 'There is a hidden message in that lot and it doesn't sound good.'

Ron asked what it means and Hermione explained that it sounded like the Ministry was trying to interfere with Hogwarts, starting with the employment of Umbridge. That had to be the beginning of their plans and a shift in power between the Ministry and Hogwarts was bound to come soon enough.

With dinner finished, Ron and Hermione disappeared off to sort out the new first years, Ron shouting, 'Hey, you lot! Midgets!' at them which Hermione disapproved of obviously. Harry also disappeared off into the crowd so I had to run to catch up with him. I finally caught up with him in the second secret passageway he took and slowed to match his pace as he walked back to the Tower.

'The staring will die down once school's in full swing,' I said quietly to him when we were in the corridor of the portrait of the Fat Lady. He just looked at me. I knew he wondered how he knew he was thinking about that. So I said, 'I know you better than anyone, Harry. Like you know me. I know what you're feeling. Trust me, it will die down.'

'I know, you're right,' said Harry. He turned to the portrait and was about to say the password when we realised neither of us knew it. Then Neville, of all people, came running up to us and told us it was _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_ of all things. The portrait admitted us and we climbed into the warm common room. Ah, home at last!

Harry and I headed up the stairs to the landing separating the boys and girls dormitories and bade goodnight to each other. I returned to my dormitory, now higher up in the tower with "fifth year girls" written on it and started to unpack my trunk. Outside the window by my bed I could see the fifth year boy's window. As I looked out at it, I noticed something wasn't right.

Seamus, he looked angry about something. And just across from him was Harry. Curious, I opened the window and changed into a small bird, flying over to their window and landing on the stone sill. Seamus and Harry were arguing. Ron was there also, sticking up for Harry while Dean and Neville just watched them all.

'That's before she started believing every word the stinking _Daily Prophet_ writes about me!' Harry was saying as I listened.

'Oh,' said Ron. 'Oh … right.'

'You know what?' said Seamus. His voice sounded very angry and he was staring at Harry with great dislike. 'He's right, I don't want to share a dormitory with him any more, he's mad.'

'That's out of order, Seamus,' said Ron. His ears were going red. _Oh no_, I thought. _Not good._

'Out of order, am I?' shouted Seamus. 'You believe all the rubbish he and Black's come out with about You-Know-Who, do you, you reckon he's telling the truth?'

What? I looked in through the window at Seamus. What had I got to do with this?

'Her name is Jenna!' snapped Harry, grabbing my attention. 'And leave her out of this! This is nothing to do with her!'

Again, Harry was acting like I'd never seen him do so before. I mean, I didn't not expect him not to stick up for me but, the way he said those things –

'Yeah, I do!' said Ron angrily, bringing back my attention to the fight.

'Then you're mad, too,' said Seamus in disgust.

Deciding I didn't want to hear anymore, I flew back to my dormiitory and in through the window. Changing back, I landed on the floor, making someone jump behind me. Spinning round worried that it was Parvati, Lavender or Sally, the other Gryffindor fifth year girl, I looked to see who it was. It was only Hermione.

'Where've you been?' she asked me.

'I just heard Seamus, Harry and Ron arguing,' I said, turning back to shut the window. I then went and sat on my bed. Hermione's was next to mine. 'They were arguing about the stuff to do with Voldemort.' Hermione nodded. 'Seamus didn't believe him. And when my name was brought up, Harry went all strange.'

'How d'you mean?' asked Hermione.

'When he told Seamus to call me by my name and that I had nothing to do with what they were arguing about, he seemed to get really angry, as if he was set to hurt Seamus if he said one more thing about me.' I looked at Hermione. 'Harry's never acted like that before when speaking about me, has he?'

Hermione thought for a moment, then said, 'He did once, I think.' I stared at Hermione. He had? 'Back in fourth year. Something about you and that guy Noah you danced with at the Yule Ball. During dance lessons, he said something like "Thinks he's so good just because he's older than me" when he asked you to dance in the last session. He seemed really miffed that you'd gone to dance with him.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' I asked her. She shrugged.

'Never occurred to me,' said Hermione. 'I shouldn't worry, Jen. Just boys being boys.'

'Yeah,' I said slowly. I got up and got my pyjamas out of my trunk. 'Yeah.'

When Parvati and the other two girls came into the dormitory, Lavender and Parvati were talking about the stuff that had been in the _Prophet_ about Harry as well. Like Seamus, Lavender too was thinking Harry was a liar.

'Well, what would you know!' I said straight out, causing her, Parvati and Sally to look over at me and Hermione. 'You have no idea what Harry has been through so you have no right to decide whether he's a liar or not.'

'And you're a reliable source, are you, Black?' asked Parvati. Oh great, I'm going to be known as Black from now on, am I? 'You're a half-breed. What would you know about it when you're a filthy little liar yourself.'

'Because I was there,' I snarled at her. I could feel my anger rising in my. My hands were tingling. 'I saw Voldemort.' The other three gasped as I said his name. 'I'd watch it before you start mouthing off about Harry or you'll have to answer to me. Just keep your big mouth shut!'

They all just looked at me before turning away and going back to their own conversation.

'Whoa, Jenna!' I looked behind me at Hermione. 'Just calm down.'

'They were bad-mouthing, Harry!' I said. 'I'm not gonna just sit here!'

'And neither's your clock.' She pointed at it. It had moved from its place on my bedside table and was lying on the floor. 'You made it move without your wand.'

I stared at it, then down at my hands. I – I did that? I couldn't do magic without a wand. But that wasn't the first time I had. The Patronus when I was twelve? Feeling slightly worried by it, I hastily got into my pyjamas and into bed.

The next day, Hermione and I got up and caught up with the boys in the common room, finding Harry in a bad mood. She was about to ask what was wrong when she caught sight of a sign posted on the notice board. Fred and George were looking for subjects to test their joke sweets they'd been working on during the summer. Hermione took the sign and told Ron they'd have to do something about it. I said it was pointless but, Hermione being Hermione, she was adamant.

With that removed, she asked Harry what was wrong. It had been about the stuff with Seamus the previous night. We told him that Lavender too thought he was a liar and he got very huffy with that.

'It'd be nice if you stopped jumping down our throats, Harry,' I said after Harry's accusation, 'because in case you haven't noticed, Ron, Hermione and I are on your side.'

Harry was silent for a second or two before mumbling, 'Sorry.'

Hermione went on to remind us about what Dumbledore had said at the end of last year. About Voldemort's power to spread discord and enmity is strong and by showing strong friendship is the only way to fight it. While Ron wondered how she could remember all this, I felt slightly guilty; I hadn't been a completely true friend to Harry, what with being jealous of him during the holidays. But I wasn't going to be like that this year, no way!

At breakfast, Harry immediately noticed Hagrid was still not back. Dumbledore hadn't actually mentioned how long Grubbly-Plank was staying so he could return at any moment … or never at all. Our thoughts of him were soon stopped when Angelina, a girl in Fred and George's year with long braids in her black hair, came up to us asking if Harry and I could come to Quidditch this year. I was slightly taken aback to tell the truth. I was only a reserve but hey, why not? I nodded while Harry said yes and she walked off.

When we received our timetables while Hermione read the _Daily Prophet_, Ron immediately complained about our day. History of Magic, Potions, Divination and Defence Against the Dark Arts. OK, yes it was a pretty poor day but how bad can the first day really be? Fred and George seemed happy though when he said he needed a Skiving Snackbox but Hermione put her foot down about the notice from earlier. They just laughed, saying we'd want one soon enough because OWLs year is the hardest so far in what we'd done.

Hermione asked them, But where are you going to get the gold to start a joke shop? You're going to need all the ingredients and materials – and premises too, I suppose …' I noticed Harry glance at the twins; he'd given them his Triwizard winnings, that's how.

Fred's only answer was, 'Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies, Hermione. C'mon, George, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology.'

Harry emerged from under the table to see Fred and George walking away, each carrying a stack of toast.

'What did that mean?' said Hermione. '"Ask us no questions …" Does that mean they've already got some gold to start a joke shop?'

'You know, I've been wondering about that,' said Ron. 'They brought me a new set of dress robes this summer and I couldn't understand where they got the Galleons …'

Harry quickly changed the subject.

Lessons that day weren't as bad as Ron had thought. Sure, History of Magic was as dull as ever and I bewitched my quill like I usually did to take the notes while I dozed with the boys. Hermione kept giving us dirty looks and asked Ron and Harry after the lesson what they'd do if she didn't lend them her notes.

'We'd borrow Jenna's or fail our OWL,' said Ron. Oh, no they won't. 'If you want that on your conscience, Hermione …'

'Well, you'd deserve it,' she snapped. I just rolled my eyes and walked outside with Harry to a sheltered bit of the courtyard.

During break Cho turned up again on her own, giving me another dirty look before saying hello to Harry. When I glanced over at him I saw he was starting to go quite red. It was almost sickening actually. Harry seemed like such a little boy as he talked to her. I was quite thankful though when Ron had a go at her about her Tornadoes badge. She walked off luckily afterwards. Hermione then had another go at Ron for it while I turned to Harry looking at where Cho had been.

'I must say,' I started, 'that ranks up top with the Stinksap meeting.'

But he didn't seem to hear as the bell rang and he walked off.

Potions was the usual disaster. Snape started with a lecture about how most of us in the class were only likely to get an "Acceptable" in our Potions OWL and that he only takes the best for NEWT Potions. Like I'd ever continue Potions longer than I needed to. Once that was over, we started to brew the Draught of Peace, a calming potion basically. He flicked his wand at the board to write up the ingredients and we started. My potion went as well as most of my potions in the last four years went and I managed to get it to have a silver vapour come from it. Beside me, Harry's had dark grey steam coming from it. Only Neville's was worse. And as Snape taunted him, I could see him get angry again. Snape vanished potion and walked off.

Ron, Hermione and I caught up with Harry again at lunch. He was in a fowl mood. And when Ron and Hermione started arguing about Dumbledore's choice at trusting Snape, he snapped.

'You're always having a go at each other,' he shouted at them. 'It's driving me mad and probably Jenna as well.' And he left. I sighed.

'Nice one you guys,' I said, leaving my knife and fork on my plate, grabbing my bag and following after him.

I searched the castle for a good part of the lunch hour until I found Harry standing underneath the trapdoor early for Divination. He was just standing there against the wall, staring sullenly out the window. I walked quietly up to him in case he was still angry and would shout at me again before saying, 'Can I join you?' He looked up at me and nodded. So I stood beside him, back to the wall. I didn't say anything for a few more minutes before, 'What's up?'

'I'm just annoyed that Ron and Hermione are always arguing. It's getting on my nerves.'

I smiled gently at him. 'Just ignore them. It'll pass.' Harry turned round and looked at me.

'How can you be so positive all the time?' he asked. 'When there's so many lies and hatred and fighting, how can you still find the good in things?'

'Well, someone has to,' I shrugged, 'what with you guys all being down in the dumps.' Harry continued to stare at me for a few moments. And once again, I found myself looking into his eyes with an intensity I couldn't break. And as I stared back at Harry, it seemed he couldn't either. 'Someone's got to …' I tried to speak but the words wouldn't come from my mouth, 'keep your …' Harry's face was way too close to mine, 'spirit up.'

I could feel something pulling me towards him and I couldn't stop it until –

'Hiya, Harry!'

Harry and I jumped and looked away from each other to the person who'd spoken. It was Neville. In the background, the bell was going also, signalling lessons were to start. I got up straight away and climbed the ladder into the classroom, Ron joining us afterwards. Trelawney predicted Harry's death once again in Divination which by now was almost a tradition. Today, we used _The Dream Oracle_ to try interpret our dreams. As usual, Ron and Harry kept making things up but I was in deep thought about my dreams. I knew what they meant, except for the one about Dad. I didn't need a book to tell me that.

After Divination was our first lesson with Professor Umbridge and it was not one I was likely to enjoy. When she entered the classroom, she gave her sickly sweet greeting and instantly told me off for wearing a butterfly clip in my hair to pin back my bangs over my eyes. I had to remove it and tie my hair in a ponytail. I glared at her I did so from behind my fringe. Then, with a 'wands away' instruction, we took at our books as she explained to us what we were to be doing.

She made three Course Aims appear on the board and we had to copy them down. When she asked us if we had our books there was a dull reply and she asked again so we had to answer her properly. I had to try very hard not to roll my eyes. She was pathetic. She instructed us to read Chapter One of the book. It was so boring that when I noticed Hermione beside me had her hand up and not even touch her book, I almost fell off my seat. Umbridge didn't acknowledge her though until more than half of our class was looking at her.

'Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?' she asked Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her.

'Not about the chapter, no,' said Hermione. 'I've got a query about your course aims.'

After Umbridge had asked who Hermione was, she simply laugh as Hermione stated there was nothing about using defensive spells in the course and said, '_Using_ defensive spells? Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?'

Class went from bad to worse. When we found out we weren't actually going to be doing magic in the lessons, virtually all the class objected to it. And with every answer the class gave Umbridge without raising his or her hand, she told them to before moving on to another person.

'I repeat,' said Professor Umbridge in answer to Dean, smiling horribly, 'do you expect to be attacked during my classes?'

'No, but –'

'I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school,' she said, over him with a wide smile on her lips, 'but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed – not to mention,' she gave a nasty little laugh, 'extremely dangerous half-breeds.'

'If you mean Professor Lupin,' I said angrily, almost jumping from my seat if it wasn't for Ron grabbing my arm, 'that's my uncle you're insulting and he was the best teacher we ever had.' How dare she insult Lupin! 'Much better than _you_ at any rate,' I added before I could stop myself.

'_Hand_, Miss Black!' she trilled off again, ignoring me.

This continued for another few minutes, her ignoring every one of us, saying that a theoretical knowledge would be sufficient to help us pass our exams, meaning we wouldn't even be performing any spells until our actually exams. It was ridiculous! Harry asked what use it was in the real world to which Umbridge replied softly, 'This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world.'

It only really set off when Umbridge asked us what we thought was going to attack us and Harry said, 'Hmm, let's think … maybe … _Lord Voldemort_?' and we lost ten points from Gryffindor. Everyone in the class was silent, either staring at Harry or Umbridge.

'Now, let me make a few things quite plain,' began Umbridge again. 'You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead –'

'He wasn't dead,' said Harry angrily, 'but yeah, he's returned!'

'Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself,' said Professor Umbridge in one breath. 'As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie_.

'It's NOT a lie!' said Harry. 'I saw him. I fought him!'

'I was there too.' I shouted. 'Harry's not lying!'

'Detention, Mr Potter and Miss Black!' said Professor Umbridge. I stopped and looked at her. Detention? 'Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, _this is a lie_. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, "Basics for Beginners".'

Now with a detention over my head, I had to let it drop. But Harry didn't and with him going on, I couldn't. And when Cedric was brought up, all those memories of what happened came back. She called it a tragic accident as if it was something that we could just put behind us. It was anything but! I had to do something.

'It was murder,' said Harry. 'Voldemort killed him and you know it.'

'We witnessed it,' I said, 'and we would not lie about something like a person's death!'

Umbridge didn't say anything straight away. But when she did, she said it in the softest voice possible, asking Harry to come to her desk. He kicked his chair aside and stood up, striding up to her desk. I watched as she wrote something down on some parchment, give it to Harry, then say, 'You and Miss Black can take this to Professor McGonagall, dear.'

Harry snatched the note, grabbed his bag and strode out of the classroom. I picked mine up and followed after him. Though I was still ticked off with Umbridge, I calmed down once I was out of the classroom and hurried to catch up with Harry as he walked quickly through the corridors. I didn't realised he'd stopped though until I'd walked into his back. Looking up, I saw why: Peeves.

He cackled his horrible laugh when he saw Harry, throwing inkwells at the two of us. Harry snarled at him to get out the way just making him throw more and more at us and blow raspberries. Harry set off at a run, me chasing after him, down the nearest stairs while Peeves slid down the banister next to us singing.

'_Oh, most think he's barking, the potty wee lad,  
__But some are more kindly and think he's just sad,  
__But Peevesy know better and says that he's mad –'_

'SHUT UP!' bellowed Harry just as a door to our left opened and out walked Professor McGonagall. She asked us what on earth Harry was shouting at and he told we'd been sent to her office. She told us to go into her office before reading the note that we gave her. When she asked us if it was true, Harry gave her a rather aggressive answer, adding, 'Professor.' to try and make it more polite.

'Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?' she asked.

'Yes,' said Harry.

'You called her a liar?'

'Yes.'

'You told her He Who Must Not Be Named is back?'

'Yes.'

I watched McGonagall, waiting for the minute she'd tell us that we deserved our punishment and did a double take when she said, 'Have a biscuit.' I was not expecting that. She offered us a tartan tin before sitting down at her desk.

'Potter, you need to be careful,' she said to Harry more than me. 'Misbehaviour in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than house points and a detention.'

'What do you –?' Harry began but she cut him off.

'Potter, use your common sense,' snapped Professor McGonagall. 'You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting.'

Just then the bell went. McGonagall informed us that we both had detention every evening this week. She wouldn't do anything to help us with this and that we were to go to her office at five o'clock.

'Just remember: tread carefully around Dolores Umbridge.'

'But we were telling the truth!' I said.

'Voldemort is back, you know he is;' added Harry. 'Professor Dumbledore knows he is –'

'For heaven's sake, you two!' snapped Professor McGonagall, straightening her glasses angrily from wincing at Voldemort's name. 'Do you really think this is about truth or lies? It's about keeping your heads down and your tempers under control!' and she offered us another biscuit, making us take one this time.

Professor McGonagall then asked us if we listened to Umbridge's speech at the beginning of term. As usual, Harry struggled trying to tell her so I stopped him by saying, 'It meant that the Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts.'

'Well, I'm glad you listen, Miss Black, at any rate,' she said, pointing us out of her office.

Dinner that night and it was stares at both of us. The news that Harry and I had shouted at Professor Umbridge had spread quickly and the whispers were going round. And the whisperers didn't even care if we heard them. Harry though didn't understand why they weren't believing them the story Dumbledore had told them. Leaving the Hall, Hermione explained that it was because there was only us two as a witness. No one knew what had happened cept us. Harry got angry again and we told him we knew it was the truth but the fact that the _Prophet_ thought he was senile didn't help.

Back in the common room, Hermione suddenly burst about Umbridge and how Dumbledore could let her teach us in our OWL year. But as Harry pointed out, the Defence Against the Dark Arts job was jinxed so … And with getting people to spy on her as Ron said, that was even lower. Him and Hermione were on the brink of another argument when Harry told them not to and we got on with our homework.

We started with the Potions essay of which Ron looked expectantly at me and Hermione. I just told him to work it out himself. Hermione though was watching Fred, George and Lee trying the twin's sweets out on some first years. While she went and did something about it, I just got on with my homework, every so often glancing at a book to check a fact before writing it down on my parchment. By the time she'd come back, I was nearly finished and looked up to see her with a pile of wool on her lap.

'What in the name of Merlin are you doing?' asked Ron, watching her

'They're hats for house-elves,' she said briskly. 'I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic but now I'm back at school I should be able to make lots more.'

Sighing, I asked 'Why?' though I knew the answer.

'To set them free, of course.' She was still on about S.P.E.W.

Gathering up my stuff while Ron and Hermione argued about house-elves, I put the books and parchment back in my bag and said, 'I'm off.' causing both Harry and Ron to shout, 'What?'

'I'm done,' I said, looking down on them. 'I'm going to bed. Night,' and I went to bed.

The next day, all of our teachers had to remind us that our OWL year was going to be a lot harder than before. We all knew that it was important, we didn't need telling twice. In Charms we redid Summoning Charms and in Transfiguration we started on Vanishing Spells which were quite tricky. After lunch (which I spent helping Ron and Harry with their moonstone essays) was Care of Magical Creatures and, like last year, it was with the Slytherins. We spent the lesson drawing Bowtruckles, Hermione also winning points for Gryffindor as she answered the questions correctly.

During the lesson though, Malfoy had to stir it with Harry about Hagrid being away. Harry got so angry with him that he gripped his Bowtruckle too tightly and it bit him. Shaking my head, placed my quill on my parchment, got up and said, 'Leave him to me.'

Walking over to him, Malfoy looked up and smiled a thin-lipped smile when he saw me, saying, 'Well, well, Black.' I just smiled.

'You know our little secret, Draco,' I said smoothly, kneeling in front of him.

'What secret?' he sneered.

'Oh, the one that would destroy your image if anyone got wind of it,' I smirked, taking a hold of his tie and pulling him closer to her. Malfoy's eyes widened slightly; he knew what I was talking about. 'Well, if you _don't_ –' I pulled his tie tighter to his throat, '– want it told, you better shut up about Hagrid otherwise the whole school will be laughing at you and not him.'

I patted his chest and walked off back to the others. Harry was looking stunned while Ron was whooping with quiet laughter.

'Nice one, Jen!' he said. 'Never seen Malfoy quiver like that.'

'Oh, I know loads of ways to get Malfoy's goat. After all, I am his cousin.' I glanced at Harry. 'Don't worry, he should give it a break for a bit.'

'Thanks,' mumbled Harry.

It wasn't till dinner that mine and Harry's escapades yesterday caught up with us. Angelina was not pleased about us both being in detention and that we'd have to miss the Keeper tryouts. She seemed like Oliver, angry as hell. Even Harry seemed to think so. Umbridge wasn't likely to let us off. Luckily for me though, I'd done all the homework apart from that day's so I didn't much mind about the detentions.

But the detentions were horrible. Professor Umbridge's office, which I'd seen once covered in interesting animals in Lupin's time and Dark detectors with the fake Moody's, now had lacy cloths everywhere and pink, pink, pink! There were even these kittens on plates looking horribly cute. Umbridge still spoke in her sickly sweet tone as she told us what to do for our detention, handing us a quill and some parchment each.

'I want you to write, _I must not tell lies_,' she told us softly.

'How many times?' asked Harry.

'Oh, as long as it takes for the message to _sink in_,' said Umbridge sweetly. 'Off you go.'

Sitting at her desk, she started marking some essays when Harry asked what I'd been thinking.

'You haven't given us any ink.'

'Oh, you won't need ink,' said Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

Looking down at the parchment, I wrote the first _I must not tell lies_ before gasping and dropping the quill. Looking down at my hand, I saw five red words glistening on the back of it; on the paper were the same five red glistening words. I was writing in my own blood! Glancing at Umbridge, I saw her smiling at me so I picked up my quill again and started to write over and over again _I must not tell lies_. I was not going to show her weakness.

After what must have been hours, Umbridge told us to stop and to show her our hands. She looked at Harry's and merely tutted. Then, taking mine, she looked at it. The blood was as bright as the streaks in my hair. She smiled though when I winced as her stubby fingers touched it.

'A little pain, dear?' she asked sweetly.

'No, Miss,' I replied, taking away my hand.

Once she had dismissed us, I stopped walking and took my handkerchief out of my pocket, wrapping it round my hand. The blood quickly soaked through. Looking up for Harry, I saw he'd already started back to the Tower. Sighing, I hurried after him. When I got through the portrait I saw him almost at the stairs. The common room was empty.

'Harry!' I called once through the portrait. He stopped with his foot on the stair and looked back at me. I walked over to him. 'Are you all right?' I asked. 'Is it your hand?'

Harry looked down at it and put it behind him, 'No, it's fine.'

'Here,' I said softly. Reaching forward, I took his hand in mine and held it. Next, I took my wand from my robe inside pocket and gently placed the tip of it on Harry's cut, whispering, '_Torpidius_.' A small blue wisp came from it and spread over Harry's hand, cooling it. 'There,' I said. 'That should take away the sting. It should be fine tomorrow.' and I let go of his hand.

'Thanks, Jen,' said Harry. He brought his hand to his other and rubbed it. I was about to put my wand away when he asked, 'What about you?'

'I've had worse,' I shrugged. 'I'm not going to let this distract me because of the pain. You don't need to worry about me.'

'OK, Jenna.' I smiled and gave Harry a hug which he returned. 'Night, Jen.'

'Night.'

When I was up in the dormitory, I conjured up some bandage and wrapped it tightly round my hand to try and stop the bleed. As I said, I wasn't going to use a Cooling Charm to sooth the pain. When you've been attacked by a werewolf, you learn to bear it. As I looked at it, I knew my earlier thought of there being a shift in power over the school was correct and that this year was going to be the most eventful to date.

* * *

**AN: with a day's hardwork now wiv skool over for xmas, i managed to do another chapter in what must hav been the fastest time yet. well enjoy and plz rnr!! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**P.S. just wanna thank awpotdc, Ricky Lenigod, Sakura 12, Wzd JA and harry-an-ginny for reviewing the last chapter!**


	23. Changes and Close Calls

Chapter 22

Changes and Close Calls

The next day, the first thing Hermione asked me when we got up was how my detention was. I just shrugged my shoulders as I continued dressing, saying it wasn't too much, only lines. I made sure she couldn't see the bandage round my hand. Once she'd gone, I took it off and looked at my hand. It was still stained slightly with blood but the words had vanished. Hearing Hermione call me, I dumped the bloody bandage on my bed and left the dorm.

The day's lessons weren't too bad. I managed to get the Vanishing Spell to work in Transfiguration, pleasing Professor McGonagall and I'd finished all the previous day's homework so I didn't have to worry about my dream diary or anything for my other lessons. Ron, on the other hand, hadn't done any homework last night and so he and Harry, with my help, spent the whole of our lunch break in the library to do as much homework as possible. It was only at dinner time that things got worse. Angelina tracked me and Harry down again about the Quidditch tryouts on Friday. Harry and I had to tell her that Umbridge hadn't let us off so she was furious with us.

'I'm in detention!' Harry yelled as she stalked away. 'D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?'

He had a point.

'At least it's only lines,' said Hermione sympathetically. 'It's not as if it's a dreadful punishment, really.'

I glanced down at my hand. Oh, if she only knew what Harry and I had to do.

Detention that night was even worse than the first. Umbridge had already laid out the quills and parchment by the time Harry and I got there and when it finally finished after midnight, my hand was aching with pain but I wasn't going to show weakness. When she had dismissed us and I was back at the Tower, all the girls in the dormitory were asleep. Getting the bandage back out of my drawer (I'd hidden it there earlier) I wrapped it back round my hand and went to bed.

I woke again an hour or so later from hearing a groan coming from below me. I got up out of bed and put my slippers on, curious to what it was. Creeping out of the dorm, I went downstairs to the landing to find a light still on in the common room. Looking down, I saw Harry sitting down in a chair. He had several pieces of parchment out in front of him. He was still doing homework at this time of night? Sighing, I went and joined him.

'Are you still up?' I asked him quietly. He looked up at me. I went over to him and looked at his essay. Glancing at it told me he wasn't getting very far. 'Do you want some help?'

'That would be great,' sighed Harry. 'Thanks, Jen.'

Smiling, I sat down next to him and together we managed to make some sense out of his essay. By half past two, we'd managed to get it so it made sense even if it wasn't the greatest thing in the world. With that done, we did Professor McGonagall's questions and something for Professor Grubbly-Plank on handling Bowtruckles.

'I guess I'll see you in the morning, Harry,' I yawned, getting up from my seat and heading for the stairs. 'Get some sleep.'

'Yeah, and thanks again, Jenna,' said Harry. 'I really appreciated it.'

Looking back, I smiled. 'No problem.' and I went back to bed.

Thursday's detention was pretty much the same as the others. Sit, write _I must not tell lies_, and leave again. By now the words were not fading and the bleeding was getting worse. I still refused to use the Cooling Spell on it though and so I spent every free moment gritting my teeth in pain. I was washing the bandage every break time and lunch as well, getting rid of the blood so no one would realise. I seemed to bleed very easily. Harry's wasn't much better. I'd glance at him during detention to see him stop every so often as he takes in the pain. It was one of those times that Umbridge looked up at us.

'Ah,' she said softly. I watched as she got up and walked over to Harry. She looked at his hand. 'Good. That should serve as a reminder to you, shouldn't it?' Next, she looked at mine. 'You may leave for tonight.'

'Do we still have to come back tomorrow?' said Harry.

'Oh yes,' said Professor Umbridge, smiling widely as before. 'Yes, I think we can etch the message a little deeper with another evening's work.' I sighed and picked up my bag to leave. 'A word, Miss Black, if you please.' I looked back at Umbridge. She was still smiling but now sitting behind her desk. 'Please, dear.'

Cautiously, I turned back round. 'Yes, Professor?'

Umbridge continued to smile for a few seconds before saying, 'Had any letters recently?'

What? _What is she getting at?_ I thought slowly. I watched her carefully.

'No, Professor,' I said slowly, turning for the door again.

'I must not have been clear,' I heard Umbridge say behind me. 'I'll rephrase it for you.' I looked back at her. 'Heard from your _father_ lately?' I stopped.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' I replied.

'Don't play games with me, dear.' I looked back round to see Umbridge was now standing. Her fingers were splayed out as she rested them on her desk. 'You're not talking to any of your school chums. I know you're in contact with him,' said Umbridge, beginning to walk towards me. 'I know you've spoken to him.'

'You don't know anything,' I said. I tried to call her bluff but she was smiling, getting closer. I was back against the door.

'You may think you're protecting him,' said Umbridge slowly, 'pretending you don't know where he is. But believe me, you'll slip up someday.' I glared at her. 'And when you do,' she snapped her fat fingers in front of me, 'I'll be there to get him. Him and you're werewolf uncle.'

'I'd like to see you try,' I replied. Before she could say anything else I left the room to find Harry waiting outside for me. I jumped when I saw him.

'What was that about?' he asked me.

I didn't say anything and kept walking. I wasn't going to slip up and let Umbridge know what she thought she knew. I wasn't going to say anything about Dad when she could be listening in. I wasn't going –

'Ron?' I looked up to see Harry had stopped beside me. In the darkness, hidden behind the statue of Lachlan the Lank, I saw Ron standing there clutching his new broomstick behind his back. 'What are you doing?'

Ron was practicing flying so he could tryout for the Quidditch team. That was brilliant. He was really embarrassed about it though.

'So you've been practising tonight?' I asked him.

'Every evening since Tuesday … just on my own, though,' he said. 'I've been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much use it'll be.' Ron looked nervous and anxious. 'Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a prefect.' The three of us started walking again.

'I wish I was going to be there,' said Harry bitterly.

'Yeah, so do – Harry, what's that on the back of your hand?'

'It's just a cut – it's nothing – it's –'

I stopped walking and looked at the other two. Harry was hiding his hand behind his back like Ron had tried to hide his broom. Ron was too quick though. He grabbed Harry's arm and lifted it so he could look at his hand. Next, he tried to grab mine. I tried to hide mine too but again, he grabbed it. When he looked at it, Ron looked positively sick.

'I thought you said she was just giving you lines?' asked Ron. Harry and I looked at each other. Then Harry explained what we had been doing in her office. 'The old hag!' hissed Ron, waking the Fat Lady in her portrait. 'She's sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!'

'No,' said Harry instantly. 'I'm not giving her the satisfactions of knowing she's got to me.'

'_Got to you?_ You can't let her get away with this!'

'Ron, that would just make things worse,' I said.

'Jen's right. We don't know how much power McGonagall's got over her.'

'Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!'

'No,' said Harry flatly.

Harry and Ron continued to argue about this for a few more minutes until we were finally interrupted by the Fat Lady saying, 'Are you going to give me the password or will I have to stay awake all night waiting for you to finish you conversation?'

Friday night and the same routine but at least it was the last detention. Arriving at Umbridge's office, the stuff was already laid out for us again and she told we knew what to do. So, sitting down, I started writing once again _I must not tell lies_, carving it deeper into my hand. Outside I could hear the Quidditch practice taking place outside and the cheers of the crowd to whoever saved a goal or whatever. Beside me Harry was gritting his teeth as he did the same. I could see he wasn't happy about the detention but, truth be told, we deserved it; we should have kept our heads down, knowing Umbridge was from the Ministry. Just maybe not the punishment we'd received.

As I continued to write, blood kept leaking from the cut on to the parchment. It smarted and stung with every stroke of the quill. I just had to breathe through the pain. By the time Umbridge finally let up on us, it was dark and the Quidditch practice had ended.

As usual Umbridge asked to look at our hands. She looked at mine first, smiling at how deep it had gotten. I think I'd written way more lines than Harry but then again, I'd taught him the Cooling Spell so he might have been using that. My hand was very red. When she looked at Harry's though, he seemed to flinch. I looked at him curiously. The second he did so, he jumped out of his seat, staring at her.

'Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?' she said softly.

Harry didn't reply and left the room, me chasing after him.

When we got back to the Tower, there was a party in full swing. Ron had been made Keeper. When he told me he was I said well done before moving over to the corner to sit with Hermione. She was dozing in the chair so I just left her. Harry woke her up though when he joined us. She seemed so tired, just like in the third year when she was using that Time Turner to get to all her lessons.

Anyway, Harry had something on his mind, I could tell when I looked at him. He wasn't listening to Hermione properly about her house-elf hats. That thing back in Umbridge's office, he'd felt his scar hurt again. But how? Voldemort wasn't near us. Harry was worried that he could be controlling her like Quirrell which was a possibility but Hermione was right when she said Voldemort didn't need her body anymore, he had his own. But his scar had hurt on its own before so maybe it was just a coincidence? Harry didn't seem to think so.

'She's evil,' said Harry flatly. 'Twisted.'

'She's horrible, yes, but … Harry, I think you ought to tell Dumbledore your scar hurt.'

'I'm not bothering him with this. Like you just said, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer – it was just a bit worse tonight, that's all –'

'Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would _want_ to be bothered by this –'

No matter how much Hermione tried to convince him, Harry would not go. Instead, he was going to ask Dad. That instantly set my alarm bells ringing and what Umbridge had said to me the previous night came back and I told him that he couldn't put that in a letter. Harry merely snapped at me too and went to bed.

Saturday morning and Hermione and I met up with Ron in the common room and we went down to breakfast. When we asked where Harry was, Ron said he hadn't been in their dormitory when he got up. We were already down in the Great Hall when he joined us. He looked oddly pleased about something though.

'Erm … Quidditch later,' said Harry happily. I looked at him oddly. It wasn't Quidditch he was happy about.

After Ron asked me and Harry to come out with him a little earlier so that he could get some practice in before the group practice, the _Daily Prophet_ arrived for Hermione. She paid the owl which delivered it before burying her head in it as she usually did now. There wasn't anything interesting, only that some member of the Weird Sisters was getting married until –

'Oh no … Sirius!'

I looked up the instant Hermione said Dad's name. Someone had tipped the Ministry off that Dad was in London. My earlier fears from the train came back. Malfoy had to have known Dad had been there, or at least his father would have. I knew he shouldn't of gone to the station with us but he wouldn't listen.

'Hey!' said Harry suddenly. He flattened down the piece of paper he'd torn from the _Prophet_. 'Look at this!'

Hermione, Ron and I all leaned in and looked at the piece of paper. It was about Madam Malkin having a sale on robes. When Ron said he didn't need any new ones, Harry pointed to a small article near the bottom of the page. Peering closer, the three of us read it.

Sturgis Podmore had been arrested. He was one of the members of the Order. He'd apparently been captured by that guard guy who'd weighed Harry and my wands before our hearing when he was trying to break into a top security door at the Ministry on the day before we came back to school. That's why he wasn't there that day. And it hit me. I'd dreamt of someone being arrested that night; I'd been in the corridor they were in. I'd seen Sturgis get arrested. But how? And why was he in the Ministry in the first place?

'It could be a frame-up!' said Ron. Harry and Hermione looked at him sceptically. 'No – listen!' he went on, dropping his voice. 'The Ministry suspects he's one of Dumbledore's lot so – I dunno – they _lured_ him to the Ministry, and he wasn't trying to get through a door at all! Maybe they've just made something up to get him!'

It made sense or at least to me it did. Remembering back to the dream, I'd heard him shout, 'It wasn't me!' and that he hadn't done it. But what if someone had made him do it? Maybe not being lured or anything but told to … under a curse.

'What if he'd been Imperioused?' I asked the others in a low voice.

'I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were true,' said Hermione. She folded up her half of the paper. 'It's not like Voldemort wouldn't have his spies in the Ministry.'

This was worrying. One member of the Order had been caught. How many more would be next?

After breakfast, Harry, Ron and I went out to the Quidditch pitch for some early morning practice. It felt good to be on my Meteor Two-Thirty again but it didn't compare to flying as a bird. Ron wasn't too bad actually. As Harry and I threw the Quaffle at him as Chasers, he managed to block the majority of the goals. His only problem was his confidence. As I watched I could tell he didn't have much confidence in his own abilities now so what he was going to be like during practice later that day or during match I could only imagine. We then returned to the pitch after lunch with the rest of the team.

The group practice wasn't an entire disaster though I don't think the Slytherins jeering at us helped Ron's confidence levels. He kept dropping the ball when it was thrown to him at the first drill and Fred and George didn't help either when they kept giving each other looks as he missed. Least they didn't say anything. The Slytherins had to be the worst thing to happen though.

'Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle, anyway?' shrieked Pansy Parkinson. 'Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?'

'Why would anyone want a face like a pigs'?' I shouted in return.

Angelina told the team to ignore them but their laughter just kept ringing through the stadium, making it worse and worse for Ron to concentrate, so much so that he threw the Quaffle and it hit Katie in the face giving her a nosebleed. But it was a comment from Malfoy which got me.

'Hey, Black!' he shouted at me. I turned on my broom to look at him. 'Heard your father's in London! Hope he gets caught!'

'I'll be back in a sec,' I said over my shoulder to Angelina. Not knowing what she said to me afterwards, I zoomed over to where the Slytherins were gathered, floating above them. 'Hey, you Slytherins!' I yelled to gain their attention. They looked at me. 'Want to know a secret about your high-and-mighty leader Malfoy?'

I watched as they muttered to each other then look back at me. Malfoy, however, had drawn out his wand. He pointed it at me as he said, 'You dare, Black!' I grinned.

'Your dear Malfoy has dirty blood,' I said over him. The Slytherins looked at me before muttering again. 'That's right! He's still a pureblood but he's just as much related to Sirius Black as I am. You see my dad's cousin is his mum! You still sure you want to take orders from him?'

'You'll die for that! _Expelliarmus!_'

'Jenna, watch out!'

I heard Harry shout at me and I looked down in time to see the spell burst from Malfoy's wand. Quickly, I put my feet on my broom handle and jumped off it backwards, disappearing into fire at the same time. In that time I saw where it was I disappeared to when I did that; I was still in the Quidditch arena but everything was red, hazy as if it was all being burnt. A few seconds later I reappeared and landed back on my broom.

Regaining my composure, I shouted, 'Nice try, couz, but you won't get me that easily!' at Malfoy before flying off to rejoin the team.

Angelina then set us doing some separate practice. While Harry, Fred and George went to get a Bludger, the bats and the Snitch, I flew over to Ron and gave him some comforting advice before flying off with Harry to practice catching the Snitch. Together we twisted and dived after it, racing each other to get to the small golden ball first.

'Stop – _stop_ – STOP!' I looked behind me to see Angelina shouting at Ron. 'Ron – you're not covering your middle post!'

When I looked back round, I hadn't realised Harry had stopped and I almost knocked him off his broom and myself for that matter, hitting him right in the chest. Luckily, he caught me before I did so. I swear I blushed when he helped me back on to my broom and I instantly flew off again looking for the Snitch. We were stopped again a few minutes later though. Katie's nosebleed was getting worse; Fred, when he'd helped her the first time, he'd given her a Blood Blisterpod instead of whatever he and George used to stop the Nosebleed Nougat. They took her to the hospital wing and the practice finished.

Hermione asked us how the practice went when we got back to the common room and instantly put her foot in it when she misinterpreted something Ron said. He stalked off and went straight to bed.

'_Was_ he lousy?'

'No,' said Harry loyally.

'He wasn't,' I added though rather hesitantly. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

'Well, I suppose he could've played better,' Harry muttered, 'but it was only the first training session, like you said …'

The whole of Sunday I spent catching up on the homework I'd left because my hand was too sore to write with before and after my detentions the previous week. It was still bandaged up and the words were still there but it had stopped bleeding at least. Harry and Ron also spent their time doing homework and by the evening, I had caught up and was reading while Hermione knitted some rather oddly shaped house-elf socks. At half-past eleven, the two of us got up and went over to the boys.

'Nearly done?' I asked them, only to receive a short, 'No.' from Ron.

'Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto,' said Hermione, pointing over Ron's shoulder at a line in his Astronomy essay, 'and it's Io that's got the volcanoes.'

'Thanks,' snarled Ron.

'Sorry, I only –'

'Yeah, well, if you've just come over here to criticise –'

At that moment, I looked over to the window. I'd heard a scratching noise coming from it. Through the darkness I saw an elegant owl flapping outside it, pecking its beak against the glass to come in. It was Hermes, Percy's owl.

'Ron –'

'I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Jenna, I'm up to my neck in it here –'

'No – look!' I pointed at the window when he finally looked up.

'Isn't that Hermes?' asked Hermione.

'Blimey, it is!' said Ron quietly. He got up and went to the window, letting the owl in. He gave Ron the letter before flying off instantly. 'What's Percy writing to me for?'

Hermione, Harry and I all said he should open it and he sat for few minutes reading what it said. As he read it, his expression got slowly darker and darker until he shoved it at us. The three of us crowded round and read what it said. It was horrible. Percy was actually telling Ron to snitch on us to Umbridge, to "sever ties" with Harry and tell Umbridge where Dad was. There was also something to be in the _Daily Prophet_ the next day which was going to be bringing a change to Hogwarts or something like that.

'Well,' said Harry once he'd read it, trying to sound casual about it, 'if you want to – er – what is it? Oh yeah – "sever ties" with me, I swear I won't get violent.'

'And if you want to turn in my Dad, you're more than welcome to,' I said, walking away.

But as I did so, I saw something in the fire which made me do a double-take. I stared at the flames. Something had just appeared in amongst them, I swear it. As I did so, Hermione said something to me which I didn't hear and I remained by the fire on the hearth, staring into the flames. They seemed to dance as I watched them. I was sat there for ages. I didn't notice anything until Harry sat beside me and I heard him speak.

'Because I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire,' said Harry.

'Sirius's head?' Hermione repeated. 'You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too –'

'Dad!'

I jumped back from the fire. There, in amongst all the flames, was my Dad's head just floating there with his usual grin on his face, his shoulder-length hair falling neatly round his face. It was him I'd seen a while ago. He'd been popping into the fire every hour to check if we were alone yet so he could speak to us.

'Well, I think a girl – first-year, by the look of her – might've got a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry,' Sirius said hastily, 'I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she just thought I was an oddly-shaped log or something.'

'But, Dad, this is taking an awful risk –' I started. He cut me off.

'And you don't? Miss I'll-just-fly-over-to-Harry's-house-in-the-middle-of-the-summer. You sound like Molly. Both you and Hermione,' said Sirius. He had a point. About the awful risk thing, not the Mrs Weasley thing. 'This was the only way I could come up with answering Harry's letter without resorting to code – and codes are breakable.'

A twinge went right through my stomach and I turned to look at Harry. He'd written to Dad without even telling me? How could he, I thought we didn't keep things from each other. Harry avoided the subject though when Hermione asked him. I couldn't believe he'd do that. By now, Dad was saying that Harry's scar hurting a few days ago was nothing to really worry about though Umbridge was foul enough to be a Death Eater.

'The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters,' said Sirius with a wry smile. 'I know she's a nasty piece of work, though – you should hear Remus talk about her.'

'Does Lupin know her?' I asked. I remembered back to what Umbridge had said to me in her office. 'She seems to have a thing against half-breeds.'

'No,' said Sirius, 'but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for him to get a job.'

Well, that certainly explained why she said she would get Lupin too.

'What's she got against werewolves?' said Hermione angrily.

'Scared of them, I expect,' said Sirius. 'Apparently, she loathes all part-humans.'

Dad seemed very against her which raised my spirits a bit. Of course, when he brought up Kreacher, Hermione got all defensive saying that if he made a bit of effort with him, he'd stop insulting us. Yeah, fat chance. Dad just ignored her.

'So, what are Umbridge's lessons like? Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?'

'Dad, d'you mind?' I said slightly annoyed. 'Are you forgetting I'm a half-breed? I'm surprised she's teaching me at all.'

'Of course not, Jen.'

But before I could say anything back, Harry told him what we'd been doing in the lessons. In other words nothing. While they all talked, I just sat back and watched and listened. Harry was outraged that the Ministry was stopping us doing magic because it thought we'd form an army against them. We were just kids, for God's sake. There was no news from Hagrid either. He was supposed to be back by now but he wasn't. Dad told us not to worry though. But then he told us he was thinking of meeting us with us on the first Hogsmeade weekend.

'NO!' me and Harry said instantly.

'Sirius, didn't you see the _Daily Prophet_?' asked Hermione.

Dad just grinned and shrugged it off that they were always guessing where he was. But this time it was different. Harry explained what Malfoy had said to us on the train and that if Malfoy recognised him again then he would be caught.

'All right, all right, I've got the point,' said Sirius. 'Just an idea, thought you might like to get together.'

'We would,' I said. 'I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban. I don't want to lose you again.'

'Exactly,' said Harry. Silence followed as Dad just looked between me and Harry.

'You are so like your mother, Jen. Always worrying about other people's safety over her own. And you're less like your father than I thought,' he added. 'The risk would've been what made it fun for James.'

When Harry tried to talk to him, Dad instantly said he had to go and his head disappeared from the fire. I just looked at the others. Dad was starting to worry me, he was getting so reckless. But as I looked at Harry, I remembered it was because of him Dad had appeared in the fire. I just got up and turned to leave.

'Jen?' I heard Harry call behind me.

'I'm going to bed.' and I left.

The next day, we found out what Percy had meant in his letter the moment Hermione had opened her _Daily Prophet_. There was a picture of Umbridge smiling her horrible smile next to an article saying she'd been made High Inquisitor at Hogwarts. She now had the power to inspect her fellow teachers to make sure they were up to Ministry standards. Malfoy's dad had even put in his opinion saying he felt much easier of mind because the Ministry was watching Dumbledore. At the bottom though, it criticised Dumbledore's previous appointments for staff, including Lupin which made my heart sink as it again mentioned he was a werewolf. At least there were people who were against this. That was always a bonus.

Hermione and Harry were completely outraged by this. I was having my doubts about what was going to happen and who was going to be fired after their inspection. Ron, on the other hand, he was smiling.

'Oh, I can't wait to see McGonagall inspected,' said Ron happily. 'Umbridge won't know what's hit her.' He had a point. Professor McGonagall's classes were always strict.

After the depressing History of Magic lesson (luckily Umbridge wasn't there), we had Potions and we got back our moonstone essays which we'd done for prep. I didn't do too badly I must say and he'd graded them with the OWL mark scheme. I'd managed to get a "E" which was good considering Snape hated anyone and everyone in Gryffindor. Must have killed him to give me it. Hermione also got an "E" which wasn't surprising. I handed Snape my Strengthening Solution at the end of the lesson and left, relieved to get out of there.

Hermione wouldn't stop going on about the grades during lunchtime. As she was going on about them, Ron suddenly burst out, 'Hermione, if you want to know what grades we got, ask.' She was certainly taken aback.

'I don't – I didn't mean – well, if you want to tell me –'

'I got a "P",' said Ron. 'Happy?'

'Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of,' said Fred. Him, George and Lee joined us sitting next to Harry. 'Nothing wrong with a good healthy "P".'

Altogether there were six grades you could get in your OWLs. "O", "E", "A", "P", "D" and "T": "Outstanding", "Exceeds Expectations", "Acceptable", "Poor", "Dreadful" and "Troll". Nice. I pity anyone who ever got a "T".

'I've always thought Fred and I should've got "E" in everything because we exceed expectations just by turning up for the exams,' laughed George. Probably true.

After talking about the grading system of OWLs, Fred asked if we'd had an inspection yet. They'd had one in Charms with Flitwick but it wasn't possible that Flitwick would fail that. Apparently, she only asked a couple of questions and made notes on a clipboard. Hmm.

'Who've you got this afternoon?' Fred asked Harry.

'Trelawney –'

'A "T" if I ever saw one.'

'– and Umbridge herself,' I added.

'Well, be a good boy and keep your temper with Umbridge today,' said George. 'Angelina'll do her nut if you two miss any more Quidditch practices.'

Umbridge did come to Divination. And she created quite a stir with Trelawney. As she went round the class while we were supposed to be interpreting more of our dreams with _The Dream Oracle_. However, Harry, Ron and I weren't interpreting our dreams. We watched as Umbridge hovered over Trelawney like a fly, scribbling notes on her clipboard. Soon the whole class was watching. Afterwards, Umbridge asked Trelawney how long she'd been working there before going on to ask for a prediction. After a refusal first of all, Trelawney gave her one.

'I … I think I _do_ see something …' she said dramatically. 'Something that concerns _you _… why, I sense something … something _dark_ … some grave peril … I am afraid … I am afraid that you are in great danger!'

Yeah. Even I could make a better prediction than that just by touching Umbridge, something I'll never do.

'Right,' said Umbridge, scribbling something. 'Well, if that's really the best you can do …'

Umbridge was the first to leave once Divination had finished and by the time we'd got to Defence Against the Dark Arts, she was already there waiting for us. We barely had time to tell Hermione what had happened when she told us, silence, to take out our textbooks and put our wands away. This time, I was determined to keep my cool in this lesson and so when she told us to read our book, I did. I only looked up when I noticed Hermione's hand up.

This time, Umbridge went straight to Hermione instead of ignoring her. I watched from my seat next to Ron as they spoke. Hermione had read the whole book. Unsurprising really. So, Umbridge tests her, asking her about Chapter Fifteen. Hermione gets the answer right but goes to far when she gave her own opinion. Umbridge dismissed it as I expected before –

'Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor house.'

'What for?' said Harry angrily.

'Don't get involved!' I whispered urgently to him.

But he did and he received another week's worth of detentions.

I found myself waiting up every night for Harry to come back from his detentions with Umbridge. Each time, I used the Cooling Charm on Harry's hand before giving him some sympathy and going to bed. Of course, when Angelina found out, she went spare. At breakfast the next day, she let rip with Harry causing Professor McGonagall to tell her off and deduct more House points from both Angelina and Harry when he objected. I purposely avoided Harry's eye after she walked away, my hair falling over my face. Hermione did to.

'You think McGonagall was right, do you?' said Harry angrily to her when he saw her hiding.

'I wish she hadn't taken points from you,' said Hermione's voice, 'but I think she's right to warn you not to lose your temper with Umbridge.' I saw him look at me next.

'I did warn you.'

Harry didn't speak to me or Hermione all through Charms. But when we reached Transfiguration, a surprise was waiting for us. Umbridge was sat at the back of the classroom with her clipboard and when Professor McGonagall came in, she just ignored her and told Lavender to hand out the mice we were going to be Vanishing. And to hear McGonagall put Umbridge in her place made my day. Her reaction Umbridge asking her if she received her note about the inspection was classic.

'Obviously I received it, or I would have asked you what you are doing in my classroom,' she said tartly, turning her back on Umbridge afterwards to continue the lesson.

Unlike in Trelawney's class, Umbridge remained sat at the back of class instead of wandering around while we got on with Vanishing our mice. She did, however, take many more notes this time. At the end of the lesson, I was nudged by Hermione who'd been nudged by Ron and in turn by Harry to see Umbridge go up to the front to speak to McGonagall. She didn't ask much, only how long she'd worked there (thirty-nine years, wow, long time!) before Professor McGonagall shooed us four out, giving us a smile as she did so.

Care of Magical Creatures though was another different story. Was Umbridge following our every move or something? She turned up and asked Professor Grubbly-Plank some questions about teaching us and Hagrid (we all looked worriedly at each other when she brought him up), and, while we listened to Professor Grubbly-Plank talk about Bowtruckles some more, she wandered around the students and asked them about magical creatures.

Luckily, when she went back to question Grubbly-Plank at the end of the lesson, she didn't say anything bad about Dumbledore and what she was going to teach us. I watched silently as I walked back to Harry and the others after fetching some more parchment from the front because I'd run out when I heard Umbridge mention the injuries in the lessons. Next thing I knew, I'd had my arm grabbed by Malfoy of all people and was dragged to his side.

'That was me and my cousin,' he said, smiling at Umbridge. I looked at him incredulously. Now I'm his cousin? 'We were slashed by a Hippogriff.' Why that –

'A Hippogriff?' repeated Umbridge. I saw her writing furiously on her clipboard.

'Only because he provoked the Hippogriff and I pushed him out of the way,' I said, pushing Malfoy away from me. 'It was his own fault.'

'Yeah,' I heard a voice call behind me. I looked round to see it was Harry. _Oh no_, I instantly thought. 'Because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do.'

Hermione and Ron groaned as I placed my hand to my forehead. Harry, you idiot!

'Another night's detention, I think,' said Umbridge beside me. 'And I think Miss Black ought to join you because of her little accusation.' What? It was the bloody truth! 'Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, I think that's all I need here. You will be receiving the results of your inspection within ten days.'

'Jolly good,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and Professor Umbridge set off back across the lawn to the castle. I glared at Malfoy who was grinning beside me before walking off to where Harry, Ron and Hermione were.

'Thanks for helping land me in detention, Harry,' I muttered bitterly. I didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

We got back to the Tower at gone midnight again after detention. My hand was back in its bandage and Harry's had my handkerchief tied round it. When we got back to the common room we found Hermione and Ron both waiting up for us. Hermione instantly told us to place our hands in this bowl of Murtlap essence she had. It was such a relief to feel the cooling effect on the cut the liquid had. Ron said to us we should still tell Professor McGonagall but neither Harry or I were willing to do so. Hermione too was angry with Umbridge, calling her an '_Awful_ woman.' But there was nothing we could do. Or at least, not about her.

Hermione thought it was time we started to learn Defence Against the Dark Arts ourselves. Ron thought it was stupid, giving ourselves more homework. Hermione said it was more important though. But there was one problem: we didn't have a teacher. But Hermione wasn't talking about getting an adult to teach us.

'Isn't it obvious?' she said after Harry asked who. 'I'm talking about _you_, Harry.'

Harry thought it was ridiculous, that Hermione and soon Ron too were pulling his leg. He said that Hermione always beat him in the exams which wasn't true; he said that all the stuff he'd done was fluke and luck and that he'd had help when Ron reeled off what he'd done in the past four years. And as Ron and Hermione continued to smirk, Harry lost his temper, sending the bowl of Murtlap essence on to the floor. I instantly winced as the pain came back, grabbing my hand.

'_You don't know what it's like!_' he shouted at them. 'You – neither of you – you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorising a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own – your own brain or guts or whatever – like you can think straight when you know you're about a nanosecond from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die – they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that – and you two sit there acting like I'm a clever little boy standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up – you don't see Jenna smiling because she knows what it's like, you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me –'

Ron tried to tell him they weren't going on at Cedric for dying and that he wasn't understanding them. It was only when Hermione said, 'Harry, don't you see? This … this is exactly why we need you … we need to know what it's r-really like … facing him … facing V-Voldemort.' that Harry calmed down. I just stared at her. She'd said Voldemort's name. It was the first time she ever had. When Hermione asked if he'd think about it, Harry didn't answer. Taking that as a time to exit, Hermione and I went to bed.

The subject of Harry teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts wasn't brought up again for two weeks until one blustery evening at the end of September. Hermione approached Harry cautiously about the subject whether he'd thought about it or not. He had a bit but when he looked to me and Ron for support, I said, 'Don't even think of trying to get me involved in this argument.' and went back to my book. I didn't want Harry biting my head off for any reason again. Hermione then tried to persuade him again by telling him all the stuff he could do that full-grown wizards can't when she brought up Viktor. I looked up. I'd almost forgotten about Krum.

'Yeah?' said Ron, who'd sat up so quickly his neck cricked. 'What did Vicky say?'

I looked at him. I hadn't seen Ron act like this since last year when him and Hermione had come into the common room shouting at each other after the Yule Ball when I was sitting on Noah's lap. Hermione though wasn't in the mood for Ron's jealous tone and brushed it off as she does. She turned back to Harry and asked him again about it.

'Just you, Ron and Jenna, yeah?' he asked.

Not what Hermione had planned. She thought others who wanted to learn should get the chance. So, the first Hogsmeade weekend in October, she was going to see if people wanted to meet up and talk about it. Well, it was better to do it outside of school than in school, wasn't it?

The four of us went down to Hogsmeade together on Saturday morning, Harry being sniffed by Filch on the way out (weird), with Harry explaining to us what happened when he sent Dad that letter last month and about the Dungbombs. Intriguing. As we walked, Harry asked where we were going. Turned out it was to the Hog's Head, not the Three Broomsticks, for the meeting. It was disgusting in there though. The tables looked filthy; the glasses were dirty; the whole room itself smelt of something horrible. There was also this weird witch under a veil which I couldn't help but think was watching us. I wasn't sure about this at all as I looked around and neither was Harry but Hermione said it wasn't against the rules. So, with Harry paying for some rather dusty Butterbeers, we went and sat down to wait for the others.

About ten minutes after we arrived, about twenty other people came crowding into the pub including Fred, George, Angelina, Neville, Ginny and a whole lot of others from our year and those above us from the other houses. I rolled my eyes though when I saw Cho and one of her giggling girlfriends come in. I was going to be getting glares from her; least I wasn't sitting next to Harry, he was starting to go a bit pink. Quite pathetic actually. Anyway, Fred ordered twenty-five Butterbeers from the barman and told them all to cough up before they came and crowded round our table.

With everyone sat down, Hermione started to speak and in a higher voice than normal as well. She told the others why they had come and what she was intending us to do but not without interruptions of course. A blond Hufflepuff boy with a stuck up nose called Zacharias Smith kept asking pointless questions which got me very angry, especially when he asked, 'I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back.'

'You've got no right to ask him that,' I said instantly, glaring at him. He didn't.

Hermione swiftly intervened when Harry finally spoke causing everyone to look at him.

'What makes me say You-Know-Who's back?' Harry repeated, looking Smith. 'I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone.'

'All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts,' said Smith. 'He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know –'

'If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you and neither can Jenna before you ask,' said Harry. 'I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out.'

Hermione took over again luckily but it didn't stop people staring at Harry, or me for that matter. I wasn't going to tell them anything about what happened. I only spoke again to answer Susan Bones' question about being able to produce a corporeal Patronus. Then everyone started talking about all the amazing things Harry had done. When Cho spoke up praising Harry I had to stop myself rolling my eyes again. She sounded so pathetic when she praised him, plus she couldn't stop staring at him throughout. What really ticked me off though was when Susan brought up the Dementors from the summer, Harry completely forgot I had been there as well.

After all that, Hermione covered the fact that we needed to find a place to practice and when we did it each week without having it clash with the different Quidditch practices, Ernie putting his opinion in about how this is the most important thing we did all year. The most interesting bit of the whole meeting though was when Luna (who'd also come) said that Fudge had an army of Heliopaths, whatever they were. It was really funny to see her put Hermione in her place. Ginny's impression of Umbridge was pretty funny too. So, with Hermione saying we'd find somewhere to practice, she got everyone there to write their name on some parchment (there were some hesitant people and Cho's friend glared at her as she wrote hers) before they all dispersed.

'Well, I think that went quite well,' said Hermione happily as we all left.

Ron instantly gave his opinion of Smith which wasn't a good one before he found out that Michael Corner, a guy in our year who'd also come, was going out with Ginny and he really let rip. As he followed Hermione into a shop he kept questioning her about them. One of the few times I actually was quite glad I was an only child. While they did that, I noticed Harry smiling about something.

'So you liked the fact Cho was there?' I said. As I did so, I heard a slight bitter tone in my voice which certainly wasn't normal.

'What d'you mean?' asked Harry quickly.

'Well,' I said, smiling a sarcastic smile, 'she just couldn't keep her eyes off you, could she?'

'Er, well, I,' Harry started before turning away and waiting for us outside the shop.

He fancied Cho and he had it bad.

On Monday, are plans to have a secret Defence organisation had already been stomped on. Hermione and I were up in our dormitory getting dressed for breakfast when we suddenly heard a siren going off from the staircase outside. We just looked at each other before grabbing our ties and leaving our room. Outside, the stairs had turned into a slide so, Hermione going first, we slid down them to the common room. As we got to the bottom we could hear Ron's voice.

'Hermione and Jenna are allowed in our dormitory, how come we're not allowed –?'

'Well, it's an old-fashioned rule,' said Hermione, getting back to her feet as I landed behind her, 'but is says in _Hogwarts: A History_, that the founders thought boys were less trustworthy than girls. Anyway, why were you trying to get in there?'

'To see you – look at this!' said Ron.

On the notice board was a large piece of parchment pinned in front of all the other notices. Umbridge had passed a new Education Decree, Number Twenty-four, saying that all school organisations were banned and if they were to be reformed, people had to ask permission from Umbridge to allow it. But how could anyone know about what we had planned for Umbridge to enforce this two days after we arranged it? No one had told yet though Ron seemed to believe someone had.

'You're so naïve,' said Ron, 'you think just because you're all honourable and trustworthy –'

'Hermione's right,' I said grimly. 'They can't have done, because we put a jinx on that piece of parchment we all signed. Believe me, if anyone's run off and told Umbridge, we'll know exactly who they are and they will really regret it.'

Between us, Hermione and I had come up with a jinx to spell out the word "SNEAK" on a person's face in huge boils and pimples if they told anyone about our secret Defence group. And as Hermione put it, it _would_ make Eloise Midgeon's ache look like some cut freckles. It was a terrible jinx. I was quite proud to say I came up with the effect while Hermione found the right jinx words to produce it.

The new Education Decree effected us quicker than we thought. When we got down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Angelina instantly tracked Ron, Harry and me down to tell us that the Decree included banning Quidditch teams. But things got worse as the day wore on.

About halfway through History of Magic, Hedwig turned up with a letter for Harry. The moment I saw her though, I felt a pain in my chest. I guess it was my empathy with animals from my Animagus ability that made me feel it. Hedwig was in pain. Harry silently let her in through the window. Her feathers were all ruffled and at odd angles. She kept hooting so dolefully and I could feel every bit of pain she felt. Seeing this, Harry made an excuse to Professor Binns and left the classroom. It was break time when Hermione, Ron and I saw him again.

'Is Hedwig OK?' asked Hermione anxiously.

'Where did you take her?' asked Ron.

'To Grubbly-Plank,' said Harry. 'And I met McGonagall … listen.'

He told us about how McGonagall had told him that the owls coming in and out of Hogwarts may be being watched. And when I read the letter Harry had received, my heart sank. It said: _Today, same time, same place_. I instantly knew it was from Dad. And if someone else had read it … I dreaded what would happen. Harry said it had still been sealed but that didn't make me feel any better.

It was outside Potions that the Education Decree caught up with us again. When we arrived, Malfoy and his usual group of Slytherin cronies were all gathered outside the dungeon door, laughing and guffawing (in Pansy's case, shrieking – major shivers) about something. I knew it had to be something bad. Turned out that Umbridge had given the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to reform the moment Malfoy had asked her. Was I surprised? No. But it was what happened afterwards that made me do something I never thought I'd do.

'I mean,' Malfoy was saying, 'if it's a question of influence with the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance … from what my dad says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years … and as for Potter … my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St Mungo's … apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic.'

As he made these horrible faces with his eyes rolling, I saw out of the corner of my eye Neville twitching, his face contorted with anger and his fists clenched. I knew why he was acting like this: his parents. They were mad because of Bellatrix. In an instant, I saw Neville lunge forward at Malfoy.

'Neville, _no_!' I shouted. I moved in front of Malfoy as quickly as possible, my hands outstretched to stop Neville getting past me. I'd never seen him so angry before.

'Move, Jenna!' he snarled at me. I wouldn't. 'Get out of my way!'

'I can't let you hurt him,' I said. 'It'll just make things worse.'

I watched as Harry and Ron grabbed Neville's arms as he lunged out at me to get at Malfoy. He was trying to say something but couldn't because Harry's arm was round his neck. I couldn't believe I was defending Malfoy but I was right; if it was a matter of influence and Umbridge was on Malfoy's side, things for Gryffindor were going to get very difficult. Snape came out of the classroom moments later and broke up the fight, deducting House points as well and threatening detention before telling us to get into class. I just watched Neville as Harry and Ron let him go. He was still glaring at me.

'Neville, please,' I said slowly to him, 'Malfoy would have made things worse for Gryffindor than they already are.' He just glared at me and walked into the classroom. I sighed and followed.

Umbridge was in our Potions lesson sitting at the back of the class with her clipboard again. After what had just happened outside, I wanted to do nothing that would risk getting more detentions from her and so I kept my head down and got on with my Strengthening Solution. Of course, beside Hermione, Harry was continually getting things wrong as he watched Umbridge until his potion was smelling like burnt rubber and Snape vanished it. As soon as the lesson had ended, I was out of there.

Divination was much the same as always except for one thing: Professor Trelawney was in a right foul mood as she handed out _The Dream Oracle_ to us, shoving one to Dean and Seamus and one so hard at Neville that he fell off his pouffe. She just snapped at us to get on with things and when Parvati and Lavender asked her if anything was wrong, she almost flew off the handle, shouting it was "The Establishment!" that was wrong. The gist I got from it was that she'd got back her report from Umbridge and it hadn't been good. She was on probation.

After Divination was Defence Against the Dark Arts. When I entered I saw Umbridge was sitting at her desk with a look of supreme smugness on her face. Her black velvet bow along with the smug look reminded me of how much she looked like a toad. Still, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I took our seats at the back of the class and when she told us to read Chapter Three of our textbook, the four of us just mouthed, '… no need to talk.' as she told us so.

That night, the only thing I had to look forward to was seeing Dad again (though I was still apprehensive about it) after Angelina gave us the news that Umbridge had to think about letting her reform the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Maybe Malfoy had been right; that influence did have a part to play in these things. Of course, Hermione thought it was all right because now Ron and Harry could catch up with their homework. Yeah, like they were going to do that. Besides that, Hermione was in a bit of a mood as she watched Fred and George testing out some sweets to some other students. Harry got so annoyed he told her to just tell them off.

'I can't, they're not _technically_ doing anything wrong,' she said. 'They're quite within their rights to eat the foul things themselves and I can't find a rule that says the other idiots aren't entitled to buy them, not unless they're proven dangerous in some way and it doesn't look as though they are.'

Before Dad appeared again, I spent my time doing my homework and helping Harry with his extra Potions essay seeing as Hermione was too busy scowling at Fred and George. But the moment Dad appeared in the flames, a weight seemed to lift off my chest and I couldn't be more happy to see him smiling there. I'd been a bit worried about him because he hadn't spoken to us since the last fireplace meeting.

'How're things?' he asked us straight away.

'Not that good,' said Harry. 'The Ministry's forced through another decree, which means we're not allowed to have Quidditch teams –'

'Or secret Defence Against the Dark Arts groups?' said Sirius. OK, how did he know about that?

Mundungus had been in the pub. He'd been that witch under the veil. Apparently he got banned years ago and the barman had a long memory. Well, he'd overheard us talking about the secret Defence group and had gone back to Grimmauld and told the Order. Dad said we should of gone to the Three Broomsticks. Then we wouldn't have been overheard. But if Mundungus had overheard us … who else had?

'First of all,' said Sirius afterwards, 'Ron – I've sworn to pass on a message from your mother.' Ron sounded very apprehensive when he asked what but Dad ploughed on. 'She says on no account whatsoever are you to take part in an illegal secret Defence Against the Dark Arts group. She says you'll be expelled for sure and your future will be ruined. She says there will be plenty of time to learn how to defend yourself later and that you are too young to be worrying about that right now. She also,' Dad looked at Harry and Hermione, 'advises Harry and Hermione not to proceed with the group, though she accepts that she has not authority over either of them and simply begs them to remember that she has their best interests at heart. Finally,' he turned to me, 'she thinks that you, Jenna, should not take part in the group either, even though it is up to me whether I approve of you joining or not. She would have written all this to you, but if the owl had been intercepted you'd all have been in real trouble, and she can't say it for herself because she's on duty tonight.'

Brilliant. We were being told not to do it. How were we going to learn Defence now? But Dad surprised us all by saying we should do it. Dad thought it was better we knew how to defend ourselves than sitting in school not knowing how to. He did have a valid point. But where were we going to hold this Defence group? Dad suggested the Shrieking Shack but looked at me when I made a sceptical noise about it.

'Well, Dad, it's just that there were only five of you meeting in the Shrieking Shack when you were at school,' I said, 'and all of you could transform into animals and so you could have all squeeze under a single Invisibility Cloak if you'd wanted to. But there are twenty-nine of us and only I'm an Animagus. We wouldn't need so much as an Invisibility Cloak as an Invisibility Marquee.'

'Fair point,' said Sirius. 'Well, I'm pretty sure you'll come up with somewhere. There used to be a pretty roomy secret passageway behind that big mirror on the fourth floor, you might have enough space to practise jinxes in there.'

'Fred and George told me it's blocked,' said Harry, shaking his head. 'Caved in or something.'

'Oh …' said Sirius, frowning. 'Well, I'll have a think and get back to –'

Dad stopped talking and turned his head in the fire, looking into the stone wall. I looked at him strangely.

'Dad?' but before he replied, he'd vanished.

The four of us just looked at each other, completely baffled by why Dad had just done that. But when I looked back at the fire, I screamed as a hand suddenly came out of nowhere, almost grabbing my ankle. A hand with short, stubby fingers. Umbridge! Hermione gasped as she, Harry and Ron scrabbled to their feet and ran up the stairs. I was still sat by the fire, panting out of shock, watching in fear as the hand grasped for anything it could in front of me. I was almost paralyzed to the spot in fear. Umbridge had almost caught Dad. That had been a close call.

* * *

**AN: another chapter up within a week or so. i'm damned impressed with myself. well, hope you enjoy and plz leave a review, even if u dont like the story! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	24. Power Surge

Chapter 23

Power Surge

The next day, as soon as we were in Charms, we started talking about what had happened the previous night. Well, Charms was the best lesson for a private conversation because it was so hectic. The fact was that Umbridge had almost caught Dad in the fire and it was a big problem for us. If she had got him we'd be in serious trouble as well as Dad.

'If she'd caught Snuffles –' said Hermione.

'– He'd be back in Azkaban this morning,' finished Harry. He jabbed his wand at the bullfrog he was meant to be Silencing and it let out a high-pitched whistle.

I hastily pointed my wand at it and said, '_Silencio!_', stopping it before it got too loud. 'Well, he mustn't do it again, that's all,' I said once it was quiet. 'I just don't know how we're going to let him know. We can't send him an owl.'

'I don't reckon he'll risk it again,' said Ron. 'He's not stupid, he knows she nearly got him. _Silencio._'

The crow Ron was trying to Silence didn't and just cawed more loudly the more times he tried. Luckily Hermione Silenced it. Professor Flitwick made us all jump when his voice suddenly came from below us, telling Ron to try it on the bullfrog he'd swapped for. It didn't work and he and Harry received extra homework to practice the Silencing Charm.

The only good news we got that day was that Angelina had been able to reform the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She came and found us at break in a classroom seeing as it was raining outside. Peeves was having the time of his life shooting ink pellets at us. She'd gone to see McGonagall about it and she had apparently appealed to Dumbledore. Umbridge had to give in! The only downside was that we had to have a practice at seven that night.

'Hope this clears up,' said Ron, staring out the window. 'What's up with you, Hermione?'

I looked across at Hermione. She was staring out the window vaguely, frowning. When Ron asked her what was up, she told us she was having doubts about the Defence group we were trying to set up.

'Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!' said Ron indignantly.

'I know,' said Hermione, twisting her fingers together. 'But after talking to Snuffles …'

'But he's all for it,' said Harry.

'Yes,' said Hermione, staring at the window again. 'Yes, that's what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all …'

Hermione had a point. Dad had certainly become more reckless over the past few months, I'd certainly noticed it. As Hermione spoke, I could see she was being careful what to say so as not to anger Harry. And her comment about Dad living through us? It made sense to me.

'I mean … well, I think he'd love to be forming secret Defence societies right under the nose of someone from the Ministry … I think he's really frustrated at how little he can do where he is … so I think he's keen to kind of … egg us on.'

'Sirius is right,' said Ron, 'you and Jenna _do_ sound like my mother.' Thanks.

The weather wasn't much better when me, Ron and Harry went down to the Quidditch pitch for practice. The sky was full of dark thunderclouds and rain was rushing down on us. The changing rooms were only a brief respite. Once we were in there, I overheard Fred and George talking about their Skiving Snackboxes; I think they were trying to get out of flying. They said their Fever Fudge worked when Ron asked them but left the user with painful boils. Not in a pleasant place either. Quidditch robes on and our faces covered with the Impervious Spell, we set out into the rain.

Practice didn't last long because the conditions were terrible, luckily for us. An hour after we got on the pitch and after several near misses with the Bludgers, Angelina let us stop. Fred and George were worst out of all us (some of their boils had ruptured). I just sighed watching them, undid my hair and started to dry it. That was the one down side to my long hair, it soaked up lots of water. Anyway, as I was drying it, I heard Harry shout 'OUCH!' Ron and I instantly looked at him. Several people asked him what was wrong but he shrugged it off, giving me and Ron significant looks. We waited behind with him as everyone else disappeared.

Once everyone had gone, I asked Harry if he was all right. His scar had hurt again. As he told us what happened, I stopped what I was doing and thought about what he was saying, my eyes closed and arms crossed. Harry had said Voldemort wanted something done but it was happening too slowly and that when his scar had hurt with Umbridge, it was because Voldemort had been happy. How would he know this though? I only spoke when Ron said Harry was making prophecies.

'You could take over from Trelawney, mate,' he said in an awed voice. That reminded me of what Trelawney said about Umbridge. About her being in danger.

'Hardly, Ron,' I said quietly. 'Trelawney may be an old fraud, but there was something in what she said to Umbridge that makes me think that it was more than off the top of her head. This, just seems, well … a bit far-fetched.'

'I'm not making prophecies,' said Harry.

I told him I didn't think he was though Ron's comment about Harry reading Voldemort's mind seemed to triggered something in Harry's mind. He said it wasn't his thoughts he was reading but his moods. That first he could feel when he was near him or angry but now pleased as well. I looked at Harry with a look of both scepticism and sympathy. I had seen more true things than Harry. I didn't know whether he was right or not.

That night I went to bed still thinking about what Harry had said. Hermione was already asleep when I got there and so I just got into bed. My mind was buzzing though. How could Harry be picking up what Voldemort was feeling? And Harry was still being stubborn about not telling Dumbledore. In the end, I just sighed and rolled over to sleep.

The next day as soon as Hermione and I got up and joined the boys in the Great Hall for breakfast Harry told us that he'd found a place for us to have the Defence meeting. We asked him where and he said Dobby knew of it (told him when he gave Harry Hedwig back. She was all right now). A place on the seventh floor called the Room of Requirement. I was a little sceptical about the place considering Dobby had told him about it but Dumbledore apparently knew of it too and I trusted Harry so … I just went along with it. He set about telling everyone as soon as possible.

So at half past seven the four of us headed for where the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy was along the seventh floor corridor, Harry with the Marauder's Map in hand, to this Room of Requirement. Neither Filch, Mrs Norris or Umbridge were near us. When we got there, Harry told us that we needed to walk past the wall three times thinking of what we wanted. So as he, Hermione and Ron did that, I remained by the window. This was a little too absurd for me even for wizarding standards. But not minutes later, a door appeared in the wall.

Walking through the door I saw we were standing in a huge room I swear wasn't there before. It was lined with dozen of bookcases with hundreds of books; shelves holding different Dark Detectors I'd seen back in fourth year in Moody's office were on the right side of the room; there were piles of cushions in one corner instead of chairs. It was unbelievable. It had actually worked.

People soon started arriving and gasping at the size of the room. Once everyone was there (Cho gave me another glare as she walked in because I was standing by the door) Hermione took charge again, saying we should elect a leader. Cho instantly said Harry should be. I rolled my eyes thinking, _Typical!_ A vote on that, and Harry was leader. I didn't put my hand up though. Then we had to vote on what the group was called. Cho said we should call ourselves the Defence Associations (DA for short) when Hermione said it shouldn't tell everyone what we were up to. I rolled my eyes again. We settled on Dumbledore's Army instead as Ginny suggested and another vote was done.

'All in favour of the DA?' asked Hermione bossily. She started to count the hands but then said, 'Jenna, why aren't you voting?' I looked up to see everyone staring at me.

'Because I don't care what the group's called and I don't care about having a bloody leader,' I said. I didn't. We were here to learn defence, weren't we? Not debate about leaders and names. I saw Cho glare at me again as Hermione recounted. I just looked back at her, daring her to say anything. She didn't.

With all that done, Harry got up and told us we were starting with the Disarming Charm. The Hufflepuff boy from the meeting, Zacharias Smith, again had to object saying that that was going to be no use against You-Know-Who.

'I've used it against him,' said Harry quietly. 'It saved my life in June.' That shut him up.

Harry had us all divide into pairs. I was in a three with Hannah and Susan from Hufflepuff because there was an odd number (plus Neville determinably avoided me. I guess he thought he could match me. He was so sweet!). Minutes later the room was full of '_Expelliarmus!_' shouts. As Susan, Hannah and I took turns, I looked at Harry every time it wasn't my turn. He had good control of us I guess. He could make a good leader. I felt the smile on my face as I looked at him. Harry was –

A whistle suddenly rang through the room. Harry had blown it. He said a few things before setting us using the spell again. And he walked off again, near to Cho. Oh good grief. He spent the next half an hour walking round her until he finally went and spoke to her. I pitied her friend. Cho set her sleeve alight when she got all nervous because Harry was near her. I glanced at the clock. It was gone nine o'clock.

'Hey, Harry,' I called over to him, 'bothered to checked the time?'

Harry looked up and called a stop to the DA. People insisted that we met earlier but Angelina pointed out it was Quidditch season soon. So we were to meet the next Wednesday. While everyone left, Hermione, Ron and I were left with Harry to clean up. Both Hermione and Ron were all enthusiastic about what had happened. I, however, would have loved to just get back to the common room and go to bed. The two of them were then arguing all the way back to the Tower. I went to bed as soon as I was back.

The next few days I spent with Hermione because she wanted my help with something for the DA. She had devised a way for the DA to know when to meet and stuff using these coins but she needed some help with the spell, the Protean Charm, only because it was beyond NEWT level stuff. When I asked her about it, she said she got the idea from the Death Eaters Dark Mark. So, assuming she knew what she was doing, I helped her and we made these coins for us to show the DA in our next meeting.

'Well – I thought it was a good idea,' said Hermione to the others. 'I mean, even if Umbridge asked us to turn out our pockets, there's nothing fishy about carrying a Galleon, is there? But … well, if you don't want to use them –'

Terry from Ravenclaw was really impressed with us and asked why we weren't in his house. Hermione said she was considered for it and I said, 'I was almost in Slytherin, never even considered for Ravenclaw.' before I asked if we were using the coins or not. Everyone agreed and we handed them out.

Quidditch was the next problem I had to face, well, not really. I was only the reserve. We had daily practices and Angelina was confident we were going to win the Cup. Everyone was looking forward to the first match. Even the teachers. Professor McGonagall, strict as she is, actually let us off homework for once.

'I think you've got enough to be getting on with at the moment,' she said. She then looked at Harry, Ron and me. 'I've become accustomed to seeing the Quidditch Cup in my study, and I really don't want to have to hand it over to Professor Snape, so use the extra time to practise, won't you?'

Of course, Slytherin were practicing as much as Gryffindor what with Snape booking the pitch as often as possible. The Slytherin team took great joy in trying to torment our team. Snape turned a blind eye to it even though fourteen people had seen Miles Bletchley curse Katie in full view. It only really got to Ron, poor guy. He was so nervous what with it being his first match. Malfoy kept imitating Ron dropping the Quaffle which made his ears go red and almost drop anything he was holding. I just hoped he'd be all right when the match came.

The morning of the match, I went with Hermione and Ginny down to breakfast with a grin on my face; I'd found a charm in Hermione's _Witch Weekly_ to dye your hair like Muggles do and I'd used it the previous night to put gold strands in my hair with my red ones. Gryffindor, gold and red? When I walked in Malfoy did shout something about them and I just ignored him, getting on with my breakfast. I did notice though that the Slytherins were wearing badges again saying _Weasley is our King_. Oh dear. Harry and Ron soon joined us, Ron looking very pale. Hermione said it was good that he was nervous.

'Well, that's a good sign,' she said. 'I never feel you perform as well in exams if you're not a bit nervous.'

'Hermione,' I said, 'this is a Quidditch match, not an—'

'Hello.' Another voice cut me off and I looked up to see Luna standing behind Ron and she was wearing the most ridiculous hat I'd ever seen. It had a large lion on it with its mouth wide open. But that wasn't the best part of it as we found out. 'I'm supporting Gryffindor,' she told us.

'You'd never guess, would you?' I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

She heard me but ignored it. Instead she told us to watch it before tapping it with her wand. A loud roar suddenly issued from its mouth making all in the vicinity jump. Luna was very pleased with it. She wanted to add a snake in the lion's mouth but didn't have time. It really didn't need anything more on it. It was over the top already.

Angelina finished breakfast first and told me, Ron and Harry to hurry up. Ron was still not eating anything and so we all left but not before Hermione and I dragged Harry to one side and told him about the badges. Or rather I told Harry about the badges and Hermione wished Ron good luck, kissing him on the cheek leaving him rather stunned! I watched Hermione as she walked away. Well I never. I always thought but I didn't think she really did.

The three of us headed down the Quidditch pitch (Hermione had gone on ahead) and walked into the changing rooms. Getting my robes, I pulled them on over my t-shirt (it was freezing outside) and got ready. I watched Ron out the corner of my eye as he struggled with his. I just sighed with sympathy. All changed, I wished the two of them luck and watched as they marched out on to the pitch. Standing in the doorway with my head resting on the post, I watched as Angelina and Montague shook hands and the game began.

I watched with mounting fear of us winning throughout the match. All through it I could hear the Slytherins jeering a song they named _Weasley is our King_, the song slowly getting louder and louder and Ron was slowly losing his confidence. I tried to concentrate on Lee's commentary but the singing was too loud. I didn't even know the score. But then, my eyes were drawn to something else. Harry had gone into a dive, Malfoy on his tail, with the Snitch fluttering just in front of him.

_Come on, Harry_, I thought desperately as they chased it, _Come on_. Harry and Malfoy were so close to each other and … Harry got it! He'd pulled up, the Snitch in his hand. But out of nowhere came a Bludger and hit him square in the small of his back. I gasped as he fell forwards off his broom on to the ground. Looking up, I saw Crabbe (he and Goyle were Slytherin's new Beaters) laughing his head off. Glaring at him, I ran forwards over to Harry.

'Harry, you did it!' I gasped when I got to him. He was stood up now and I threw my arms round him in a hug. I felt him flinch as he hugged me back so I let go. 'Oh, sorry,' I said. 'Are you all right?'

'Thanks, Jen,' replied Harry, grinning. 'Yeah, I'll be fine.' I smiled.

But we were distracted when a voice from behind shouted over to us. Turning round, I saw Malfoy standing feet away from us, glaring angrily at us. Glancing back, I saw Harry's face too showed anger. I told him to ignore Malfoy as he threw anything he could at us to get us to retaliate. Behind us, I saw Fred being held back by Angelina with Alicia and Katie nearby, and George looking like he was going to hit something.

'You like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?' he shouted. 'And you, Black?' I span round and faced him. He was smirking that he'd got my attention. 'Spend the holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells OK – 'Or perhaps … nah, you never had a home, did you Black? Or any parents, alive or not in prison at any rate. Lived in an Muggle orphanage right? Because they didn't want you. I guess you're quite at home there then.'

I just stared at Malfoy in complete shock. He knew full well why I lived in that orphanage and it was low of him to insult me by saying I was unloved and unwanted. I could feel my anger burning inside me. I didn't even notice that I was suddenly running at Malfoy with Harry and George beside me, my nails as claws, swiping him as hard as I could across the face to hurt him as much as he deserved. It was only when I heard a yell of '_Impedimenta!_' and I was thrown a few feet from him that I realised what I'd done.

'What do you think you're doing?' screamed Madam Hooch. I slowly got up and looked at Malfoy; he now had a bloody nose and cheek from where he'd been scratched and obviously punched. 'I've never seen behaviour like it – back up to the castle, all three of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! Go! _Now!_'

I walked back up to the castle with Harry and George, not saying a word but looking at my hand, Malfoy's blood on my fingertips. It was hardly conciliation for what his father did to me, killing my mother. When we reached Professor McGonagall's office, she marched us inside while tearing the Gryffindor scarf away from her throat before giving us a right berating. The three of us pleaded our case but she was too angry to listen to us.

'Provoked you?' shouted Professor McGonagall. 'He'd just lost, hadn't he? Of course he wanted to provoke you! But what on earth he can have said that justified what you three –'

'He insulted my parents,' snarled George. 'And Harry's mother.'

'And he said my Mum and Dad abandoned me!' I said angrily.

'But instead of leaving it to Madam Hooch to sort out, you three decided to give an exhibition of Muggle duelling, did you?' bellowed Professor McGonagall.

'Well, yeah, because Malfoy knows me and Harry were brought up by Muggles. Why not show him what they can do?' I didn't mean to the say that, it just came out.

That was when another unwelcome guest appeared: Umbridge. And she had a little surprise with her. Another Education Decree, Number Twenty-Five. She said it was because of McGonagall that she got it made. It meant that Umbridge now had the power over all punishments and was able to strip pupils of their privileges.

'Now you see, Minerva,' said Umbridge once she read the Decree, her eyes turning on Harry, George and me as she put the parchment away. 'how right I was in attempting to stop the Gryffindor team re-forming? _Dreadful_ tempers … even from the reserve players.' She looked pointedly at me. I knew she meant the half-breed thing again. 'So, I really think I will have to ban these three from playing Quidditch ever again.'

We were banned? I couldn't believe it. I'd never even played in a Quidditch match before and now I was banned?

'Ban us?' said Harry, his voice dry. 'From playing … ever again?'

'Yes, Mr Potter, I think a lifelong ban ought to do the trick,' said Umbridge, still smiling. 'You, Mr Weasley _and_ Miss Black here. And I think, to be safe, this young man's twin ought to be stopped, too – if his team-mates had not restrained him, I feel sure he would have attacked young Mr Malfoy as well. I will want their broomsticks confiscated, of course; I shall keep them safely in my office, to make sure there is no infringement of my ban. But I am not unreasonable, Professor McGonagall,' she continued, turning back to Professor McGonagall, 'the rest of the team can continue playing, I saw no sign of violence from any of them. Well … good afternoon to you.'

With one last look at us and a wide smile, Umbridge left.

The rest of the afternoon after changing out of my Quidditch robes I spent in the grounds thinking again. I was thinking about my family. I was no better than them, attacking Malfoy because he insulted me. And my cousin Bellatrix … I'd seen a picture of her in Grimmauld Place which Kreacher took from me when I was cleaning on my own. I looked so much like her, so much so that you'd think we were sisters except for one thing. I didn't have an evil glint in my eye like she did. That's who Voldemort had said I was like when he came back. I just hoped it was never proven.

I was only drawn back from my thoughts when I heard a rustling beside me. Looking up, I saw Ron in his Quidditch robes walking back to the castle with his head bowed. He looked so down. I sighed and got up and walked after him.

'Ron?' He didn't say anything. He just looked at me then away again. 'Let's get you back up to the castle.'

When we got back, Hermione and Harry were the only two in the common room. Hermione instantly took Ron over to the fire to warm up. She really did seem to care for him even though they argued so much. But Ron being Ron, he was in a self-pitying mood and said he was going to resign the Quidditch team. Harry told him not to and when he asked us why, we told him it was because we'd been banned because we'd attacked Malfoy. That didn't improve his mood or Harry's for that matter.

'Well,' said Hermione, who was standing by the window. 'I can think of one thing that might cheer you both up.'

'Oh yeah?' said Harry sceptically.

'Yeah,' said Hermione. 'Hagrid's back.'

Instantly Harry went upstairs to get his Invisibility Cloak while Ron got out of his Quidditch robes and Hermione got her jacket. I was still in my chair when they came back down. I hadn't moved.

'Aren't you coming, Jenna?' Harry asked me.

'I'll be there later,' I said. I got up and walked to the stairs. Looking back at Harry, I added, 'Need to get rid of the Colour Spell or McGonagall will kill me.'

As Harry and the others disappeared, I went back up to my room and got out of my sodden clothes. Putting on some dry ones, I got out my wand and started to remove the gold streaks from my hair as it said in the _Witch Weekly_ magazine. Ten minutes or so later, they were gone and I grabbed my hoody and went back downstairs. Once in the common room, I started to change into a dog in order to get down to the grounds quicker when a clanking sound came from above me.

Looking up, I saw six pieces of metal cage come out of nowhere straight towards me. I leapt out of the way as they slammed on to the floor. Looking back, I saw them come straight at me. I leapt on to the table to get away from me but they kept chasing me. It chased me right round the common room. You'd think I'd have the sense to change back into human form but I was too busy concentrating on getting away from the cage to think about that. I was about to run for the portrait hole when I felt one of the metal caging pieces hit me on my back and I fell to the floor. Looking up, the rest of the pieces encircled me and I was trapped.

I tried all I could to get out, even trying to force my way out and receiving a scratch on my face from my paw because of it. And when I tried to transform into a smaller animal, I found there was a spell on the cage which was forcing me to stay in the form I was. After trying for what must have been the dozenth time, I gave up and lay down in the cage, waiting for the others to get back. When I finally heard their footsteps when they came in and saw me, I gave them a look that plainly said, 'Took you long enough.'

'Jenna, what happened?' gasped Hermione. She came over and crouched beside me, stroking my ear. _Yeah, I'm not a dog, Hermione_, I thought.

'Umbridge!' growled Ron

'Anyone got any ideas?' said Harry. 'We've got to get her out.'

'Leave it to me,' said Hermione, pulling out her wand and beginning to work.

Altogether it took about an hour to get me out of the cage and I was in a foul mood once they had, muttering under my breath as I healed the scratch on my cheek. Ron asked me what happened and I explained to them about what I did and how the cage appeared. We came to one conclusion; Umbridge was behind this.

'Anyway,' I said, getting off that subject. 'What happened down at Hagrid's?'

Hagrid had been to the mountains with Madame Maxime!? To go after the giants. The two of them had gone to the north of France where the last giant group had been. They'd gone to gain their trust, offering them Gubraithian fire (Everlasting fire). But there had been one major hitch. The Death Eaters had also gone to the giants and the old Gurg Karkus got killed overnight. The new one Golgomath had killed Karkus. Hagrid and Madame Maxime tried to gain his trust as well but they'd got something better than the fire from the Death Eaters. They were attacked and were forced to go into hiding for a few days, only just managing to get away from them. Hagrid was fine though he apparently still had some injuries.

But that wasn't the worst of it apparently. Umbridge turned up to tell Hagrid that she the High Inquisitor and to inform him of the inspections. She also inquired to where he had been and his injuries. And she seemed to know what had really been going on and seeing through Hagrid's bluff. Things were not good.

Over the weekend while Harry and Ron caught up with homework yet again and Hermione spent her time going down to Hagrid's to see him about his lessons that he had planned. Apparently he had something special planned which generally meant that wasn't good. I spent my time with the boys, listening to Ron go on about the snow-ballers outside. That is until Fred and George threw one which got him in the face. When Hermione came back she didn't sound to confident. Oh dear.

The conclusion about Umbridge we had we discovered was right. There was another new piece of parchment pinned on the Gryffindor notice board from Umbridge on Monday morning. The Pupil Safety Decree of all things. Basically it said anyone who was of the half-breed status (and she was including all Animagi) was to report to her at lunchtime that day to receive a identification chip and number. Great. Umbridge really did hate half-breeds.

Everyone (in Gryffindor at least) was glad that Hagrid was back at breakfast on Monday. I saw what the others meant by injuries. He looked terrible. I hoped that those injuries were nothing to do with whatever creature he had planned for us. Nothing really much happened on Monday; lessons were boring as ever.

However, I of course had to go and get the stupid identification chip thing from Umbridge. I was the only student there. Hagrid and Professor McGonagall were there (both looking disgruntled about it) and so was Flitwick which was surprising. I just thought he was a short man, not a half-breed or anything. But this identification chip I found out to be (and only for me this one) was an earring. The teachers had bracelets. Umbridge took great delight in forcing me into a chair and piercing the top of my ear with a small stud. As soon as I got away, I held my hand in front of me and tried to change it into a cat's paw. Instantly, I felt a pain through my body and changed it back. The earring had a spell on it to stop me transforming.

'She is gonna pay,' I growled to myself as I headed for the North Tower for Divination. 'So help me, she is gonna pay.'

The next day Care of Magical Creatures turned out to be a really fascinating lesson. Well, until Umbridge turned up. Hagrid didn't have any dangerous creatures. He had the school Thestrals. I just watched as the people who couldn't see them stare around for anything (it was really funny watching Parvati squeal when one walked past her) as I listened to Hagrid. Only four of us could see them: me, Harry, Neville and a stringy Slytherin called Nott.

Back to Umbridge. She was horrible in the lesson. She made Hagrid get really nervous and so he made more mistakes than often and she wouldn't listen to anything he said, just making notes on her clipboard _and_ reading them out loud.

'Thestrals aren' dangerous!' he said, trying to convince Umbridge. 'All righ', they might take a bit outta yeh if yeh really annoy them –'

'_Shows _… _signs_ …_ of _…_ pleasure _…_ at _…_ the _… _idea _… _of _… _violence_,' muttered Umbridge, ignoring Hagrid again.

'No – come on!' said Hagrid. 'I mean, a dog'll bite if yeh bait it, won' it – but Thestrals have just got a bad reputation because o' the death thing – people used ter think they were bad omens, didn' they? Jus' didn' understand, did they?'

It only got worse when she started asking us questions. Pansy was such a bitch saying that Hagrid was hard to understand and Umbridge made Neville so nervous when she asked him a question.

'Erm,' said Neville. 'Well, they're … er … OK …'

'_Students _…_ are _…_ too _…_ intimidated _…_ to _…_ admit _…_ they _… _are _…_ frightened_,' muttered Umbridge, making another note on her clipboard.

'No!' said Neville. 'No, I'm not scared of them!'

'It's quite all right,' said Umbridge, patting Neville on the shoulder with a supposed understanding smile. 'Well, Hagrid,' she turned to him speaking in the loud, slow voice she'd been using, 'I think I've got enough to be getting along with. You will receive the results of your inspection in ten days' time.' Umbridge made stupid gestures as she said this before smiling and walking off. Malfoy and Pansy were in fits of laughter. Hermione and I were both furious. I hadn't gotten over the earring thing yet.

December came as well as mountains of homework and prefect duties for Ron and Hermione which Ron complained about regularly. They had to help decorate the castle ('You try putting up tinsel when Peeves has got the other end and is trying to strangle you with it.') and keep an eye on the younger students during break because it was so cold ('And they're cheeky little snot-rags, you know, we definitely weren't that rude when we were in the first year.'). Of course, Hermione was still concerned she hadn't set all the house-elves in the kitchen free so she'd roped me into knitting some hats and socks. What a waste of my time that was.

I had to stay at Hogwarts this Christmas because Lupin wasn't at Moonlake Cottage at the time. He was busy with something apparently, probably for the Order. And I wasn't too keen on going back to Grimmauld Place unless I had to so I decided to stay. Hermione was going home to go skiing with her parents (Ron found that hilarious) and Ron was going home to The Burrow with the rest of the Weasleys so it was just going to be me and Harry this Christmas until I found out he was going to The Burrow too. Great. Oh well, Grimmauld wasn't too bad I guess … at least Dad was there.

But something happened which screwed up all our holidays.

Two days before the end of term was the last DA meeting. Harry disappeared early to do something so Ron, Hermione and I joined him later. The room had been decorated and by the looks of it, Harry was in the middle of taking down some of the decorations. That session we didn't do anything (Smith complained again) and just went over the stuff we'd done before. I was with Hannah and Susan again; they were actually really nice, I'd never really gotten to know them before now. We went over the Impediment Jinx, the Stunning Spell and then some Disarming as well. Then, at nine o'clock we finished.

Ron, Hermione and I helped clean up the cushions again and we left together. Halfway back to the house though I realised I'd left my earrings back in the Room of Requirement. I'd been wearing some dangly snowflake ones and had taken them out so they didn't get damaged when we were practicing the spells. Telling the other two this, I went back to the DA room to get them. But when I got there, I saw something that I didn't know how to react to.

I got back to the room to hear voices still there. One was Harry's, I could tell that straight away, the other though was half crying or something and I didn't know who it was. Wondering about it, I pushed open the door slightly and peered inside. It was Harry and Cho. And only a few seconds after I opened the door, they kissed. I couldn't believe my eyes and I felt a weird stab in my chest. Harry was kissing Cho. Not wanting to see anymore, I instantly vanished and returned to the Tower.

Harry didn't return for another half an hour. When I got back, Hermione asked me if I'd got my earrings and I just said yes before going back to the book I was reading. When Harry did return, I looked up at him before ignoring him as he told us where he'd been. I listened as he stumbled over his words. He couldn't say it so I decided to say it for him.

'Cho kissed Harry.'

'H-how did you know?' he asked breathlessly. I looked up at him.

'Oh, please, how much do you think you can hide from me?' I replied witheringly. 'I know things you could only dream of.' I did. My premonitions told me.

Ron was jubilant about Harry getting his first kiss; Hermione was grinning somewhat as she wrote her essay letter to whoever it was; I just continued reading. Ron asked him how it was. All Harry said was, 'Wet.' At that point I had to hold in a snort of laughter.

'Oh,' said Ron, his smile fading slightly. 'Are you that bad at kissing?'

'Harry hasn't kissed anyone in his life!' I said.

Harry instantly thought he was. Was he blind? Cho spent most of her time crying these days if she wasn't yelling at me anytime she saw me on my own or glaring at me anytime when I wasn't. OK, yes, she had the right to be upset about Cedric but to throw it in my face every time she saw me. I had very little sympathy for her. Hermione told Harry that he wasn't bad at kissing. How would she know? Something Ron asked.

'Because Cho spends half her time crying these days, you'd have to be blind to miss it!' I said disdainfully. 'She does it at mealtimes, in the loos, all over the place.'

'You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up,' said Ron, grinning.

'Ron,' I said, looking up from my book at him, 'you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet.'

Ron was very disgruntled by that and asked who cries when being kissed. So did Harry. I looked at them with a pitying expression and asked if they knew how Cho was feeling. They didn't. Hoping Hermione would explain, I looked at her. She was scribbling on her parchment again. Sighing, I closed my book and looked at the boys.

'Well, lets see' I started sarcastically, 'obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her is she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings towards Harry are, anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, besides me, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying badly.'

Silence followed. Then Ron said, 'One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode.'

'Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have,' I said rather nastily, picking up my book again.

'How do you know all that?' asked Harry.

'Like I said, I know things you could only dream of.'

What capped it off was that Harry said the age old line of "She started it". I listened again as he said that she came at him crying and everything. Ron said it wasn't his fault and Hermione said he just had to be nice to her. Harry insisted he was ('I patted her on the back a bit.') and I had enough. It was too painful.

'This is too painful to listen to,' I said, gathering up my things and putting them in my bag. 'I'm going to bed before I throw up.' and I left the other three down in the common room.

How pathetic was Harry? So he'd got his first kiss? So what? It's not like Cho is anything amazing. She's so wrapped up with Cedric's death and she thinks crying in front of Harry was going to make him talk about it then she obviously didn't know Harry well enough. Harry was not going to talk about Cedric because he didn't want to remember it. And thinking that Cedric's death hadn't effected me every time she sees me in the corridor and reminds me? Cedric asked me out for crying out loud before he asked Cho. I feel guilt for letting it happen! All because of my stupid premonitions!

As I thought of all this I had chucked my bag down by my bed and was shoving my stuff about looking for my pyjamas. Pulling them on, I got into bed and pulled the hanging shut around it before collapsing back on it. Cho was nothing special; I'd lost loved ones and you didn't see me crying all over the place. And Harry needed to grow up and open his eyes to others feelings for once. Letting out a groan of frustration, I turned over and put my head in my pillow, eventually falling asleep. That night though was not one I was likely to forget. My premonitions had slowly been getting stronger, I'd noticed that much, my headaches after them getting worse. But to actually be taken into one, that's a different matter.

I was tossing and turning in my sleep. My head was pounding as I dreamed. The pain was slowly getting worse and worse. I could see things in my head but I couldn't make out what they were. As I lay on my bed I could feel myself moving, arching my back as the pain intensity spiked suddenly, writhing in between my sheets. In my dream I was watching someone, taking a step back from them to turn away …

And I was falling … falling off a ledge … falling through my bed … falling …

_My feet touched a cold surface and I opened my eyes. I was in a dark corridor. Ahead of me I could see a dark shadow lying on the ground in front of a door or wall. I started forwards but I couldn't hear my footsteps on the floor. I stopped and looked at my hands; they were see-through. A grunt came from ahead and I looked up again, running forwards. The shadow became clearer the closer I got. It was Mr Weasley._

'_Mr Weasley?' I stopped beside him and placed my hand on his shoulder; I couldn't feel his robes under my hand. 'Mr Weasley, can you hear me?' I said loudly. He didn't respond._

_Then, I heard a soft hissing coming from the darkness. I looked up but I couldn't see anything at first. Cautiously, I took a step round the front of Mr Weasley. A quiet rustling was getting nearer. Peering through the darkness, I tried to find the sound. A pair of red eyes flashed briefly before the creature came near enough for me to see it. It was a snake!_

'_Mr Weasley!' I gasped, turning back to him. 'Mr Weasley, wake up! There's a snake! Wake up!' I tried to shake his shoulder but still nothing. 'Mr Weasley!'_

_A sudden violent hissing came from behind. I spun round and fell backwards just as the snake lunged forward and bit Mr Weasley, sinking his fangs into his stomach. Getting up, I ran forwards and tried to pull the snake away from him. I know, bad idea. And for some reason, I could feel the snake and it could feel me. It let go of Mr Weasley and I saw it look at me, hissing and baring its fangs; next second, it lunged straight at me._

My eyes snapped open as I sat up, gasping. I was back in my bed. I could feel my body shaking. I felt something around my chest and looked down; my necklace was glowing again. This was the third time it had happened. I was drawn away from it though when I heard a noise come from outside our dormitory door. Hermione, Parvati, Lavender and Sally also heard it.

'Come on, Potter, Weasley!'

Hermione and I looked at each other. That had been Professor McGonagall. And she was talking to Harry and obviously Ron. Quickly, the pair of us ran out our dormitory and down to the landing separating the girls and boys dorms. Professor McGonagall was striding across the room with Harry and Ron behind her both in their pyjamas.

'Where d'you think they're going?' whispered Hermione.

'I don't know,' I whispered back. 'But you can bet anything it can't be good.'

With worried glances at each other, Hermione and I went back to bed. I didn't go straight to sleep. I lay awake in my bed for the best part of an hour. I was worried. Worried about what I'd dreamt. I'd dreamt that Mr Weasley had been attacked by a snake. It couldn't of happen, could it? If it had then that would mean that Mr Weasley was bleeding badly somewhere and a snake was on the loose. But why was Harry up? What had happened?

The next day when Hermione and I got down to breakfast we found that none of the Weasleys and Harry were there. It wasn't like Ron and Harry to miss breakfast. Hermione and I exchanged worried looks. The other two didn't turn up to lessons either. When we got to Potions neither of them were there. I knew they didn't like it but to actually skive? Snape didn't seem to care that they weren't there. One person though did.

'Where are Mr Potter and Mr Weasley?' Umbridge asked us.

She'd called us out of our lesson to ask us that?

'We don't know, Professor,' replied Hermione. I saw her glance at me. 'We haven't seen Harry or Ron all day.'

I kept quiet. I thought it was best that Hermione did the talking. Luckily Umbridge let us go though not without the shifty look. After that we went to find Professor McGonagall. She was in her office but refused to answer our questions about what happened last night. She sent us away and told us not to worry. Why is it whenever anyone says that you worry more?

The last day of term came and I was all packed to return to Grimmauld Place. However, before we were to leave after the feast, Dumbledore called Hermione and I to his office to tell us what happened two nights ago. Mr Weasley had been attacked! What I'd dreamt was true. Harry had witnessed it and so he, Ron and the other Weasleys had gone to Grimmauld Place to wait for news of his health. I couldn't believe it, I'd done it again.

Hermione and I turned to leave once he'd told us. Hermione was going to borrow Gizmo to send a message to her parents asking to stay over at Hogwarts instead of going skiing so she could go to Grimmauld Place. Why would anyone willingly go there? Anyhow, both of us were being sent to Grimmauld once we got to London. Oh yay.

We got to Grimmauld Place at just after six o'clock. Mad-Eye Moody had picked Hermione and me up and taken us there. I could hear my grandmother's yells from outside when Moody rang the doorbell. Dumping our stuff in the hall, we went straight upstairs and found Ron and Ginny in his bedroom but no Harry. Apparently he'd been hiding. Hermione went straight upstairs while I remained with the others. She came back a few minutes later with Harry. She came and sat down beside Ginny and the four of us looked at him.

'How're you feeling?' asked Hermione.

'Fine,' said Harry swiftly.

'Oh, don't lie, Harry,' she said impatiently. 'Ron and Ginny say you've been hiding from everyone since you got back from St Mungo's.'

Harry instantly got annoyed by that and gave Ron and Ginny daggers. He said that it was them avoiding him, not the other way around. Hermione's comment about them both looking and missing each other was definitely not helpful. I just listened again as Harry started being all mellow dramatic again, saying he didn't want to talk to anyone, before Ginny said, 'Well, that was a bit stupid of you seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels.'

Harry was instantly taken aback.

'I forgot,' he said.

'Lucky you,' said Ginny.

'I'm sorry. So … so do you think I'm being possessed, then?'

When Ginny gave her description of what is was like being possessed by Voldemort didn't match what Harry had been through, Ginny briskly concluded he had not been possessed. Harry didn't seem convinced though. He kept going on about the snake and about Voldemort making Hermione get so exasperated that she brought up _Hogwarts, A History_ which she hadn't mentioned all year till now.

'You didn't leave your bed, mate,' said Ron. 'I saw you thrashing around in your sleep for at least a minute before we could wake you up.'

Harry started to pace about the room in front of us, also shoving a sandwich in his mouth from a tray that was in the room. I think he was finally believing us. I, however, was thinking again. Harry had seen what had happened from inside the snake. He'd been dreaming and witnessed it. So had I. During all this, I was doing a lot of thinking, coming to one conclusion: I needed to talk to Harry about the dream and if that meant telling him about my premonitions … well, that was a risk I had to take.

Later that day, I did manage to talk to one person who I knew I needed to speak to: Lupin. He appeared at Grimmauld Place at around dinner time for another Order meeting (we were booted upstairs) about the snake attack we guessed. When we heard them all leaving, I hurried downstairs in order to catch Lupin before he left for Moonlake Cottage. I told him I needed to talk to him and that it was important.

'Jenna, I'm always here for you,' he said, a look of surprise on his face. 'What's on your mind?'

'A lot of things, actually,' I said. 'Some things I wish weren't there.' I took pause to think what I was going to say. 'Lupin, you know about what happened at the Ministry with the snake, right?' He nodded. 'That snake, I dreamt it too. And I was taken _into_ that dream. I was there when it happened.'

He was silent for a few minutes before, 'Can you remember what happened, Jenna?' he asked me finally. 'What you saw?'

'Um.' I thought back. 'I saw – I dreamt I was watching someone. I'd turned away and I felt like I was falling. When I opened my eyes I was in a corridor. Mr Weasley was there slumped against the wall. He couldn't hear me. I then saw the snake. It attacked him. I tried to pull it away and it felt me, attacking me afterwards. I woke up the moment it bit me.' I looked at Lupin. 'It was only a dream. How could I go into my dream? What's happening to me?'

'Nothing's happening to you,' said Lupin firmly. 'You're magic's just getting stronger and so your powers are increasing. You have nothing to be worried about, Jenna. Nothing's happening to you.' I looked into Lupin's eyes. It was always his eyes which told me the truth. I saw fear in them, a fear I knew all too well. The fear of losing me. But why would he be afraid of losing me? I wasn't going anywhere. Unless … did Lupin know something? Something about me? 'Nothing's happening to you,' he repeated.

I continued to stare at him for a few moments before letting it drop. Lupin knew something involving me and he didn't want me to know. I was sure of it.

I spent the rest of the evening thinking about my dream. It was the second time I'd witnessed something as it happened but this time I'd been taken there. It had to be more than my magic getting stronger but I was sick and tired of finding stuff out about myself. What else didn't I know? Maybe I could separate my soul from my body and go walkabouts or throw fireballs or anything but I didn't know. Lupin did though and he wasn't going to tell. So what was going to happen when I did find out the truth?

-o-

Lupin Apparated back to Moonlake Cottage after the meeting, a heavy weight on his heart. What had she been thinking? Tala knew the risks of using that spell on Jenna but still she went ahead and did so anyway, regardless of Sirius's opinion. It was just another one of those times Tala acted rashly before she had thought through all the consequences her actions could bring; it was the same when she first fell pregnant, when she joined the Order when she was barely out of school even if it was for her protection after what happened with the attack on their home and her rape, and when she married Sirius. These things could have been avoided, particularly the pregnancy, had she just stopped and thought it through.

'She's getting stronger, Tala,' he sighed. He often talked to his sister about Jenna. Much as he knew he should, Lupin could not let go of his sister's memory and accept she was no longer with him and it had been fifteen years. 'Those powers are increasing too fast and it's affecting her magic.' It was true. Her premonitions were getting stronger exactly like Tala's had when she was Jenna's age but they were getting too hard for Jenna to handle. In reaction to this, they were starting to awaken the powers inside her that Tala had locked away. Something he didn't want to come to pass. Lupin shook his head. 'Jenna shouldn't have to. She's dealt with enough in her life. She doesn't need this on top of it.'

'But we cannot stop what is to be,' said a voice behind him. Lupin looked up. It was Dumbledore. He really did have a knack for just _popping_ in unnoticed.

'Albus, she's too young,' said Lupin, standing up and walking over to him. 'She's been through enough. She's only fifteen.'

'And she's already showing signs of her new powers,' said Professor Dumbledore. Lupin tried to object again but he held his hand up to stop him. 'You cannot deny it no matter how much you wish to. All the evidence is right in front of you. Your younger sister never had the same experiences when she received a premonition. Now I know you're worried for her, Remus, but at times like these we have no time to worry, only time to act. Jenna will have to be told sooner rather than later otherwise she'll reject what is to happen. It is better she is aware of what she is than having it hit her in one go.'

'Albus –'

'She must be informed of what is going to happen the moment that spell on her breaks.'

'No!' snapped Lupin. He looked defiantly at his old Headmaster. 'Jenna is not to be told. You had your way over me when Tala joined the Order but you're not having your way in this. I am Jenna's legal guardian and I'm saying she is not to be told. She is too young.'

Dumbledore observed Lupin for a few seconds over his half-moon spectacles, then saying 'Very well, I'll leave it in your hands.'

-o-

That night I didn't find a single chance to speak to Harry alone. Between hearing Dad singing _God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriff_ and everything else that was happening at Grimmauld I couldn't find a free moment. Walking into a room only to be swept back out dancing with your Dad was quite an experience indeed. Least he was in a good mood now. Anyway, I had one last idea to speak to Harry but it involved sneaking into his room.

Making sure Hermione and Ginny were asleep, I crept out of my bedroom on to the landing. I would of transformed into a cat or something but I couldn't because of the bloody earring. As quietly as I could I climbed the stairs and walked along the dimly lit landing to Harry's room. Pushing open the door I heard Ron's snoring. He was certainly asleep. Suddenly thinking this was a bad idea, I went to walk away when I heard my name.

'Jenna?' I looked back to see a shadow sitting up in his bed.

'Harry, I –' he had been awake, '– I just … I'm gonna go.'

I closed the door behind me and walked a few steps along the landing before stopping again. How could I be so stupid? Harry wouldn't want to talk about it and certainly not now. I was doing this for my peace of mind. I was the one who wanted to know _I _wasn't crazy having all these premonitions. I wanted to know why I was going through what I was going through.

'Jenna?' I looked up through the darkness to see someone standing beside me. I didn't need to guess who it was. 'How come you're still up?' he asked me in a whisper.

'I just … I needed someone to talk to,' I said quietly. 'It's not important. I shouldn't have woken you.' I was going to walk away again but Harry stopped me, his hand on my shoulder.

'You wouldn't have woken me if it wasn't important.'

I didn't respond. I hated it when he was right. So, sitting down on the stairs, I told Harry what was on my mind, about the dream and Mr Weasley and the snake.

'That dream you had,' I began, 'the one about the snake and Mr Weasley.' I looked at Harry through the darkness. 'I had it too.'

'You did? But how –?'

'I don't know how. I just remember dreaming and all of a sudden being there. I watched as the snake attacked him and I tried to stop it, waking up the moment it went for me.' Harry didn't say anything so I continued. 'And not just him. I saw Sturgis Podmore get arrested and – I saw Cedric die.' I came to a halt, staring in front of me. 'I watched him die in my dreams … I tried to stop it but I couldn't.'

'Jenna, you – you saw it happen?' asked Harry. 'You saw the graveyard as well? How?'

'My premonitions.' I had to tell him how I knew. 'I been getting premonitions for as long as I can remember but I only realised what they were last year. So you saw the graveyard too?'

'Yeah, and Voldemort. So … so this is the second time we've shared dreams,' Harry said slowly. 'What d'you think it means?'

'I don't know,' I said. 'Maybe there's something between us that we don't know about yet. Something that connects us. But whatever it is I know it's something big.' I glanced at Harry. 'I just hope our friendship is strong enough to pull through it.' Just then Harry's watched beeped. It was midnight. 'I really did try to stop Cedric dying. I didn't want it to happen.'

'I know you didn't,' said Harry. He pulled me into a friendly hug. 'We'll get through this, Jen, and we'll still be friends at the end of it.'

'I hope you're right, Harry. I really do.'

* * *

**AN: 10000 hits on this!! woo!! and another chapter done. well, hope u all had a gd christmas and have an even better new year. and don't forget to leave a review, i find them sooo helpful and i wanna thank all of you who do. THANK YOU!! BlAcKdAuGhTeR.  
P.S. i had two versions of this chapter: one of Jenna being injured by the snake as well and this one. as you can see i went for the latter. sorry if you would of preffered her getting injured again. lol**

**P.P.S just want to answer a review from the previous chapter. some of you might have noticed Jenna seems more powerful than Harry. she isn't really, she doesn't get spells right away like Hermione does but quicker than Ron and Harry do. the thing that makes her seem more powerful is her "premonitions". this is linked to her mother's past (it will somehow get into my other story about her and Sirius, i hope) and something that is to happen in chapters after HBP and as you've guess from this chapter, Lupin knows something about it but is refusing to tell her.**


	25. Discoveries

Chapter 24

Discoveries

The run up to Christmas wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would be in Grimmauld Place. Dad was in such a better mood, helping us clean and decorate the house. Kreacher was nowhere to be seen. Chandeliers had streamers on them, magical snow fell over the carpets, and a Christmas tree stood in front of the Black family tree tapestry. I think the house-elf heads wearing the Santa hats were a bit freaky though. Grimmauld Place was a hive of activity. It was nice seeing Dad happy again; he seemed much more like the man from the photos I'd seen.

On Christmas day, I woke to find a small pile of presents at the foot of my bed. I always felt strange when I got presents. I never used to get them in The Refuge and I didn't have much money to spend on other people. I always made an effort with Lupin's present though, and Dad's of course. I'd got Lupin a book on magical defence and Dad something from Zonko's. I thought it would remind him of his days at Hogwarts. Well, he was a Marauder after all. I received really nice presents as well; Hermione had got me a homework planner (well, almost all of them were nice), Ron had given me sweets, Tonks had given me a really long multi-coloured scarf, Lupin and Dad had got me books on magical beasts, I got a knitted jumper from the Weasleys, but Harry's was the best. He knew me too well and had got me a really nice necklace with a silver sickle moon pendant. I just stared at it thinking, _This must have cost a fortune_. Why would Harry spend this much on me? Then again, Hermione got perfume from Ron.

That morning though, Fred and George advised us to keep upstairs for a while. Percy had sent back his Christmas jumper unopened and without a note. He hadn't even asked how Mr Weasley was. Hermione, Ginny and I met Harry and Ron on the stairs and we thanked them for our gifts. As we headed down to the kitchen, Ron noticed the package Hermione was holding in her arms; it was a present for Kreacher, she'd told me and Ginny upstairs.

'It had better not be clothes!' Ron warned her. 'You know what Sirius said: Kreacher knows too much, we can't set him free!'

'It isn't clothes,' said Hermione, 'although if I had my way I'd certainly give him something to wear other than that filthy old rag. No, it's a patchwork quilt, I thought it would brighten up his bedroom.'

Ron asked where his bedroom was and I explained I'd found him living under the boiler in a cupboard in the kitchen during the summer. I warned them it was not pleasant there. Besides the fact there were spiders and dead things living under there, Kreacher had sneaked a number of things down there when I was cleaning on my own at the start of the summer and for all I knew they could be festering or something.

Down in the kitchen, Mrs Weasley greeted us with a somewhat half-hearted "Merry Christmas". She sounded like she had a really bad cold. We all averted our eyes as we returned the greeting. Ron went straight over to Kreacher's "home" and knocked on the door before opening it and saying, '_Urgh!_'. I warned him it wasn't nice.

Looking inside I saw Kreacher had snuck a lot down into there when we were cleaning, even more when the others had joined me. Old, smelly blankets, bits of food, pieces of raggedy clothing, small metal objects saved from Dad's purge during the summer and some portraits. One caught my eye though; it was of my cousin, Bellatrix. I'd seen it first during the summer and had a horrible sinking feeling when I looked at it. She had the same long dark hair like me but wavy and her eyes were blazing. I felt shivers down my spine as I saw it again, knowing what she had done.

Hermione left the blanket in the cupboard and closed the door. As we did so, Dad asked if any of us had seen Kreacher. I saw he was carrying a large turkey. He'd been missing for a while now. Harry said he hadn't seen him since the night he and the Weasleys had come when Dad had ordered him out of the kitchen.

'Yeah …' said Sirius, frowning. 'You know, I think that's the last time I saw him, too … he must be hiding upstairs somewhere.'

'He couldn't of left, could he?' said Harry. 'I mean, when you said "_out_", maybe he thought you meant get out of the house?'

'No, no, house-elves can't leave unless they're given clothes,' said Sirius. 'They're tied to their family's house.'

'They can leave the house if they really want to,' said Harry. 'Dobby did, he left the Malfoys' to give me warnings two years ago. He had to punish himself afterwards, but he still managed it.'

I thought about this. Where would Kreacher go if he had actually left the house? There were no other living Blacks apart from me and Dad and he had to obey our family. I mean, if you thought about it, I guess Kreacher could go to the Lestranges or the Malfoys but the Lestranges were in Azkaban and the Malfoys lived in Wiltshire or something. He certainly wouldn't go to Tonks' home. He hated her. This got me wondering. Where was he? Dad said he'd look for him later.

'Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died … but I mustn't get my hopes up.' While the rest of us laughed at that, Hermione frowned.

After Christmas lunch we all went to St Mungo's to visit Mr Weasley. Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody were escorting us in a car Mundungus had managed to borrow and enlarge to accommodate us. I was a bit weary about that. Could he drive? The journey overall wasn't too bad though seeing as there was very little traffic. We arrived outside what looked like an old abandoned shop with manikins in the windows which wizards and witches were stepping in and out of the glass occasionally.

St Mungo's was nothing like I'd expected. I'd only ever been to a Muggle hospital to get jabs when I was younger and St Mungo's was nothing like that. The reception was really festive with its red and gold coloured baubles and holly in the doorway. The Christmas tree was really nice. With not needing to ask the Welcome Witch where he was, I followed the others as Mrs Weasley proceeded to the room Mr Weasley was in.

Mr Weasley was really cheerful when he saw us, pushing aside his Christmas lunch. I was glad to see he was all right. The snake attacked had really shaken me up, having been there in my dream. We handed his presents over to him as he greeted Mrs Weasley (he loved his screwdrivers from Harry) before Mrs Weasley noticed something.

'Arthur,' she said, a snap in her voice we'd all heard before, 'you've had your bandages changed. Why have you had your bandages changed a day early, Arthur? They told me they wouldn't need doing until tomorrow.'

Mr Weasley instantly seemed to wither under his wife's penetrating and accusing stare. He pulled up his bed sheets as she eyed them dangerously. Turns out that the Trainee Healer had used a Muggle remedy on him or as I knew them as stitches. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lupin swiftly stroll away over to another bed that contained a patient suffering from a werewolf bite as Bill muttered something about a cup of tea and disappeared with Fred and George, leaving me, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny with their parents.

'Do you mean to tell me,' said Mrs Weasley, her voice growing louder, 'that you have been messing about with Muggle remedies?'

'Not messing about, Molly, dear,' said Mr Weasley imploringly, 'it was just – just something Pye and I thought we'd try – only, most unfortunately – well, with these particular kinds of wounds – it doesn't seem to work as well as we'd hoped –'

The five of us all made a quick retreat out of the ward as Mrs Weasley bubbled over and let rip into her husband. We could hear her shouting, 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?' from outside the ward as Mr Weasley told her what stitches did. Ginny just shook her head incredulously at her dad's antics. After that we decided to head for the tearoom after Fred, George and Bill and so started up towards the fifth floor. It was quite an amusing trip, especially as a portrait kept bothering Ron, claiming he had a horrible case of spattergroit, whatever that was. He followed us through the portraits telling us about the illness, making Ron's ears turn red as he got very angry.

'I have not got spattergroit!' he shouted angrily at him.

'But the unsightly blemishes upon your visage, young master –' said the Healer.

'They're freckles!' said Ron furiously. 'Now get back in your own picture and leave me alone!'

The Healer disappeared, Ron facing us afterwards. We were all trying to keep straight faces though some of us were having a harder time than others. Ginny looked like she was close to hysterics about it. Turning away, we saw we were on the fourth floor, SPELL DAMAGE. The tearoom was on the fifth. However, I noticed someone staring out at us from behind a door with a very vacant smile and very white teeth.

It was Lockhart, our old Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher! I'd forgotten about the Memory Charm which had backfired on him back in the second year. He was in St Mungo's now. He cheerfully came out and greeted us, asking if we wanted his autograph. Hadn't changed much, had he? Ron nervously asked how he was, his reply being as cheerful as ever as he pulled out an old peacock-feather quill, then asking how many autographs we wanted. He could do joined up handwriting now. Ron declined, Lockhart's smile fading. His eyes then fell on Harry.

He looked at him for several minutes before saying, 'Haven't we met?'

'Er … yeah, we have,' said Harry. 'You used to teach us at Hogwarts, remember?'

'Teach?' said Lockhart. 'Me? Did I?' His confused look was soon replaced by another huge smile as he said, 'Taught you everything you know, I expect, did I? Well, how about those autographs, then? Shall we say a round dozen, you can give them to all your little friends then and nobody will be left out!'

A Healer with tinsel in her hair came out a few minutes later from the ward. She smiled warmly at us when she thought we were Lockhart's visitors before leading him back into the ward like he was a little lost kid. She asked us to follow her, telling us he was on a closed ward, adding that he wasn't dangerous. Yeah, did she know about the Pixy lesson we had with him? Anyway, we followed her into the ward and she sat Lockhart back into an armchair by his bed.

'This is our long-term residents' ward,' she told us quietly. 'For permanent spell damage, you know. Of course, with intensive remedial potions and charms and a bit of luck, we can provide some improvement. Gilderoy does seem to be getting back some sense of himself, and we've seem a real improvement in Mr Bode,' she pointed at a patient across the room from Lockhart, 'he seems to be regaining the power of speech very well, though he isn't speaking any language we recognise yet. Well, I must finish giving out the Christmas presents, I'll leave you all to chat.'

As Lockhart continued on about the autographs, I noticed Harry watching the other patients on the ward. I looked around as well, seeing the Healer hand out the presents (Mr Bode got a pot plant). This ward was for permanent patients. If that meant what I thought it did, it meant that Neville's parents were here. Bellatrix had permanently damaged their brains from torturing them with the Cruciatus Curse. I could feel the guilt slowly creep through me again as I thought about what she'd done, trying to shake it from my head.

'Oh, Mrs Longbottom, are you leaving already?'

My head snapped up and I looked over to where the Healer was. At the top of the ward were two visitors to another patient, one a rather imposing-looking witch in a green dress with a vulture perched on her hat and red handbag, another short and rather depressed looking boy. It was Neville and his grandmother. I took in a small breath of shock when I saw him. I hoped for his sake that none of the others saw him; they didn't know what had happened to his parents. It was only Ron's shout of his name when he saw him too that Neville realised we were there.

Neville jumped when he heard him and instantly cowered away. All I felt for him at that moment was great sympathy. His grandmother kindly came up and greeted us while he flushed. She seemed to know who all of us were, shaking the hands of Harry, Ron and Ginny first, before turning to me and Hermione. Out of all of us, I would have thought me and Hermione would be the last two people she'd know who we were.

'Yes, Neville's told me all about you,' she said. 'Helped him out of a few sticky spots, haven't you? He's a good boy, but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say.' She jerked her head to the two beds they had been near a second ago. Neville's parents must be there.

This had to have been the most uncomfortable moment in my life. Neville's grandmother told him he shouldn't be ashamed of his parents, saying he had a funny way of showing it when he denied it. I had to look away from Neville when Mrs Longbottom told us how they ended up here; Hermione and Ginny both gasped; Ron had finally stopped trying to look behind the curtain and was as shocked as the other two; Harry, however, was looking at me. I ignored it as best as I could. When Mrs Longbottom (Neville's mum this time) came out of her bed though and handed Neville what looked like a sweet wrapper, I just wanted to get out of there. My cousin had done that! It was because of my family that Neville had insane parents! How could I live with that?

Once Mrs Longbottom was back in her bed, Neville and his grandmother left. I watched as he walked away, slipping the sweet wrapper into his pocket. He wasn't ashamed of his parents at all. He just knew how people like Malfoy would tease him. Like he did when I stopped him hurting Malfoy. God, I'm stupid but I couldn't let Neville do that. Crabbe and Goyle would have torn him to shreds.

'I never knew,' breathed Hermione. She looked like she was going to cry.

'Nor did I,' said Ron hoarsely.

'Nor me,' whispered Ginny.

'I did,' said Harry. I looked at him. 'Dumbledore told me but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone … that's what Bellatrix Lestrange got sent to Azkaban for, using the Cruciatus Curse on Neville's parents until they lost their minds.'

'Bellatrix Lestrange did that?' whispered Hermione. 'That woman Kreacher's got a photo of in his den?'

'Yeah,' I breathed. I'd never felt so bad in my life. 'My cousin did that to them.'

'You knew, Jenna?' asked Ron.

'Of course, I knew,' I said, looking incredulously at him. 'How could I not with a family like mine?'

Silence followed as they all stared at me, shocked at what Bellatrix had done. That is, until Lockhart's outburst of, 'I didn't learn joined-up writing for nothing, you know!'

A few days after the whole incident at St Mungo's and I'd finally got over my trip to guilt city about Neville's parents, Dad found Kreacher had been lurking up in the attic since he told him to get out and uncharacteristically in a good mood. Something was up. However, I had more important things on my mind.

Dad was slowly getting more and more depressed as the Christmas holidays came to an end and we'd be sent back to Hogwarts. Mrs Weasley called it his "fits of the sullens" but I felt it was more than that. I'd just watch him as he'd stalk around and go back into his room for hours at a time. I even braved going in there again. When he saw me at the door, he didn't say anything but looked away. Sighing, I left. And what the sad thing was, I found myself thinking whether it was me he was going to miss … or if it was Harry.

On the last day of the holidays though, if not going back was depressing enough because of Umbridge, Snape turned up at Grimmauld Place. Mrs Weasley came up to the room Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and me were in to tell Harry he wanted a word with him. Harry and Ron were playing chess at the time so hearing Harry go, 'Squash him – _squash him_, he's only a pawn, you idiot.' before he realised Mrs Weasley was there.

'Professor Snape, dear. In the kitchen. He'd like a word.'

Harry's face dropped. It was actually quite funny as his mouth fell open. All of us were pretty surprised that Snape had come to see Harry, outside of school. After she left, Ron asked what he want to see Harry for. He didn't have a clue and was very resentful when Ron asked if he'd done anything before leaving the room.

I don't know what happened down in the kitchen when Snape was talking to Harry, but Dad had been there. Mrs Weasley had called us all down to come and welcome back Mr Weasley from the hospital and we'd gone down to the kitchen to find Snape and Dad squaring up to each other, wands pointing at each other's faces, with Harry standing between them to force them apart. When they saw us, they both lowered their wands, Snape pocketing his wand and sweeping out of the room.

'Six o'clock, Monday evening, Potter,' he said at the door, and he left.

I watched him leave before walking straight over to Dad, looking him straight in the eye, asking him, 'What's going on?'

'Nothing, Jen,' said Sirius. He was breathing quite heavily. 'Just a friendly chat between two old school friends.' He then smiled, a fake one at that. 'So … you're cured?' he asked Mr Weasley. 'That's great news, really great.'

He completely ignored me and went to welcome back Mr Weasley. I stayed where I was, staring at Harry. What on earth had happened? Harry just smiled awkwardly at me and walked by me to Mr Weasley as well. I let out a sigh. _This is just one of those times_, I thought to myself. _It's nothing to worry about. Snape hasn't said anything_. God, I don't even believe myself sometimes.

Turned out it wasn't though. Snape had been round to tell Harry about him taking Occlumency lessons and he'd goaded Dad about having to stay at Grimmauld and being a coward because of it. As Harry told us this, I glanced at Dad to see him sitting back in his chair with a brooding expression on his face. I didn't really listen to anything the others said about Harry's extra lessons with Snape though I did hear Ron's comment about having the nightmares than the lessons. But Dumbledore had told him that Harry needed them so there was obviously a reason for him to do so.

After a rushed breakfast the next day, me, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys caught the Knight Bus back up to Hogwarts with Tonks and Lupin. Before we left, I wanted to say goodbye to Dad but I never found the chance as he had pulled Harry aside to talk to him. I just stared at them momentarily before turning away and getting on the bus. I think Lupin noticed my reaction because before we left, he came and sat down next to me.

'Is anything the matter?' he asked me quietly. I didn't look at him. 'You didn't say goodbye to Sirius.'

'Nothing's the matter,' I muttered. I could hear the bitter tone in my voice. 'And he was busy. Didn't have time.'

Luckily, Lupin let it drop.

The journey back to Hogwarts was awful. I never wanted to go on the Knight Bus ever again if I could avoid it. After a rather violent BANG we set of with a jerk. Tonks had shunted us all on to the top floor where there were various mismatched chairs and sitting down in one, I instantly grabbed the rail on the side as the bus lurched forwards, keeping hold of it for virtually all the journey. We went from being on a motorway outside Birmingham to a country lane to a busy town before we reached Hogwarts. I was very relieved to get off.

Once off the bus, Lupin and Tonks said goodbye to us all. As the others started up the drive though, I hung back to speak to Lupin. He looked at me curiously when I waited.

'Just, look after Dad for me,' I said rather uncomfortably. 'Make sure he doesn't do anything rash.'

'He'll be fine, Jenna,' said Lupin. 'I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry.'

With Lupin's word, I caught up with the others and I was back at Hogwarts.

School the next day was pretty much as it always was. History of Magic was dull as ever; Snape was particularly unpleasant as we brewed our potions; Divination and still Trelawney looked like she was having a mental breakdown; and Defence Against the Dark Arts was reading another chapter in our books. Between classes, several people kept coming up to Harry asking if the DA was tonight but Harry had the "remedial Potions".

'You take _remedial Potions_?' asked Smith when he caught us during lunch. 'Good Lord, you must be terrible. Snape doesn't usually give extra lessons, does he?'

He was such an arsehole. Ron even suggested if he should jinx him but Cho appeared before Harry had finished his answer about it. I watched as Harry started mumbling again before Hermione excused us and we dragged Ron off to the library. I was actually pretty thankful. Saved me wanting to throw up as Harry made a fool out of himself again. As we left, I looked back at him for a second before turning away and following Hermione.

Harry had asked Cho out to the next Hogsmeade weekend, on Valentine's Day of all days. Well, yip-dee-doo-dah for him. Like I really wanted to know about that. With a roll of my eyes, I walked off ahead of the others to Divination. Taking a small table, Harry, Ron and I listened to Trelawney be all dramatic again but my mind was not completely focused. I was thinking about Cho and how pathetic she was around Harry. She was _so_ going to get him if she kept acting like that, real sucker for the innocent school-girl thing and the "Oh, make Harry leader!" praise. It was so pathetic. And Harry actually asked her out? What spell did she put on him to make him do that?

'Bloody Cho,' I muttered silently under my breath.

After dinner that night, Harry had to go off to his Occlumency class so Ron, Hermione and I headed to the library to do our homework. It wasn't too much for the first day back though Umbridge had set us a lot of work about the first five chapters of the book. Lot of help that was going to be. While I got on with that, Ron was making up God knows what for his Divination and Hermione was doing Ancient Runes. About an hour later, Harry joined us. He looked terrible.

After Hermione had asked him what happened, Harry told us that he'd realised what it was he kept dreaming of: the corridor he, Mr Weasley and I ran down before our hearing, in the Department of Mysteries. And it hit me. That had been the corridor I'd dreamt of when I saw Sturgis get arrested and with Mr Weasley. I'd been right. Sturgis hadn't wanted to go there, he had to have been made to. Hermione still wasn't sure though.

'So what's in the Department of Mysteries?' asked Harry, turning to Ron. 'Has your dad ever mentioned anything about it?'

All Ron knew about the Department of Mysteries was that people called Unspeakables worked there. No one knew very much about it.

'Weird place to have a weapon,' he said, frowning.

'It's not weird at all, it make perfect sense,' said Hermione. 'It will be something top secret that the Ministry has been developing, I expect.'

'Harry, are you sure you're all right?' I said, cutting over Hermione. He had run his hands over his forehead and his scar. He said he was fine. Hermione was sure this was normal after doing advanced magic like Occlumency. I wasn't as sure. After that, we left for the common room.

Once there we saw Fred and George were showing some interested students these hats which made only your head invisible. Girls kept screaming as Fred's head disappeared and reappeared. The hat itself wasn't very fetching so it was probably a good idea that it vanished. It was intriguing though that they'd made the field of invisibility go around more than just the hat. As soon as we got back though, Harry went straight to bed. Still worried about him, I asked Ron to go check on him, just to make sure he was all right. He didn't come back down so I guessed the pair of them had gone to bed. Half an hour later after I'd finished my homework, I headed up to the girls dormitories too, desperate to sleep.

I had a big shock the next day though. When the morning's _Daily Prophet_ turned up, Hermione took one look at it and let out a yelp before laying it down so me, Harry and Ron could see it. Ten prisoners had escaped from Azkaban, no doubt with outsider help, their photographs on the front of the paper. And the moment I looked at it, my eyes fell on the one woman there: Bellatrix Lestrange. She was free. As my eyes went over the paper, I saw something else. The headline was:

_MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN_

_MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT'_

_FOR OLD DEATH EATERS_

They thought Dad was rallying old recruits? OK, yes, he did escape from Azkaban but he was not a Death Eater! According to the article below, the prisoners had all been high-security ones and had escaped early that morning. Fudge had given an interview saying the Ministry was in the same situation as when Dad broke out and that he would have been well placed to help others do so as well but not that they were rallied with him. It ended with a message to us keeping calm and cautious. Oh, that was going to do a lot of good.

'I don't believe this,' snarled Harry. 'Fudge is blaming the breakout on _Sirius_?'

'What other options does he have?' I said bitterly. 'He can hardly say, "Sorry, everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort" – stop _whimpering_, Ron –' I snapped, seeing Ron flinch at Voldemort's name, '"and now Voldemort's worst supporters have broken out, too." I mean, he's spent a good six months telling everyone you and Dumbledore are liars, hasn't he?'

That wasn't the only story in the paper that caught our attention. A Ministry of Magic worker had been killed in St Mungo's. It was Broderick Bode. He'd been on the Spell Damage ward we'd visited. He'd been strangled by a cutting of Devil's Snare that had been sent as a Christmas present to him. That was that pot plant I saw the Nurse hand him. How could we have not realised it having fallen into a giant version of it in our first year? And Harry and I had met Bode too, when we were in the lift going to our hearing.

'I've heard Dad talk about him at home!' gasped Ron. 'He was an Unspeakable – he worked in the Department of Mysteries!'

We all looked at each other before Hermione suddenly leapt to her feet beside me.

'Where are you going?' said Ron, startled.

'To send a letter,' said Hermione, swinging her bag on to her shoulder. 'It … well, I don't know whether … but it's worth trying … and I'm the only one who can … come on, Jenna.'

I looked up from my breakfast to see her running out of the Hall. Then, looking across at the boys, I shrugged and followed after her, wondering what on earth she had figured out now. Though hungry, I thought it was best to follow. When I caught up with her (she'd gone to the Owlery of all places) she was busy scribbling a letter on some parchment from her bag. I asked her what she was planning but she didn't answer, just asking if she could borrow Gizmo when she'd finished the letter. Calling him down, I attached the letter and sent him off.

'Would you mind now telling me what you're planning?' I asked her on our way down to Charms. 'Seeing as we've just sent my owl who knows where.'

'I've written to Rita Skeeter,' said Hermione pleased. Rita Skeeter? She had to be kidding me, right? 'It's time the truth was told. And you're going to help.'

This was not good.

The news of a Ministry worker dying unexpectedly was not on top of the student's list of things to talk about. Hagrid's probation, however, that was common knowledge. Barely anyone seemed disappointed. Malfoy was over the moon about it in fact. The one thing that was regularly discussed was the escaped Death Eaters. The students from wizarding families who'd known of these people for years had even taking to staring at me in the corridor, whispering. I didn't need to guess why. Fudge had said in his interview Bellatrix was Dad's cousin, and seeing as everyone knew I was Sirius Black's daughter from the article last year, they knew I was related to her. Brilliant.

Of course, this brought on yet another Educational Decree, Number Twenty-six: no teacher was allowed to give students information about anything other than the subject they taught. This did have its problems though as Fred, George and Lee pointed out.

'Exploding Snap's got nothing to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor! That's not information relating to your subject!'

Lee came back with a bleeding hand. Harry recommended he used Murtlap essence.

The escaped Death Eaters hadn't effected Umbridge at all and so now all our Divination and Care of Magical Creatures lessons were under her supervision. It was only a matter of time before she got rid of one of them. Personally I hoped it was Trelawney. Well, she looked like she was going to crack any minute in the corridors. Hagrid wasn't putting up a better fight than her. We didn't do anything exciting anymore (I always liked Care of Magical Creatures because of the rare things we could study even if half of them were dangerous) and a Crup hardly sparked my interest. Hagrid himself was jumpy, always losing his line of thought during the lessons and answering questions incorrectly. And when we tried to visit him, he forbade us from coming to see him after dark, saying it'd be more than his job on the line.

In the DA, however, the news of the Death Eaters escape had spurred virtually everyone to try harder in it, even Smith. Neville though was making the most improvement. It was so great to see him being able to produce a Shield Charm before anyone else (apart from Hermione, of course). Meanwhile Harry still had his Occlumency lessons and he wasn't fairing to well in them from what I could tell. He seemed to regularly be experiencing pain in his scar and after every session, he looked awful. Hermione suggested it might be like an illness but that was highly unlikely.

'I am working!' said Harry, nettled after Hermione said he should work harder. 'You try it some time – Snape trying to get inside your head – it's not a bundle of laughs, you know!'

'Harry, we get it,' I said tiredly. He'd complained about it so often it sounded like one of Lupin's broken Muggle records. 'We know you're trying. Don't bite our heads off. We're only trying to help.'

Ron coming out with Snape trying to open Harry's head more for Voldemort was too absurd for Hermione's liking. I mean, for the past four years, we'd all been suspicious that Snape had been working for Voldemort but how many times were we right? None. Ron was adamant. But Dumbledore trusted Snape … so technically, so should we.

Hermione's plan involving Rita Skeeter finally came into action on the Hogsmeade visit on Valentine's Day. I met up with Hermione that morning (Ron had Quidditch practice) and we set off to Hogsmeade together, seeing as Harry was going with Cho. For the majority of the morning, we shopped for any supplies we needed then, at half ten, we went to the Three Broomsticks to find Rita Skeeter already waiting for us. A little after we arrived, so did Luna. What on earth did Hermione have planned? About ten minutes after Luna's arrival, Harry arrived, talking to Hagrid before joining us. Well, well.

'You're early,' said Hermione when he'd sat down. She'd been just about to tell us why we were there when Harry had turned up. 'I thought you were with Cho. I wasn't expecting you for at least another hour.'

'Problems in paradise?' I asked innocently, a grin on my face. I couldn't help it. Harry just glared back at me.

Once Rita had been quashed about nosing into Harry's love life, Hermione explained to us why we were there. She was very surprised that Harry was sticking to his story.

'You stand by all this garbage Dumbledore's been telling everybody about You-Know-Who returning and you being the sole witness?'

'I wasn't the sole witness,' snarled Harry. 'Jenna was there too. And there were a dozen-odd Death Eaters there as well. Want their names?'

'I'd love them,' breathed Rita. She drew out her acid green Quick Quotes quill. 'A great headline: "_Potter Accuses …_" A sub heading, "_Harry Potter Names Death Eaters Still Among Us_". And then, beneath a nice big photograph of you, "_Disturbed teenager survivor of You-Know-Who's attack, Harry Potter, 15, caused outrage yesterday by accusing respectable and prominent members of the wizarding community of being Death Eaters_ …"

'But of course,' she said, lowering the quill and glaring at Hermione, 'Little Miss Perfect wouldn't want that story out there, would she?'

'As a matter of fact,' said Hermione sweetly, 'that's exactly what Little Miss Perfect _does_ want.'

Rita couldn't believe that was what Hermione wanted. Neither could I. She wanted me and Harry to retell to Rita what exactly had happened the night Voldemort had come back. Was she crazy? The Ministry of Magic would throw a fit, Umbridge particularly. The _Prophet_ would never print it. But_ The Quibbler_ would. Rita wasn't impressed.

'"Important stories he thinks the public needs to know", eh?' she said witheringly. 'I could manure my garden with the contents of that rag.'

People weren't likely to believe what _The Quibbler_ said but it was between Rita doing this without pay so that the truth was told or Hermione reporting her to be an illegal Animagus. Rita was outraged she was supposed to do it for free.

'Otherwise,' said Hermione, 'as you very well know, I will inform the authorities that you are an unregistered Animagus.'

'So's goody-two-shoes over there,' said Rita, outraged, pointing at me.

'Ah, but one factor you're missing,' I said, first time I'd spoken since Harry came in, 'I'm a rare-type of Animagus and don't have to register because I'm about the only one in existence.' I smiled wryly at her. 'Tough break, Skeeter.'

With Rita's agreement, Harry and I spent the rest of the time we had at Hogsmeade telling her exactly, word for word, what happened that night Voldemort came back, how Cedric was murdered, and who was still a Death Eater. Rita wanted everything and, what surprised me, Harry could remember everything.

Luna couldn't tell us how soon the article would be out but she assured us it would be printed. The Crumple-Horned Snorkacks article was coming soon. By Monday the news of the article spread quickly around the fifth year Gryffindors and everyone seemed impressed. Neville said it was the right thing to do. When Dean, Neville and Seamus had left, me, Hermione and Harry were left waiting for Ron who wasn't back from practice yet. That was when Cho came into the Hall with her friend Marietta and Hermione asked how his date went.

Cho had got jealous of me? No way. Apparently when she heard Harry was meeting up with me and Hermione, she instantly flipped and said all these things, even bringing up Cedric and getting more upset when Harry told her that he talked to me, Ron and Hermione about Cedric and she stormed out. Oh my God, how badly did Harry screw up his date? He was so tactless as Hermione pointed out, saving me doing so.

'Me, tactless?' said Harry angrily. 'One minute we were getting on fine, next minute she was telling me how Roger Davies asked her out and how she used to go and snog Cedric in that stupid teashop – how was I supposed to feel about that?'

This was priceless! Harry was being so naïve. Couldn't he see Cho was jealous? Even I could see it and why: Cedric had asked me out before he asked Cho and I had been there when Cedric died and I was close to Harry. How more obvious did he want it? I mean, telling a girl you're meeting up with another two during your date? Hermione said he should have told her differently to how he did because he promised Hermione or that we were ugly or whatever. She laughed though when he said he didn't think we were ugly.

Ron joined us during this conversation, covered in mud. As I listened to Harry ask why Cho didn't just ask if he liked Hermione better than her, I had to hold in my laughter. How long had he known me? OK, I'm not a normal girl but still, I did what girls do. Ginny too then joined us. Harry just said he was trying to tell us what Cho was doing.

'You should write a book,' said Ron, 'translating mad things girls do so boys can understand them.' Harry agreed.

When we got back to the common room, Fred and George asked us where Ron and Ginny were before telling us they'd watched their practice. Apparently it didn't go too well although George thought Ginny had faired all right, better than he thought. Hermione answered that saying that Ginny had been nicking their brooms since she was six to practice. Ron still hadn't saved many goals yet, only when people weren't watching so the crowd would just have to turn away when it was down their end on Saturday. The twins couldn't bear the thought of Smith and Hufflepuff beating them.

'That's the trouble with Quidditch,' said Hermione from behind her books, 'it creates all this bad feeling and tension between the houses.' Fred, George and Harry all gave her daggers for looks. 'Well it does! It's only a game, isn't it?'

'Hermione,' said Harry, shaking his head, 'you're good on feelings and stuff, but you just don't understand Quidditch.'

'Maybe not. But at least my happiness doesn't depend on Ron's goalkeeping ability.'

The match itself was very short so it wasn't too painful to watch from the sidelines, not that I didn't do that already anyway. Watching Ron let in fourteen goals, new Beater Jack Sloper hit Angelina in the face instead of the Bludger, and Andrew Kirke shrieking like a girl as Smith flew at him with the Quaffle was certainly something I wouldn't forget. Least Ginny caught the Snitch. But having Umbridge smiling up at you every so often during it was not pleasant.

Again Ron was depressed after the match but Angelina still wouldn't let him resign. She had good reason; Ron just had a confidence problem. I was sure he could do it at least. Fred and George didn't even have the heart to take the mick out of him. He sloped off to bed early, Harry going after him a while later. Hermione and I gave each other worried looks before trailing off to bed too.

The next morning, the boys joined me and Hermione when we were reading the copy of the _Daily Prophet_ that had just been delivered, seeing if there was anything about the Death Eaters. Harry also received an owl. Not one but loads actually. When he opened his first letter, we found it was a copy of _The Quibbler_. The article must have been published. Luna drifted over to us while we were reading it (I wasn't mentioned. Oh well, that's Skeeter for you). She seemed very pleased. The rest were all letters from. It was weird to read them; though some still said he was mad, people were actually believing him. One even said he'd been treated unfairly.

But then Umbridge came over asking why Harry had all these letters. Fred shouted was it a crime to get mail and she threatened to put him in detention before turning back to Harry. Hesitantly, he told her what he gave an interview. Umbridge was very intrigued. Harry threw the copy of _The Quibbler_ at her and Umbridge walked away. Later that day, messages appeared around the school saying that any person holding a copy of _The Quibbler_ was to be expelled. That was quick work. Hermione beamed when she saw it. I could see why; because it was banned, everyone wanted to read it and by the afternoon, people were quoting it in the corridors. Being bombarded with questions though when you're going to the toilet was not fun. Umbridge went on a crusade to get every copy of it she could lay her fat hands on, making students turn out their pockets. She didn't get any.

Even the teachers seemed pleased about it though they couldn't talk about it because of an earlier Educational Decree. Professor Sprout gave twenty points to Gryffindor when Harry handed her a watering can in Herbology; Flitwick gave him a box of sugar mice; Trelawney even said he wasn't going to die and have twelve children. I think that scared him a bit. What made me sick though was Cho caught up with Harry before Transfiguration the next day. I just went straight into class. The only people who were not pleased (obviously) were Malfoy and his lot. They'd been in the library together and glared at us when we passed their table. I guess there was an up side to everything. _The Quibbler_ had done so well, it even got reprinted. Luna was thrilled.

That night there was a party held in Gryffindor common room for Harry. The picture of him which had been on the cover had been enlarged by Fred and George, every so often saying things like "THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC ARE MORONS" and so on. Hermione didn't like it; she said it interfered with her concentration and went to bed early because of it. Harry and Ron went shortly after her. I still had some work to do so I went later. Before I did though, I saw Harry had left one of his books in the common room. I picked it up to give it to him the next morning when a pain throbbed through my head.

_A man on his knees at the feet of another … voices ringing through my head … orders being given, the man on his knees stumbling as he left … a face in the mirror …_

I dropped the book when I felt a sear on my chest as I saw the face. It was Voldemort. Opening my eyes, I found I had my hands gripping my head through my hair, crouched on the floor. Looking up, no one else had noticed. I let out a sigh and got up. What was happening to me? Why was I getting more and more premonitions? With each one, they were getting more and more painful, so much so they were reducing me to falling to the floor to hold it together. And why were they now happening at the time they happen? Why couldn't they just happened in the future like the used to?

Harry told us the next morning about a dream he had the previous night while we were standing in the courtyard at break. Bode, the man who'd been killed by a pot plant, had been sent to get something from the Department of Mysteries and a defensive spell had addled him and because he was getting better, he would have been able to tell why he'd been there in the first place and that Lucius Malfoy put the Imperious Curse on him. They had to dispose of him.

'Hang on,' said Harry slowly. 'He was in the Department of Mysteries corridor that day! Your dad said he was probably trying to sneak down and find out what happened in our hearing, but what if –'

'Sturgis!' gasped Hermione suddenly. We looked at her.

Hermione thought that Lucius Malfoy could have got Sturgis too, after all, he had Moody's Invisibility Cloak and if he'd been guarding the door, Malfoy could have cursed him if he'd heard him. And the next time he was on duty, he did what Malfoy ordered him to do and got sent to Azkaban for it. It all made sense. I'd suggested when we first found out that maybe he'd been _made_ to do it or something. And now Voldemort knew how to get the weapon … now what?

'You shouldn't have seen this at all, Harry,' said Hermione abruptly. Harry was taken aback but Hermione merely stated, 'You're supposed to be learning how to close your mind to this.'

'I know I am,' said Harry. 'But –'

'Well, I think we should just try and forget what you saw. And you ought to put a bit more effort on your Occlumency from now on.'

Harry didn't talk to Hermione for the rest of the day. But she had a valid point. He shouldn't be dreaming these things and in all honesty, I didn't want to be either. Being able to share dreams? It was a horrible thought. Anyway, if people weren't talking about the Death Eaters, they were talking about Gryffindor's spectacular loss against Hufflepuff, the Slytherins singing, '_Weasley is our King_.' which got banned by Filch because of sheer irritation.

The weeks progressed with not much change. Umbridge was still sitting in our Divination and Care of Magical Creatures lessons; homework was hard as usual, especially in Potions; and Harry was still having his Occlumency lessons. Either Hagrid or Trelawney were getting closer to being sacked and I hoped it wasn't going to be Hagrid. And, on the second Monday of March, we found out who.

Harry had gone off again to his Occlumency lesson, leaving me, Hermione and Ron at dinner. Nothing much went on after that until we heard a scream from the Entrance Hall. The three of us looked at each other, before running out of the Hall with the other students to see what was going on.

Professor Trelawney was standing in the Entrance Hall, wand in her hand as tears fell down her face with a half empty bottle of sherry in the other. She looked like she'd finally cracked. Her glasses were askew on her nose and her hair was on end; her numerous shawls were dragging on the ground, falling off her shoulders. Beside her were two large trunks looking as though they'd been thrown down the stairs.

'No!' she shrieked again and again. 'NO! This cannot be happening …I refuse to accept it!'

'You didn't realise this was coming?' said a high, girlish voice. I looked to my right to see Umbridge standing at the foot of the marble staircase, a wide smile on her frog-like face. 'Incapable though you are of predicting tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realised your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvements, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked.'

Professor Trelawney howled and screeched against her sacking, tears leaking from her enormous eyes, claiming she'd been working here for sixteen years and that Hogwarts is her home. It was so painful to watch, I actually felt sympathy for her. Umbridge corrected her, saying it _was_ her home, enjoying every moment of this, and that she was embarrassing us as she made a spectacle of herself. I watched as Professor McGonagall came out of the crowd gathered and comforted her fellow colleague; just across from me, Parvati and Lavender were balling their eyes out about it. I wasn't that sad about it. McGonagall was telling Trelawney that she was not going to leave Hogwarts, Umbridge taking an instant reaction.

'And your authority on that statement is …?' she asked her in a vicious voice.

'That would be mine.' I looked up to see standing in front of the open oak front doors was Dumbledore. Walking forwards, he went and stood beside Trelawney and McGonagall.

Umbridge wouldn't have this. She pulled out one of her numerous Educational Decrees stating she had the power to sack any teacher she wanted to and that Trelawney was not up to scratch and was to be sacked because of it. However, Dumbledore was still smiling. He agreed with Umbridge about her power to sack people but not over them leaving. He wanted Trelawney to stay. The somewhat drunk Trelawney cried hysterically that she would go but Dumbledore insisted, Professor McGonagall assisting her upstairs, Professor Sprout helping as well, and Professor Flitwick dealing with the trunks. Umbridge was still glaring at Dumbledore.

'And what,' she asked in a menacing whisper, 'are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?'

'Oh, that won't be a problem,' said Dumbledore pleasantly. 'You see, I have already found us a new Divination teacher, and he would prefer lodgings on the ground floor.'

Umbridge was speechless and outraged. She couldn't believe Dumbledore had found someone to take place of Trelawney already, even more so when he corrected her that she was to only find a replacement if he couldn't. After asking if her could introduce them, he turned to the door. I followed his movements with my eyes and heard a sound growing steadily louder as it got closer, the sound of hooves. And in from the misty darkness, a figure with white-blond hair, clear blue eyes, the head and torso of a man and the body of a palomino horse, stood a centaur.

'This is Firenze,' said Dumbledore happily. I glanced at Umbridge; she looked like she was going to boil over. 'I think you'll find him suitable.'

It was another two days before we had Firenze for Divination. Parvati and Lavender seemed very happy about it though they were still concerned about Trelawney. She was still crying and wanting to leave the castle apparently. Why didn't they just let her? Anyhow, while Hermione headed for Arithmancy, me, Ron and Harry followed the giggling twins to a classroom just opposite the Great Hall. Except, it wasn't a classroom. It had been transformed into this sort of indoor woodland; there were trees and bushes growing in there, their leaves blocking the light. Those already in there were leaning against the trunks or the boulders.

It wasn't much more interesting than a normal Divination lesson. Firenze told us it was not possible to have lessons in the Forest (hence the forest classroom) and when Parvati said we'd been in the Forest before, he said it wasn't a matter of bravery and his herd had banished him. I snorted when Dean asked if Hagrid bred them. Centaurs, bred? Whatever next? Still, the lesson consisted mostly of lying back on the grass and staring up at the sky, oh, and Firenze telling us what Trelawney had told us about planet movements was human nonsense, much to Parvati and Lavender's dismay.

After the lesson though, Firenze held Harry back. Me and Ron looked at him and Firenze said we could stay. He told Harry that Hagrid's attempt wasn't working. That he should abandon it. But what was he trying to do? Harry asked him but Firenze said he wouldn't betray Hagrid's trust, just to tell him his attempt wasn't working. With that in mind, we left.

March soon turned into April. Lessons were as hard as usual what with our OWLs slowly getting closer and with the fact I was banned from Quidditch gave me a lot of free time so I found myself regularly wandering round the castle when I didn't have anything to do, also avoiding Hermione's nagging. Several times Filch saw me but I wasn't doing anything wrong so he always stalked off again. But that wasn't the only thing I noticed.

I already knew I was a girl who got loads of attention even though I wasn't all flirty. I wasn't into make-up or fashion or anything like that. But that didn't seem to stop me catching the attention of many guys, even Slytherins but I guess that was just due to being a Black. Whenever I was alone, I'd hear wolf whistles and things like that behind me, even sometimes guys gawking at my … assets. I even got offers which I thought were just downright wrong.

'Hey, sexy.' I heard a voice behind me one day after dinner on my way back to the Tower. I turned round to see three seventh year boys in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff leaning casually against the wall. 'Looking for some fun?'

'Excuse me?' I said. I watched as they walked over to me. A tall Ravenclaw was in front. He placed his hand against the wall behind me and leaned against it.

'Just wondering if you, er, wanted some fun,' he said casually. 'A little bit of –' his hand slipped round my waist and I felt myself be brought nearer to him, his mates snickering behind him, '– you know, naughty behaviour.'

I felt his hand slide down from my waist.

'Really?' I said calmly. I didn't like where his hand was sliding. 'Well, er, you see the thing is –'

'You're not frigid, are you?' asked the guy.

'No, I just think that,' I was thinking very quickly. If he wanted to play it this way, so be it. 'you're not man enough to handle me,' I said with a casual tone.

I walked away, listening to the "oohs" of the guy's mates as he nursed his bruised ego. He did shout, 'You bitch!' after me. Well served him right for thinking I was an easy target. OK, so I looked … better than some of the girls in the school, but I would never use my looks to get a guy, even though that was one of the things Cedric said to me when he asked me out, that I was pretty. That was just shallow. It's about personality, not looks. If I was to get a boyfriend, I'd want him to compassionate and caring, not wound up about how I look.

Besides realising what my reputation was (something along the lines of slut mixed with ice queen, target for any guy to shag) the DA was the only other thing on my mind. The next one was on Monday night and Harry had told Hermione, Ron and me that we were going to learn the Patronus Charm. Well, I already knew it so I knew that lesson was going to be hellishly boring. How wrong I was.

At first, I merely rolled my eyes again as Cho called her swan Patronus (she actually produced one?) pretty when they were shields against Dementors. Harry told her they weren't meant to be pretty but to protect you before saying we needed a Boggart to practice on. There was one flaw in that; unless everyone in the room was terrified of Dementors then the Boggart wouldn't turn into one except for me and Harry. But it was what Lavender said that got me.

'But that would be really scary!' she said, puffs shooting from her wand. 'And I still – can't – do it!' she added angrily.

'Lavender,' I started witheringly, 'I've been facing Dementors since I was eleven. It's a lot more scary then than when you're fifteen.'

'That's only because your dad was in prison for murder,' she retorted.

Now that was below the belt.

'Which he didn't commit!'

'So why does Harry not have any parents?'

'How dare you!' I said. 'You don't know the half of it –'

'Black was a supporter of Voldemort, he killed twelve Muggles and a wizard and handed Harry's parents over to him. I don't know why he'd hang around with the girl of the man who got his mum and dad murdered.'

I was about to walk up to Lavender and give her a right nice hex when I felt Harry's arm in front of me. I looked at him.

'Cool it, Jen,' he warned me. He then turned to Lavender. 'Stop it,' he told her. 'Jenna and I know the truth and it's not that.' walking away afterwards.

My eyes followed as he walked away before landing on Cho. She was looking quite smugly at me. I just ignored her and turned away, drawing up my wand and saying the Patronus Charm. Hooves burst out of my wand and stood before me. I watched as she reared up in front of me before galloping off with Hermione's otter Patronus beside her. Then things took a turn for the worse.

Dobby turned up, shaking madly. He tried to tell Harry something but couldn't seem to get the words out. He suddenly ran at the wall causing several girls to gasp. Harry seized both his wrists and asked him what had happened. He kept saying she was on her way. I watched Harry as a look of terror spread on his face. Dobby by now was howling and kicking violently against him. Harry stood up, looking at everyone looking at the elf.

'WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?' Harry bellowed suddenly. 'RUN!'

Everyone instantly started running from the room, heading anywhere and everywhere to hide. I was pushed out of the door with the crowd, watching as Harry remained there. He was going to get caught, I just knew it, he'd get caught. I called desperately to him but he couldn't hear me. I pushed my way back through the others to get to him. I shouted at him to move, grabbing his hand. The pair of us started running back up the corridor when I felt something hit my ankles and I fell forwards, skidding slightly along the corridor. Sitting up again, I saw Malfoy smirking at us from behind a pillar. He'd used a Trip-Jinx on us.

Seconds later Umbridge appeared in the corridor. She awarded Malfoy fifty points for capturing us. Ordering Harry and I to get up, she took hold of us by the arms and marched us away. She was taking us to Dumbledore's office because not minutes later she was trilling off the password to the stone gargoyle in front of his door and we were marched inside the office. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, her face tense, were both there along with a immensely pleased looking Fudge, Kingsley and another Auror, and Percy Weasley. Oh dear.

Harry instantly pulled himself free of Umbridge's grip while it took Fudge's command for her to let go of me, shoving me into Harry's side, catching my arms. We exchanged anxious looks when I hit against him. Umbridge took great pride in telling Fudge that Malfoy had caught us on our way back to Gryffindor Tower, the same pleasure when Trelawney was being sacked.

'Did he, did he?' replied Fudge approvingly. 'I must remember to tell Lucius. Well, Potter …' he turned and looked at me and Harry. 'I expect you know why you and the girl are here?'

_My name is Jenna_, I thought angrily. _Not girl, Jenna!_ Besides thinking this, I watched Harry carefully. I hoped beyond all hope that he wasn't going to reply, however, he started to say something before changing his mind.

'Ye—no.' I let out a quiet sigh.

Fudge just looked unbelievingly at him, questioning him again to why we were here, asking us if we'd broken any school rules or Ministry Decrees. Fudge couldn't believe him. I, meanwhile, was thanking God that Harry had finally learnt to hold his tongue.

'So, it's news to you, is it,' said Fudge, his voice now thick with anger, 'that an illegal student organisation has been discovered within this school?'

'Yes, it is,' said Harry.

But then Umbridge suggested to bring in their "informant". I watched nervously as she walked out the room, returning a few minutes later coaxing a girl with her robes round her face. It was Marietta, Cho's friend. She'd dobbed us in! And from what I could see under her robes, my spell had worked pretty well and she had the word SNEAK spelled out on her face in horrible purple boils and pimples.

'Well, Minister,' said Umbridge briskly when Marietta refused to answer her question, 'Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately, at that point this hex,' she waved impatiently at Marietta's concealed face, 'came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me any more.'

I couldn't help but mutter, 'Serves her right.' under my breath. What was best was that Umbridge hadn't been able to find a counter-jinx yet.

Professor McGonagall swiftly asked if there was any evidence to Umbridge's statement of Harry meeting people in the Hog's Head in October. Some wizard had given a testimony, one that wasn't prosecuted for regurgitating toilets. Wasn't that the case Mr Weasley had been on? Showed how good our legal system was. Anyway, Umbridge said the purpose of the meeting was to form a secret club. True enough but Dumbledore had to point out a fault, surprising both me and Harry and Fudge.

'Cornelius, I do not deny – and nor, I am sure, does Harry or Jenna – that he was in the Hog's Head that day,' said Dumbledore, 'nor that he was trying to recruit students to a Defence Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at that time, illegal. If you remember, the Ministry Decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after Harry's Hogsmeade meeting, so he was not breaking any rule at all in the Hog's Head.'

Percy stopped writing on his parchment; Fudge was mid bounce on the balls of his feet; Umbridge just looked at him before saying sweetly that we had broken Education Decree Number Twenty-four. Dumbledore caught her out by pointing out that the Decree was made after the meeting, meaning it wasn't against the rules when we had done it and _had_ it been continued after the Decree, where was the evidence.

'Evidence?' repeated Umbridge, toad-like smile back. 'Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is here?'

'Oh, can she tell is about six months' worth of meetings?' said Dumbledore, raising his eyebrows. 'I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight.'

Umbridge turned straight to Marietta and asked her about the meetings. And to my great surprise, Marietta shook her head. Umbridge didn't seem to understand and when she questioned her again, Marietta still shook her head. She took it one step too far when she physically grabbed Marietta and shook her when she still answered no. Only then did I understand why they said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared; the anger in his usually kind blue eyes was unbelievable.

Umbridge released her, following Kingsley's suggestion, breathlessly saying, 'No, I mean, yes – you're right, Shacklebolt – I – I forgot myself.'

Fudge carried on with the interrogation, checking whether there was a meeting tonight or not. Umbridge regained herself and said confidently that there was, and to my horror, she drew out the parchment with all our names on it. Pansy Parkinson had gone in and got it.

'The moment I saw Potter's name on the list, I knew what we were dealing with,' she said softly. 'The girl's name only a few below. Seems Potter and Black can't help but cause trouble together.'

'Excellent,' said Fudge happily, 'excellent, Dolores. And … by thunder …' he glanced at me and Harry then at Dumbledore, 'See what they've named themselves?' said Fudge quietly. '_Dumbledore's Army_.' I knew Hermione shouldn't have written the name on it.

I looked worriedly between Harry and Dumbledore. We were done for, I was sure to be expelled this time. But that wasn't the case.

'Well, the game is up,' he said simply. 'Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius – or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?' What? What on earth was he doing? Fudge didn't seem to understand either. 'Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore, indicating the list of names. 'Not Potter's Army. _Dumbledore's _Army.'

Dumbledore was taking the blame for us. He couldn't! If he did that, Fudge would have him for sure and he'd be taken from Hogwarts. We wouldn't stand a chance under Umbridge. But when Harry shouted to stop him, I grabbed his arm, frantically mouthing, 'Don't do it!' while Kingsley and McGonagall looked at us warningly.

'No – Professor Dumbledore –!' he shouted, me holding him back.

'Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office,' said Dumbledore calmly.

'Yes, shut up, Potter!' barked Fudge, still staring at Dumbledore with a weird look of delight on his face. 'Well, well, well – I came here tonight to expel Potter and from the look of it, Black as well and instead –'

'Instead you get to arrest me,' said Dumbledore, smiling. 'It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?'

Fudge was ecstatic; Percy looked like he was going to burn a hole through his parchment seeing as he was writing so fast to get everything. But when Fudge commanded Dawlish, the other Auror there, Dumbledore didn't believe he could do it.

'If you attempt to – er – _bring me in_ by force,' he said quietly, 'I will have to hurt you.'

Fudge sneered at his supposed attempt to take on Dawlish, Kingsley, Umbridge and himself all by himself. McGonagall sprang to Dumbledore's aid but he told her Hogwarts needed her. We did; if both McGonagall and Dumbledore went, Umbridge would take over the whole school.

'Enough of this rubbish!' said Fudge, pulling out his own wand. 'Dawlish! Shacklebolt! _Take him!_'

The next thing I knew, I felt someone grab me and I was forced to the ground as a silver light flashed in the room. I kept my eyes tightly shut as I felt the arm round me tightly, inhaling the dust and hearing the portraits and Fawkes in the background. I flinched as something fell quite close to me, fearing it would hit me.

'Are you all right?'

I felt myself being helped up, realising Harry had grabbed me while Professor McGonagall had forced him, me and Marietta to the floor. Looking around, I saw Dumbledore's office was a wreck, Fudge, Umbridge, Percy, Kingsley and Dawlish lying unconscious on the floor. Everything had been destroyed. Fawkes, meanwhile, was circling above us, singing softly. Dumbledore explained that he had to hex Kingsley as well or it'd be suspicious, being glad he'd been quick to modify Marietta's mind. That explained why she said no when Umbridge questioned her.

'Now,' said Dumbledore, 'they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate – you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember –'

'Where will you go, Dumbledore?' whispered Professor McGonagall. 'Grimmauld Place?'

'Oh no,' said Dumbledore, with a grim smile, 'I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you.'

'Professor Dumbledore …' I looked to my left at Harry.

'Listen to me, Harry,' he said urgently. 'You must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells you and practise it particularly every night before sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad dreams – you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me –' Dawlish was starting to stir. 'Remember – close your mind – you will understand.'

As I watched them, I saw a change in Harry and felt a pain on my chest. It was my necklace. I fought not to gasp in pain; it was excruciating, grabbing it to hide it. Harry had flinched, felt something or – I don't know but I could feel it. Seconds later, Dumbledore was gone, having grabbed Fawkes tail as he swept over us, both disappearing into fire. Fudge and the others were starting to wake up.

Instantly, when Fudge had realised Dumbledore was gone, Dawlish led the others out of the room down the stairs after him. Fudge remained, glaring at Professor McGonagall.

'Well, Minerva,' said Fudge nastily, straightening his torn shirtsleeve, 'I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore.'

'You think so, do you?'

Fudge ignored her reply, saying that she should get the three of us to bed. Turning away, McGonagall took me, Harry and Marietta out of the office, down the stairs, and into the corridor. She told me and Harry to return straight to Gryffindor Tower while she got Marietta to the Ravenclaw Tower. She left us at the end of Dumbledore's office corridor, heading for the changing staircase. Harry and I set off in silence.

'Where d'you think he's gone,' I asked as we turned into the corridor of the Fat Lady's portrait.

'I don't know,' muttered Harry. I could see something was bothering him. 'But Fudge isn't going to let this drop, Umbridge certainly won't.'

Harry was about to say the password for the portrait when I stopped him. I don't know why I did but I had to say something.

'Thank you for pulling me out of the way. You didn't have to, you know.'

'I wouldn't let anything happen to you, Jen,' said Harry. 'You're too important.'

I looked at Harry strangely as he said the password and climbed through the portrait hole. Inside the Tower, we found everyone waiting anxiously for us. Ron and Hermione pulled us away from them but a glance at each other told me that neither of us wanted to talk about it. However, we did tell Ron and Hermione about what happened, their reactions mimicking ours. With Dumbledore gone and only McGonagall for backup, we were in deep trouble.

The next day our worst fears were confirmed: Umbridge was Headmistress of Hogwarts.

* * *

**AN: drawing to the end of Order of the Phoenix and one of Jenna's worst fears will soon come true. i rele don't want to write it i have 2 say coz i love Sirius but wat is to come is to come. oh well, hope u'd enjoyed it and plz rnr for me, they're so helpful and i like knowing what people think. BlAcKdAuGhTeR.  
oh, and thx 2 Sakura12, I LUV Potter Turner AND HSM, awpotdc, Jackie Rogers, gohan8k, liverbird1, BrownEyedDreamr and DianaMC for reviewing the last chapter. your comments r so nice and i'm glad ur loving it! keep on reviewing!!!**


	26. In This Together

Chapter 25

In This Together

In no time at all, Umbridge's reign began over the school starting with the notices up the very next morning after Dumbledore's departure. Very few were confident that he'd return. Others, however, were overjoyed with the change in rule over the school. I need not tell you who I mean. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had been talking to Ernie on our way up from Herbology when Malfoy turned up as smug as ever.

Hermione had been saying that Umbridge was a "stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old witch" when he and his cronies appeared and said, 'Now, do you _really_ want to finish that sentence, Granger?'

'Shove off, Malfoy,' I said, stepping up to him. He looked down his nose at me. I was shorter than him. 'Haven't you got some first year to beat up for no reason?'

Malfoy just grinned and said he had some points to dock. What was he on about? I knew prefects could dock points but what had we done now? But it wasn't because he was a prefect that he was doing it. It was as the Inquisitorial Squad.

'A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic,' he drawled, 'hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad have the power to dock points … so, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new Headmistress. Macmillan, five for contradicting me. Five because I don't like you, Potter. Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so I'll have another five for that. Black, because you were rude and because we're related as well, so ten there. Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten off for that.'

I glared at him and drew out my wand only to have it lowered by Hermione. Malfoy's grinned got even wider. He left with Crabbe and Goyle, laughing. I watched as he left. Someday, I was going to get even with him, get even for what his father did. Still, as he left, I pocketed my wand and joined the others in looking at the hour glasses in the Entrance Hall. Fred and George soon joined us and we told them we just lost fifty points. Apparently, they too had just had points _tried_ to be taken from them, and I do emphasise the _tried_.

'He never managed to get all the words out,' Fred explained, 'due to the fact that we forced him head first into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor.' We all laughed apart from Hermione. She said they'd get in terrible trouble, but as Fred added, 'Anyway … we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble any more.'

'Have you ever?' asked Hermione.

'Course we have,' said George. 'Never been expelled, have we?'

'We've always known where to draw the line,' said Fred.

'We might have put a toe across it occasionally,' said George.

'But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem,' said Fred.

'But now?' said Ron tentatively.

'Well, now –' said George.

'– what with Dumbledore gone –' said Fred.

'– we reckon a bit of mayhem –' said George.

'– is exactly what our dear new Head deserves,' said Fred.

They left us in the Hall with a note that they had something big planned and that we should get in the Great Hall as soon as possible as phase one was about to begin, whatever that was. But on sooner had we done so that Filch appeared wanting Harry and me. Harry instantly said he hadn't done anything before we were led away to Umbridge's office. When we got there, she was sitting at her desk, smiling sweetly of course, and directed us to sit down, offering us a drink.

'Nothing, thank you,' said Harry. I didn't say anything; I merely watched her silently.

'I wish you to have a drink with me,' she repeated. 'Choose one.'

'Fine … tea then,' said Harry, shrugging. She got up and made quite a performance of adding milk with her back to him. She then bustled around the desk with it, smiling in a sinisterly sweet fashion.

'There,' she said, handing it to him. She then turned to me. 'And what would you like, dear?'

'I don't want anything,' I said quietly, my eyes not leaving hers.

'Coffee it is.' She again made a bit of a song-and-dance about my drink before handing it to me. 'Drink it before it gets cold, won't you? Well, now, Mr Potter, Miss Black … I thought we ought to have a little chat after the distressing events of last night.'

Harry and I looked at each other. We didn't say anything. Her insistence that we drink our drinks continued in the silence, even more so with me because I would not move. It would not satisfy her though so I took a cautious drink, making sure it couldn't get through my lips. It seemed to do her as her smile widened. That was when the blow came.

'Good,' she whispered. 'Very good. Now then …' She leaned forwards a little. '_Where is Albus Dumbledore?_'

Harry's answer of "No" came quickly and she made us drink our tea again. In my head, all I could think of was, _Why does she want us to drink it so badly? What does she want to know?_ Meanwhile, she was saying to Harry. 'Now, Mr Potter, let s not play childish games. I know that you know where he ahs gone. You and Dumbledore have been in this together from the beginning. Consider your position, Mr Potter …'

'I don't know where he is,' Harry repeated. He pretended to drink again. She was watching him very closely.

'Very well,' she said, though she looked displeased. 'In that case, you will kindly tell me the whereabouts of Sirius Black.'

I instantly froze, my cup just in front of my lips. I knew why she wanted us to drink up so badly. There was a potion, Veritaserum or something, which made anyone who drunk it speak the truth. And she was asking questions about Dumbledore and Dad's whereabouts. If any of those drinks got into mine and Harry's systems, we'd be spilling out everything! About Dad, the Order, putting everything that had happened at risk. Beside me, Harry slowly said he didn't know.

'Mr Potter,' said Umbridge, her temper rising, 'let me remind you that it was I who almost caught the criminal Black in the Gryffindor fire in October. I know perfectly well it was his daughter he was meeting with,' she looked at me, then back at Harry, 'and that you would not doubtedly be there and if I had had any proof none of you would be at large today, I promise you. I repeat, Mr Potter … where is Sirius Black?'.

'No idea,' said Harry loudly. 'Haven't got a clue.'

'Miss Black?' asked Umbridge.

Before I answered, a loud BOOM came from below us and everything in Umbridge's office shook. Umbridge almost got unbalanced as she grabbed the desk for support. Seconds later she dismissed us and ran out of the room. Harry and I looked at each other, then following a few moments later. The noise was coming from the floor below. We ran down the stairs and came to a halt crouched behind the banister. I could see Filch and Umbridge staring wildly above themselves in horror on the stairs as the chaos ensued in front of them.

Dozens of fireworks were zooming all around us. Dragons soaring near the ceiling; pink Catherine wheels whirling everywhere; rockets with silver stars; and exploding firecrackers. And every time Filch or Umbridge tried to do something, they'd double in number or exploded. It was pure mayhem. I felt Harry take my hand and I hurried over with him to where Fred and George were laughing their heads off. Well, they said it was going to be big.

The fireworks continued for ages and so Umbridge was coming into virtually every lesson removing them because the teachers weren't allowed to due to a previous Educational Decree. Apparently, Fred and George had blown their whole supply of Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs as they'd dubbed them. Even Hermione, in the midst of all the chaos, suggested we took the night off from homework. Ron asked if she was feeling all right to which her reply was she was feeling rebellious. Ooh-err.

That night Harry went off to another Occlumency lesson and we were left in amongst the last few bangs and so on in the common room. Taking the night off from homework left me with time to do a lot of thinking. I sat perched on the windowsill looking into the night sky. I had been having the dream about my Dad again lately. I hadn't told anyone though, not even Lupin. I wanted to figure it out on my own. They said dreams meant something. Well, mine certainly did even if other people's didn't.

In one of them, I was running to Dad but I couldn't reach him. He was always out of reach or something was holding me back. In the other one, I was in a room with whispering people in and Dad was lying on the floor … dead. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I thought of it. The only conclusion I could come to, regarding the fact I had these dreams as a sort of pre-emptive strike, was that Dad was going to die … and judging by how clear the dreams were now, it was going to happen sooner rather than later.

The Easter holidays came and the first thing we learn is that Harry no longer was taking Occlumency lessons. Hermione was not pleased with this. She tried to tell him this but he just said she should drop it. Besides this, Hermione had spent the day drawing up revision timetables for us (yay!) and with six weeks until the first exam, they did turn out to be pretty useful as Harry and Ron came to find out. The only downside for Ron was that his one night off was dedicated to Quidditch practice.

'What's the point?' he groaned. 'We've got about as much chance of winning the Quidditch Cup this year as Dad's got of becoming Minister for Magic.'

'Well with that attitude …' I mumbled under my breath.

Ron looked at me but I ignored it, continuing with my Astronomy revision. Beside me, Harry was reading a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ which I'd seen him hastily pick up. But then I heard Hermione bring up Cho. _Oh here we go_, I thought silently. I'd had about enough of that bloody airhead. Apparently she and Harry had had another row. No guesses needed what about: Marietta dobbing us in. Ron didn't blame Harry for being angry and went on a whole rant about it while I just got on with my work.

Besides this, I noticed something was bothering Harry. His "Yeah"s and "That's right"s in between Ron's pauses were very half-hearted when he was supposedly angry at what Marietta had done. I only asked him about it though when the others had gone to bed and we were the last in the common as per usual.

'Is anything on your mind?' I asked him. He just looked at me before returning to looking out the window. I tried a different approach. 'I recall you once saying to me I could talk to you about anything.' I moved to the chair next to his. 'Maybe this is a time I could do the same for you? You don't have to keep things bottled up, you know.'

Again Harry looked at me but this time not solemnly but with a small smile on his face.

'It's not something that's easy to talk about,' he said slowly. He then stopped and thought for a moment. 'Jen, how much do you know about your parents? About Sirius and your mum?'

'Well,' I said, thinking. 'I know that they didn't have an easy relationship, they got together after Dad said something cocky to her, and that things happened to my Mum which scarred her badly.' Being raped … how can that not scar you? 'But the important thing was that they loved each other, that's what got them through the hardest times.' I looked at Harry. 'Why do you ask?'

'I just … I learnt something about my Dad and it's sort of hit home for me,' said Harry. 'My Mum used to hate him … It makes me wonder why they got together. I just got that he wouldn't leave her alone and she hated him.'

'Did you ever think that she might have loved him underneath and just never realised it?'

'How d'you mean?'

'A person's eyes can say a lot about a person's soul. They show your deepest desires and secrets. They say sometimes if you look into someone's eyes, you can read their hearts, as if they're a key to them. Maybe James could see something in Lily that she couldn't see herself and that was why he pursued her as you put it. There's a perfect someone meant for everyone. You've just got to find them and he obviously found her to be his other half if you will.'

'Didn't think you were into that sort of stuff, Jen,' said Harry surprised.

'I'm not,' I said. I got up and undid my hair. 'Just personal belief. You learn to believe in things when you're an orphan. Well, I'm going to bed. Night, Harry.'

'Yeah, night.'

I walked to the stairs but stopped and turned back to him to add, 'If you're still worried, maybe you should talk to Dad or Lupin. After all, they knew James best.'

The Easter holidays were warm and breezy and passed all to quickly for my liking and I was soon stuck revising everything and anything. I even seemed to find myself going to the library with Hermione as her study buddy every so often. The only thing to lift us up was the gift of Easter eggs from Mrs Weasley. Besides that, it was work, work, work.

The first bit of news to reach us on the last day of the holidays was about Careers Advice which according to Fred and George was given to all fifth years so as to help them decide what to study for their NEWTs. Thinking about it, I'd never really given much thought to what I wanted to be when I was older. I only lived one day at a time and took things as they came. Not always the best policy, I know, but it'd got me through the first fifteen years so …

Anyway, Careers Advice. Basically we all had to go see Professor McGonagall during the first week of the summer term and our appointments had been listed. Now, of course, with Professor McGonagall, she did it alphabetically which meant I was first. My appointment was at nine so at least I got out of the beginning History of Magic that day. A brief respite even if it was going to face McGonagall in a one-on-one. So, like the others, I read the leaflets about the various careers a wizard could take to prepare myself.

Ron didn't much fancy being a Healer seeing as you needed to get an "E" in Potions for it. Hermione suggested he should look into Muggle liaison but even that had its downfalls as Harry pointed out when she read the pamphlet saying you needed a good sense of fun.

'You need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle. Good sense of when to duck, more like.'

That was when Fred and George turned up. Seemed Harry had taken up my suggestion of speaking to Dad. OK, I know I said it but after last time I thought he'd wait until the summer holidays when school had finished. Hermione was shocked to hear about this as was I. But of course, the Weasley twins had come up with a plan for Harry to speak with him. They pointed out that they had been rather quiet during the holidays which was unusual.

'But it's business as usual from tomorrow,' said Fred. 'And if we're going to be causing a bit of mayhem, why not do it so that Harry can have his chat with Sirius.'

I didn't like the sound of this. They were planning to cause enough chaos to allow Harry to sneak into Umbridge's office using the knife Dad had given Harry last Christmas and use the fire in her office as it was the only one in Hogwarts not being watched. Hermione wasn't keen on it; Harry seemed happy to do it; and Ron said he should if he wanted to do so.

'Right then,' said Fred. 'We're thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons, because it should cause maximum impact if everybody's in the corridors – Harry, we'll set it off in the east wing somewhere, draw her right away from her own office – I reckon we should be able to guarantee you, what, twenty minutes?'

'Easy,' said George.

Oh dear.

On Monday, I went straight to my appointment with McGonagall after breakfast and waited outside her office for her. She let me in a few minutes later and I was sat at her desk. McGonagall had just got round to asking me what I had thought about being when there was a knock at the door. Answering it, I looked over my shoulder to see Umbridge standing at the door.

'May I help you?' asked Professor McGonagall, bristling slightly. 'I am about to start a Careers Appointment with a student.'

'As I can clearly see, Minerva,' replied Umbridge curtly, looking at me. 'But when I saw it was this particular student, I felt obligated to overlook it.'

'And precisely what do you mean by that?' asked McGonagall. Judging from her tone, I guessed she was thinking along the same lines as I was. It was to do with me being an Animagus, I would bet my mother's necklace on it.

'As I'm sure you're aware of, Minerva,' said Umbridge, walking in and taking a seat, 'Miss Black here has a quite _unnatural_ talent.'

'If you are referring to her being born a rare-Animagus, I cannot see how this can hinder her future career.'

'But, yes, indeed.' As the two teachers spoke, I felt like I was watching a Muggle tennis match, my eyes going from side to side as I looked at each of them as they spoke. 'The Ministry is fully aware of Miss Black's unusual case and her status in wizarding society and believe that it can lead to some difficulties.'

I looked at her curiously. Difficulties? What difficulties? I was no different than any other teenage witch or wizard. Apart from the changing into animals thing, how was I different?

'The Ministry believe Miss Black would possess an unfair advantage over other candidates in some aspects of training,' continued Umbridge. I noticed Professor McGonagall was watching her very carefully. 'And so, believe that posts such as Auror and Healer are simply out of the question for her to apply for.'

'And why would that be?' questioned McGonagall. Were we ever going to get round to asking me about what I wanted to be?

'Well, hypothetically speaking, she would be able to use this _gift_ of hers to pass the Concealment Exam when you are meant to remain human during it the test.'

'I believe a Metamorphmagus became a Auror a few years back and there were no problems with her using her gift in the Concealment Exam,' said McGonagall. Umbridge acted like she'd heard nothing.

'And as for being a Healer, I do believe patients would not wish to be treated by a half-breed.' Ah, there it is. The half-breed slur. 'If, for example, Miss Black received a cut during tending to a patient with a open wound, this could lead to immense complications.'

'Considering Healers use spells and potions to heal their patients mainly, I do not see how –' Umbridge interrupted her again.

'The only options the Ministry believe Miss Black has is to apply for a job with Muggles who are unaware of her condition, Muggle Relations and so forth, to save her any refusals from wizards. I'm sure you're aware this is merely to save Miss Black any rejection in the future.'

Now that had to be the biggest load of crap I'd ever heard. To save me from rejection? It was only because Umbridge wanted to make my life a misery. I bet if she had her way, she'd make it so all half-breeds were unable to work. I definitely shared Lupin's hatred for her.

After this, she dismissed herself from the room leaving me with about ten minutes left of my appointment. They had talked for so long about my prospects after school I was only able to mention to Professor McGonagall that I'd thought about being an Auror out of everything I'd read. She told me that I had just as much chance as the next person, proven by Tonks which made me smile, and that I shouldn't listen to what Umbridge said. I didn't anyway. Still, with that in mind, I left for Potions.

If it was possible, Snape seemed to ignore Harry even more in Potions than he did before. It didn't affect Harry though and he got on with his potion better than he usually did, filling a phial with it and placing it on the desk. As we left though, there was a smash at the front and Malfoy's laughing ringing in the dungeon. Harry span round to see his potion lying on the floor. Snape had broken it. What exactly had happened in his last Occlumency lesson? What was worse though was that Hermione had emptied his cauldron and so he was unable to refill his phial. Harry didn't sit with her at lunch.

Harry disappeared from Divination later on when Ron reminded him about his appointment with Professor McGonagall, leaving me and Ron to listen to another lesson with Firenze. After that, he joined us in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Beside me, Hermione was still trying to convince Harry not to use Umbridge's office fire while we were supposed to be reading "Chapter Thirty-four" of our textbooks.

'Dumbledore sacrificed himself to keep you in school, Harry!' hissed Hermione. 'And if you get thrown out today it would all have been for nothing!'

She begged him not to do it, but if I knew Harry, when he had a plan nothing would stop him until he'd seen it through. So, following Ron, I was determined to stay out of the conversation.

The end of lessons came and no sooner had we got out the classroom did we hear a massive sounds coming form the east wing. Umbridge came running out the classroom behind us, pulling out her wand as she went to see what was going on. Next thing I knew, Harry was running off towards Umbridge's office leaving me, Ron and Hermione in the corridor. Instead of chasing him, we went to see what the diversion was that Fred and George had created.

The whole east wing was in uproar but Fred and George were nowhere to be seen. Looking at each other, the three of us suddenly heard shouts come from the floors below and a echoing BOOM followed by screams and shouts. We ran off to where they were coming from. They were in the Entrance Hall. Students were flooding there from all areas. Students, ghosts, teachers, all were running to the scene where Fred and George stood in the centre of it all. The walls were covered in Stinksap and above us, Peeves was cackling like mad.

'What on earth did those two do?' squealed Hermione when she saw the state of the Entrance Hall.

'I don't know, but Harry's time in Umbridge's office is running out,' I said, looking at the clock tower through the window. 'He better get out of there.'

'Filch! Filch!' Ron, Hermione and I ran forwards and looked over the banisters down to the floor. Umbridge was screaming in fury down there, Filch fighting his way through the crowd to her. 'I approve your request for whipping!' she screamed. 'It's in my office!'

'Oh no!' gasped me and Hermione. 'Umbridge's office!'

Filch pushed his way back through the crowd and up the marble staircase past us, panting and wheezing all the way. If Harry wasn't out of the fire by now, he'd be caught for sure. But there was no way to warn him. I couldn't use the phoenix escape trick anymore because of the earring so I couldn't get to him in time.

_Come on, Harry_, I thought desperately, turning back to watch what was happening. _Please, get out of there._

It wasn't long before Filch came huffing and puffing back, a scroll in his raised hand. He limped quickly over to Umbridge who now had a look of delight on her face as she turned to the twins. The three of us watched as she and Filch rounded on the two of them who were standing just in front of the main doors.

'You two,' she was saying, 'are about to learn what happens to wrong doers in my school.'

'You know what?' said Fred. 'I don't think we are.' He turned George. 'George, I think we've outgrown full-time education.'

'Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself,' said George lightly.

'Time to test out our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?' asked Fred.

'Definitely,' said George.

And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together: '_Accio brooms!_'

There was a sudden crash in the distance. The Hall fell almost silent as a scrapping began, getting louder and louder as the movement seemed to get faster and faster. All of a sudden, two brooms came soaring above us, long chains and iron pegs clanging and swaying dangerously below them. They hurtled down the corridor before coming to a halt in front of their owners. Fred and George climbed on to them.

'We won't be seeing you,' said Fred happily.

'Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch,' said George. 'If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley – Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, our new premises! Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat.'

There was a massive cheer from most of the students along with Umbridge's shriek of, 'STOP THEM!' But as the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below.

'Give her hell from us, Peeves,' shouted Fred to the poltergeist floating madly in front of them. And something which I'd never thought I'd see, Peeves took off his hat and bowed at the two of them, saluting them as well, before they zoomed off out of the front doors.

Talk about an exit.

The uproar that ensued after their escape was actually quite enjoyable contrary to what I first thought. Fred and George were now legends in the school and people were contemplating on following their footsteps everywhere; the swamp on the fifth floor corridor had been roped off; the door of Umbridge's office had to be replaced due to the broom holes in it and mine had Harry's brooms had been moved to the dungeon; Filch was regularly seen with a whip as he and the Inquisitorial Squad tried to reprimand people doing wrong (in other words, everyone); and Fred and George's Skiving Snackboxes were proving popular with students to get out of Umbridge's classes. All in all, life was much harder for our new Headmistress than she had first intended. Of course, Peeves was the forerunner of all this mischief.

Now he would be seen cackling along the corridors at all hours of the day, dropping ink pellets or upending tables or toppling the statues in the corridors. Much to Filch's dismay, he shut Mrs Norris in the suits of armour twice. He did anything and everything you could think of to cause trouble. And whenever he had some free time, he'd float over Umbridge making raspberry sounds each time she spoke.

Everything was coming back to cause trouble for Umbridge. Montague, who had turned up from his trip through the Vanishing Cabinet, was in the hospital wing and when we saw his parents through the window of our Charms lesson walking up the drive, they did not look please. Harry and Ron, who were trying to make their cups grow legs, seemed happy enough about it.

'He'll recover,' said Ron casually when Hermione asked if we should tell Madam Pomfrey what we knew about the twins shoving him into the Cabinet.

'Any more trouble for Umbridge, isn't it?' said Harry.

He tapped his cup and it grew four thick legs. They were too short though for it to stand up. Ron's on the other hand grew four long spindly ones which when it tried to stand up broke instantly. Hermione had to fix it for him. Still, Ron was adamant not to feel sorry for him. He even said it should be him that Hermione felt sorry for. When she asked why, he explained it was because of what Mrs Weasley's next letter to him was going to say about Fred and George's escape. I didn't see how it could have been his fault.

'It'll be my fault Fred and George left, you wait,' said Ron darkly. 'She'll say I should've stopped them leaving, I should've grabbed the ends of their brooms and hung on or something … yeah, it'll be all my fault.'

Hermione said she shouldn't blame him. That's when the subject turned on to the fact Fred and George had premises in Diagon Alley meant they must had been planning it for ages. Ron was very curious to how they got them. They would have needed loads of gold. Harry was the only one to keep silent besides me through the conversation until Ron wondered if Mundungus had been persuading them to sell stolen goods.

'He hasn't,' said Harry. The three of us looked at him. 'They got the gold from me. I gave them my Triwizard winnings last June.' Oh yeah, I remember seeing him do that.

Hermione was shocked he'd done such a thing. When Harry was defiant about it, she let the subject be and didn't say anything for the rest of the lesson which was probably a good thing. Her self restraint ran out though when we were out in the grounds, Harry stopped her before she could say anything. She got all stressy though when it wasn't that she was going to ask him about.

'I was going to ask Harry when he's going to go back to Snape and ask for more Occlumency lessons.' Harry didn't answer straight away. I watched him carefully, thinking he wasn't going to do anything of the sort. 'You can't tell me you've stopped having funny dreams because Ron told me you were muttering in your sleep again last night.'

Harry threw a glare at him and said that he'd been dreaming about Quidditch. He was determinedly avoiding my gaze at that. He knew I didn't believe that. But whatever he did dream about last night, he wasn't about to tell us.

As we walked back up to the castle for our next lesson, Ron muttered quietly, 'You know, if Montague doesn't recover before Slytherin play Hufflepuff, we might be in with a chance of winning the Cup.' Harry wasn't listening though; Cho had just walked across the courtyard, however, she wasn't looking at him.

The final Quidditch match of the season of Gryffindor against Ravenclaw arrived on the last Sunday of May. Slytherin had narrowly been defeated by Hufflepuff so it was all down to this match whether we won or lost the Cup. Besides the chants of "Weasley is our King" from the Slytherins, Luna's hat with an eagle on top, and the fact that Cho was playing, the match was about as eventful as the last few. Lee seemed to have lost the will to commentate since Fred and George's departure.

During the match though, Hagrid turned up. He wanted the three of us to come with him. However, seeing as this was the last match, I told Harry and Hermione to go and that I'd stay to watch Ron. Whatever Hagrid wanted seemed to be important but we also needed to support Ron. We were always in things together, weren't we? So as those two disappeared off with Hagrid, I returned to watch Ron.

I watched with increasing worry as Ron let in goal after goal. After the first half an hour, Angelina called a time-out and I went down to the pitch. Ron seemed close to a nervous breakdown. So, I decided to do something about. I walked over to Angelina and whispered something into her ear. She looked at me curiously but I nodded encouragingly. I went back to the stands as the game began again. In no less than five minutes, the Quaffle was being taken back up to the Gryffindor goals. And just as planned, Angelina, Katie and Alicia were forcing the Ravenclaw Chasers to fly over where I was sat.

'You can do it, Ron!' I shouted as loud as I could through the choruses of "Weasley is our King". 'I know you can do it!' I think he heard me because he looked up at me just in time to see the Quaffle speeding towards him. 'Weasley is our King and he can save everything!'

The Chaser got closer and closer. I was crossing my fingers so tightly they felt like they were going to break. Then all of a sudden, the Quaffle was zooming away and Katie caught it, flying off the other end. I screamed with joy! Ron had done it! He'd blocked it! He looked at me as the play left his end and I gave him a thumbs up. And it didn't end there. His confidence had boosted so much he started saving virtually every goal that came at him. And we won! I couldn't believe it, we won! Ginny caught the Snitch first and all the goals Ron had saved totted up with us winning two hundred and seventy to one hundred and thirty.

The whole of Gryffindor flooded down to the pitch the moment the game ended. Dumbledore handed the Cup to Ron and he was hoisted on to their shoulders as they started to sing "Weasley is our King" but a completely different version to that sung by the Slytherins. They proceeded out the of the stadium. I just watched and smiled as he celebrated, also noticing Harry and Hermione coming back from wherever they'd gone as he shouted over to them.

'HARRY! HERMIONE! WE DID IT! WE WON!'

For the next few days Ron couldn't help but go on about the match, even when we were trying to revise. It was only when Hermione finally mentioned that she and Harry hadn't actually seen much of the match that Ron stopped. And they explained about Hagrid. He apparently had brought back a giant that was his half brother called Grawp. That was what had been injuring him. And he was teaching him English in the Forest. Oh God.

'He's lost his mind,' said Ron unbelievably.

'Yes,' muttered Hermione irritably. 'Yes, I'm starting to think he has. But, unfortunately, he made Harry and me promise.'

Ron said this was a promise which should be broken. I, however, believed it was best that we kept well out of the situation and that what Hagrid had done stayed with us. Lord knows what would happen if Malfoy or Umbridge got wind of this.

With exams now fast approaching, every fifth year in the school was either in their common rooms or in the library revising while the younger years enjoyed the gleaming summer weather. Luckily the teachers no longer piled on the homework and lessons were spent doing more revision, discussing what could come up in the exam. It was effecting everyone in different ways; Hermione for one started muttering to herself about various things while Ernie Macmillan interrogated people about revision plans. He demanded to know from me, Ron and Harry how many hours revision a day we did. Of course, there were those who had other opinions.

'Of course, it's not what you know,' said Malfoy one day outside Potions, loud enough for anyone to hear besides his usual cronies, 'it's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years – old Griselda Marchbanks – we've had her round for dinner and everything …' His point?

Anyhow, with all the exam business, the black-market in the school was booming as people sold potions to help you learn things and stuff. Harry and Ron seemed almost desperate for it while Hermione confiscated it all. Me, I just did my revision and left it at that. If I passed, I passed; if I failed, I failed. Exam timetables were given by Professor McGonagall in our next Transfiguration lesson and as I expected, I was second to Hannah Abbot in all the practical exams. Besides that, I was quietly confident.

'Now, I must warn you,' said Professor McGonagall, after handing them out, 'the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new – Headmistress –' she said that stiffly, '– has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely – because, of course, you examination results will reflect upon the Headmistress's new regime at the school –'

'So why don't we all fail our OWLs and be done with it?' I asked the others. Harry and Ron snickered. Professor McGonagall looked at us.

'However,' she continued, 'that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about.' Duly noted, Professor, duly noted.

Charms was the first exam on Monday and so Sunday was spent doing last minute revision. It turned out to be a very dangerous thing to revise with Hermione as she got very agitated. In between paragraphs of notes, I'd just watch and laugh silently to myself as Harry and Ron attempted to revise. I was sure they'd pass, it was just entertaining watching them try to revise; they had the knowledge, they just had to apply themselves.

That evening during dinner we saw the examiners arrive. The four of us went to have a better look as they spoke to Umbridge, taking it slowly up the marble staircase. It was funny watching the person we think was Professor Marchbanks reply to Umbridge's questions; she appeared to be a little deaf. Umbridge shot us a horrible look as Dumbledore was mentioned.

The exams actually weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. The written paper basically asked you about all you'd studied in the last five years of Hogwarts. Hermione tried to analyse the Charms paper after it was over with us but Ron pointed out we weren't going to do so. For the practical exams you were called in alphabetically and you had to perform the spells. The only problem was in the practicals was if you lost your nerves last moment. Basically, it was all right.

Transfiguration followed the next day with Herbology on Wednesday. Both had their difficult bits but I think I did all right in them. Nothing went too drastically wrong. Thursday was our Defence Against the Dark Arts paper which I was most anxious to do, seeing as we'd been learning magical theory and not actually done the spells. However, those in the DA had at least tried some of them. The written paper was a piece of cake and the practical turned out to be a lot of fun.

I got a rather doddery Professor for my Defence practical so it took a little longer than it should have done. The fun bit though was at the end of my examination when he was called over to Professor Tofty, a really nice Professor who I'd been examined by twice before, who was at that time examining Harry (that's how long my practical took!). Anyway, once there, he leaned into the pair of us and said, 'I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that the both of you can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point …?'

Harry and I looked at each other. Both of us were grinning. We knew exactly what the other was thinking of for a happy thought. So, drawing up my wand with his, the pair of us said, '_Expecto Patronum!_'. Prongs and Hooves burst from our wands as bright as sunlight and cantered the length of the hall together. Virtually everyone in the room watched, Professor Tofty clapping ecstatically when they vanished.

'Excellent!' he said. 'Very well, Potter, Black, you may go!'

Harry and I walked out of the exam room together before bursting into laughter at the look on Umbridge's face as we passed. If she thinks we've failed our Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL, she can think again.

Friday was a day off for me, Ron and Harry while Hermione had Ancient Runes but it was spent revising for our other exams. Let me rephrase that, I revised so I had the weekend, they didn't. Hermione wasn't pleased when she came out; she'd mistranslated ehwaz. What was news to us though was that another Nifflers had been put in Umbridge's office (the first was put in sometime after Fred and George's escape) so she was in a fowl temper. Ron found it hilarious but as Hermione pointed out, she thought it was Hagrid doing it. In other words his job was in jeopardy.

That indeed was the case. On Wednesday the next week, after a horrible Potions exam on Monday and Care of Magical Creatures on Tuesday, was our Astronomy exam at midnight. And boy, was that eventful. It was about halfway through the paper when a noise came from down in the grounds. Everyone got disturbed and was trying to see what was happening though Professor Tofty told us just to ignore it and concentrate. But I couldn't; my seat was right by the window and I could see everything.

Umbridge was advancing on Hagrid's cabin and not before long, a battle was ensuing down in the grounds. A loud BANG brought everyone's attention back from their papers. I could see the red lights of Stunners come from inside Hagrid's hut. We could hear their shouts from up here. Fang got hit by one of the spells and was lying at his masters feet, the culprit being thrown out of the cabin. That's when McGonagall to help.

'Leave him alone!' she shouted. '_Alone_, I say! On what grounds are attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing, to warrant such –'

Professor McGonagall suddenly stopped as she was hit by four Stunners in the chest, throwing her back and leaving her unconscious on the ground. I gasped in terror as Hermione, Parvati and Lavender all screamed. Even Professor Tofty by now was watching what was happening.

'COWARDS!' came Hagrid's bellowing voice. 'RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT – AN' THAT –'

I watched in fear as Hagrid fought his way through his attackers, swiping at them, knocking some out cold. He then picked up the limp figure of Fang and put him over his shoulders. Umbridge was shouting at the Aurors to stop him but they appeared reluctant to do so. And Hagrid ran. He just ran towards the gates, a last Stunner missing him, and out of Hogwarts. Now everyone who could help us had gone; first Dumbledore, then Professor McGonagall being injured, and now Hagrid.

Silence followed in the exam room after this. I instantly looked at Harry and the others. They were equally as worried as I was. Then, with Professor Tofty's instruction of there only being five minutes left, I finished what I had remaining of my star chart which luckily wasn't very much, and left the room with the others. As soon as we were out, everyone was talking about what had just happened. Hermione was furious and it was clear that Hagrid was meant to have been sacked by that commotion. The attack though, that had been a personal one.

That wasn't my only eventful exam. History of Magic was our last exam Thursday afternoon so the entire morning was last minute cramming. During the exam, I wrote down everything I could remember about the goblin rebellions and legislations as the time slowly ticked away. I continuously re-read my answers, making sure I hadn't missed anything, fiddling with my necklace as well. I'd been wearing the one Harry had given me for Christmas for good luck along with my mother's. The eventful part came at the end of the exam though.

I'd just finished my last answer and was checking it. Instinctively, I grasped my necklaces as I read it when all of a sudden images flashed over my eyes and my head began pounding. I could see all these images, hear these voices, none making sense, doors and corridors. I could feel myself panting in pain and my hand on my forehead but could hear nothing except what was in my head. Then all of a sudden I could see my Dad; he was lying on the floor, a man standing over him. The man raised his head and I saw his face.

I screamed in pain as I felt a burn under my hand and the pain in my head got too much. I had to let go of the necklaces otherwise I felt like my head would explode. Next thing I knew, I felt something hard hit my side and my hands grasping at my hair. I opened my eyes slowly, not seeing the people I could tell were standing around me. Judging by how painful that was Dad was going to die and soon.

I was taken out the exam moments later and I wasn't the only person. Harry too had apparently yelled in pain. Professor Tofty was talking to him while I convinced another adjudicator that I didn't need to go to the hospital wing. As soon as they were gone, I was turned to him and asked, 'What happened? What did you see?'

'It's Sirius! He's in trouble!' and he was off up the stairs.

I sprinted as fast I could after Harry to find he was going to the hospital wing. Why was he going there if Dad was in trouble? I chased after him. Just I got there Madam Pomfrey was telling him that someone wasn't there when the bell rang. And he was off again. I chased him as he pushed his way through the students in the corridors back to the Entrance Hall where he found Ron and Hermione. I finally caught up with him again when he dragged the three of us into a classroom.

'Voldemort's got Sirius,' he said.

I felt my heart stop as he said this. No. No! It wasn't possible! Voldemort couldn't have Dad! I kept telling myself this in my head as Hermione and Harry started to arguing about God knows what. Something to do with going to the Department of Mysteries. But Dad … the longer we stood here, the more likely he was going to die if we didn't do something. But he couldn't have left Grimmauld Place, he just couldn't!

'I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!' Harry was yelling. 'Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care seeing hurt –'

'_Stop it!_' I shouted suddenly. The others looked at me. 'Stop it the pair of you! _If_ Dad's in trouble,' I emphasised the "if" because I didn't want to believe it, 'what are we going to do about it?'

I looked at the others desperately. Couldn't they see this was my Dad we were talking about who was supposedly in danger? I had to find out if he was all right! But nothing the others were talking about seemed to be about finding a way to speak to Dad. It was about Harry's saving people thing or his dreams or God knows what. I didn't care. I just needed to see my Dad!

While the others continued arguing, I tried desperately to think of and recall what I'd seen from my premonition. I couldn't do it, it was all too much of a blur. There had been too many images at once for me to comprehend. But if Hermione was right about this being another time where Voldemort was trying to lure Harry somewhere then there was the possibility that Dad was still safe and that this was a trap. We had to speak to him.

By now, Ginny and Luna had also joined us in the classroom. Harry instantly told them not to get involved in what we were discussing, his tone not to Ginny's liking. Luna's comment about him being rude certainly didn't improve Harry's mood. He was just about to turn them away when something stirred in me and I said, 'Wait! Wait … Harry, they can help.' Everyone looked at me. 'Listen,' I said urgently, 'Harry, we need to establish whether Dad really has left the Headquarters.'

'I've told you, I saw –' began Harry but I cut him off.

'Harry, I'm begging you, please!' I said desperately. I was trying to hold back crying in desperation. 'Please let's just check that Dad isn't at home before we go charging off to London. If we find out he's not there, then I swear I won't try to stop you. I'll come, I'll do whatever it takes to try and save him. I don't want to lose him either.'

'Sirius is being tortured NOW!' shouted Harry. I held in a groan. 'We haven't got time to waste.'

'But if this is a trick of Voldemort's, Harry, we've got to check, we've got to.' I looked at him, right in the eyes. 'I don't want to lose him either. But if this is a trap then we could be playing right into Voldemort's hands, just as he wants. Please, Harry, do this for me. Please, check.'

I looked at Harry, ignoring Luna's comment of, 'When you say "Sirius", are you talking about Stubby Boardman?' Harry just stared at me before giving in.

'OK,' he said aggressively. 'OK, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm right with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now.'

OK, I'd got him to check but I didn't actually have a plan. Luckily, Hermione did. We had to use Umbridge's fire again. We decided that Ron was to create a distraction to keep her away from her office while Ginny and Luna kept people away from her office corridor. Meanwhile, Harry, Hermione and me were to use the Invisibility Cloak to speak to Dad through Umbridge's fire. Well, while they were doing that, I had other ideas.

Harry dashed off to get the Invisibility Cloak, returned minutes later. Ron, Ginny and Luna were already in place. Initially, I got under the Cloak along with the other two but when we started for the office, I let the Cloak fall off me before turning the other way. I heard Harry call me back but I ignored him and ran off. In the process, knowing I still couldn't transform, I took out my wand and pointed it at my ear where the earring was, saying, '_Bombarda!_' I felt the earring explode in my ear and fall out, allowing me to finally transform into a dog. That done, I sprinted down to the dungeons to get my broom.

However, someone already had got wind of what was happening and Filch was there to meet me along with one of the Inquisitorial Squad members. I'd slowed as I reached the dungeon and was about to creep into the room where I thought the brooms were when I was grabbed and had a chain put round my neck. Next, I felt myself being yanked all the way back to Umbridge's office. I growled and fought against the boy holding me but he was one of the more lardy Slytherins and was too strong for me.

'Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley–free zone, doesn't it?' Umbridge was saying when we reached her office. The others had been caught too. 'Where is the Black girl, though? She would have been with them.'

'Here, Professor,' said the boy holding me as he dragged me inside. 'She was in the dungeons. Filch help me chain her up.' I saw the others all being held by various Slytherins, including Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy. I growled and snapped at them as well only to receive a muzzle on my face, tied around the back of my head. I glared at Umbridge.

'Well done,' sung Umbridge happily as she looked down her nose at me. 'She's got just what her father deserves. Being chained up.'

The next half an hour or so, I spent sitting crossed-legged on the floor with a chain round my neck and the muzzle loose on my head. I'd calmed down and transformed back and was currently watching Umbridge carefully. Malfoy had been sent to get Snape during that time. He came back and Umbridge asked him for some Veritaserum. I don't know whether it was purposeful or not but Snape said she'd used his last bottle and he insisted he couldn't make another. This got Umbridge very angry and she put him on probation.

He bowed to her and was about when Harry suddenly shouted, 'He's got Padfoot!' I froze and looked at him. 'He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!'

Snape too had stopped, his hand on the door handle.

'Padfoot?' cried Professor Umbridge. 'What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?'

I watched Snape carefully, praying he didn't say anything.

'I have no idea,' said Snape coldly. OK, better than nothing. 'Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little. If Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your references if you ever apply for a job.' and he left.

That's when things took a turn for the worse. With no Veritaserum to interrogate us, Umbridge resorted to crueller methods. The Cruciatus Curse. Hermione shrieked at her not to do so but she didn't care. Not even when Hermione said the Minister wouldn't like her to do so.

'What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him,' said Umbridge. 'He never knew I ordered Dementors to go after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same. And the Black girl, nearly two birds with one stone.'

She'd done it. She sent those Dementors after Harry. _Right_, I thought, _time to get even._

And Hermione provided the perfect way. She'd suddenly burst out that we had to tell her where it was, that it was ready. She said we'd been looking for Dumbledore everywhere to let him know it was ready. That the weapon was ready. And it struck me. I realised Hermione was doing the same as I intended to do and she'd set it up. So, playing along, when Umbridge asked her what the weapon was, I said casually, 'If you want to call it that, then yeah, it's a weapon.'

Umbridge took the bait. She insisted we led her to where the weapon was. Hermione refused to though with all of the Slytherins. It was only Hermione's threat of letting everyone know so they could use it against her that she relented and made it just me and Hermione. She denied Malfoy's insistence to go and suggested we took Harry as well. So, with a yank of the chain round my neck, the four of us left her office and followed Hermione.

Hermione led us all the way down to the Entrance Hall and out of the school. She was heading towards the Forbidden Forest. I couldn't ask her what she was planning because Umbridge was so close to us and she still had my chain in her hand; I didn't want to be strangled anymore. I stuck close to Hermione.

'It's hidden in Hagrid's hut, is it?' said Umbridge eagerly in Harry's ear.

'Of course not,' said Hermione scathingly. 'Hagrid might have set it off accidentally.'

'Yes,' said Umbridge, whose excitement seemed to be mounting. 'Yes, he would have done, of course, the great half-breed oaf.' I let out a realistic hiss of annoyance at that, only receiving a tug on the chain because of it.

At her next question, Hermione said it was inside the Forest. I looked at her. The only things that were in the Forest were magical creatures. What was Hermione trying to pull? Still, I kept my peace and followed. Umbridge made the three of us stay ahead of her without wands. Well, Hermione and Harry didn't have theirs; I still had mine, she just didn't know. Well, she wasn't able to get it off me when I was an animal and had forgotten when I transformed. Her response to Harry's request for her wand was, 'The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I'm afraid.' Nice. If Dumbledore was here, it'd certainly be the other way around.

Walking into the Forest without wands was definitely one of the more dangerous things we'd done so far, but I continued to follow Hermione as she led us down the path through the Forest. But soon we were off the path and going to a part I'd never been to, and by the looks of it, only Harry seemed to know where we were going.

'Er – are you sure this is the right way?' he asked Hermione.

'Oh yes,' she replied loudly. Hermione was walking through the bushes rather noisily as well, come to think of it. None of us turned back to help Umbridge when she fell over. Hermione merely continued onwards, calling back, 'It's a bit further in!'

'Hermione, keep your voice down,' hissed Harry, catching up with us. 'Anything could be listening in here –'

'I want us heard,' she answered quietly. _She wants us to be heard?_ I thought. _But why _– I stopped as I answered my own question. 'You'll see …'

'We know what we're doing, Harry,' I added.

We walked for ages, getting deeper and deeper into the Forest. And at Umbridge's demand of how much further we were going, what I thought Hermione was planning happened. All of a sudden, an arrow shot past us into a tree followed by the sounds of hooves. The whole ground shook. Next moment, we were surrounded by centaurs, all with arrows pointing at us. And you can tell what reaction that got from Umbridge.

'Who are you?' said a voice. A tall chestnut centaur stepped forwards. 'I asked who you are, human,' he repeated roughly.

'I am Dolores Umbridge!' said Umbridge in a high-pitched, terrified voice. 'Senior Undersecretary to the Minster for Magic and Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!'

'You are from the Ministry of Magic?' asked the centaur.

'That's right!' said Umbridge, in an even higher voice, 'so be very careful! By the laws laid down by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human –'

'_What_ did you call us?' shouted a black centaur. Some of the bows were raised.

'Don't call them that!' I said instantly.

But Umbridge continued her rant about half-breeds. I could see this all ending in disaster. What had Hermione been planning? The near-human intelligence remark really insulted them. Umbridge was going to get us all killed if she wasn't careful. Saying it was the Ministry's Forest? An arrow flew between me and Hermione, right by Umbridge's head, causing the two of us to jump. I was more scared; Umbridge still had my chain in her hand.

'Whose Forest is it now, human?' bellowed another centaur I recognised to be called Bane. I'd met him with Harry in the first year.

'Filthy half-breeds!' screamed Umbridge. 'Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!' Oh no! Hermione told her to be quiet but it was too late. Umbridge pointed her wand and screamed, '_Incarcerous!_' ropes flying out her wand and wrapping themselves round the chestnut centaur's chest, binding him.

Harry pulled me and Hermione out of the way as the centaurs reared up in front of us. Umbridge had finally let go of the chain but because of the commotion created by the centaurs, the chain got wrapped round one of the centaur's legs. I felt myself being yanked back as the centaur moved. I tried to get at my wand but it fell out my hand as the chain jerked me back again.

'Harry!' I shouted at him. He turned and looked at me. 'My wand!' I pointed to it on the ground. Luckily he saw it and grabbed it before it was stepped on. He pointed it at the chain and exploded it. With the chain broken I was able to hurry back over to him and Hermione, taking back my wand, before I felt myself being raised off my feet. The three of us had been picked up by the centaurs.

'They are young,' said one of them when they were asked what to do with us. 'We do not attack foals.'

'They brought her here, Ronan,' replied the centaur who was holding Harry. 'And they are not so young … he is nearing manhood, this one.'

'And her,' said the one holding me. I felt him shake me slightly. I glanced at him. 'She has beauty that does not come in some humans until adulthood.'

Excuse me? What did centaurs know about human beauty anyway? Still, that wasn't important as Hermione tried to get them to let us go. It only made them more angry when she said we hoped they would drive Umbridge off. Bad move. They were furious. I thought they'd kill us for sure if they thought we were almost adults. But then, another sound started approaching us. There was a cracking of twigs along with a crashing noise. The three of us looked to where it was coming from.

'Hagger!'

All of a sudden, a giant came rushing through the Forest towards us. I stared at it in horror but Hermione and Harry seemed to know who it was and what it was saying. The centaurs dropped us as they saw it. The giant saw us and, God knows what it was thinking, suddenly bellowed out, 'GRAWP WANT HAGGER!' It reached out a hand towards us and the centaurs started firing their arrows at it. The thing started howling in pain and crashing about as the arrow heads hit him, blood dripping from the wounds. It stomped about blindly, still crying for Hagger. As the centaurs retreated, the giant followed them, leaving me, Harry and Hermione alone.

'What the hell was that?' I asked once I'd stopped panting out of sheer terror.

'Grawp,' answered Harry. So that was Hagrid's little brother. Hardly little …

Once they'd gone, the three of us set about getting back to the castle to help Dad. But we were helpless with only one wand. That's when Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville appeared, wands in hand, having escaped from Malfoy and the others by hexing them. Telling them what happened, Harry said Dad was still alive but we needed to get to London. Luna suggested flying. Ginny instantly objected when Ron said she wasn't coming, cutting Harry off when he was about to say she was too young.

I just shook my head in exasperation as they started arguing again before snapping, 'Don't you understand, Harry?' He turned and looked at me. 'We're in this together! We're all with you and we want to help! You're not the only one who cares about him!'

It didn't seem to deter him and I shook my head again when I felt something pulling at my robes. Turning round, I saw it was one of the school Thestrals. It was licking the blood off my robes. It must have smelt it and come to see what it was. I turned round and began to stroke its neck as it continued to lick me. They really were beautiful creatures. Next moment, I heard Ron say, 'Is it those mad horse things?' and I realised Luna or Harry must have realised they were there. He was beside me, patting another.

Protests soon began as Harry still said Ginny, Neville and Luna were not to come. Eventually, he gave in. By now, six Thestrals had been attracted by the smell of Grawp's blood, all licking me, Hermione or Harry. And because of this, there was no reason for any of us to stay behind apart from one of us. Of course, Ron and the others were the first to get on to a Thestral (with help from Luna) while I had a sudden feeling we shouldn't be doing this. I remained where I was.

'Are you coming, Jenna?' asked Harry, slightly irritably. I looked at him.

'What if this is a trap?' I said. I walked over to him on his Thestral. 'What if it was all unreal?'

'Jenna, I can feel Voldemort's feelings. I'm sure he's got Sirius.' I still looked worriedly at him. He held out his hand. 'Are you coming or not?'

Though still apprehensive, I nodded and took Harry's hand. He pulled me on to the back of his Thestral. Telling the Thestral where we wanted to go, the Thestral did nothing at first before spreading its wings and galloping forwards. I grabbed on to Harry's waist as I almost slid off the back off the Thestral as we flew into the air. All I could think of during the journey was, _Please be OK, Dad. I can't lose you_. I just wanted Harry to be wrong. I didn't know what I'd do if I lost him.

I don't know how long it took but it was getting dark when we finally reached London. We soared over the tiny houses and headed towards the centre where the phone booth to the Ministry was. The Thestral suddenly streaked downwards and we began to descend, landing a few minutes later in the middle of the pavement. Harry got off first and helped me down while the others dismounted from their own. Then, we piled into the phone box.

'Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Jenna Black, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood,' said Harry into the receiver, 'we're here to save someone unless your Ministry can do it first!' Seven badges popped out and we descended into the ground.

The Ministry was empty. There was little light. Tumbling out of the lift, we followed Harry as he led us to the lifts in the Atrium. He pressed the down button and we went deeper into the Ministry. As we went, he tried to get us to break up again but we wouldn't have it. Once the lift had stopped, we got out. It was the dark corridor Harry and I had been down the day of our hearing. There was a door at the end of it. Harry took hold of the handle and pushed the door open, leading us into a circular room with several more doors. We shut the door behind us and the room suddenly began spinning, coming to a halt again seconds later. Now what did we do?

'What was that about?' asked Ron.

'I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through,' said Ginny.

My anxiety increased as we continued on. The first door we opened contained tanks of green liquid with brains inside them. We returned to the circular room, Hermione marking the brain room door so we knew we'd been in it, and tried another once it had stopped spinning again. This time it was a large room with stone tiers going downwards. And as we stepped into it, I had a strange feeling I'd been here before. I could hear voices … whispering. As I looked around, my eyes were drawn to an arch and I began to feel weird, as if my mind was blanking out. I couldn't hear the others, only the voices. Something flashed over my eyes but it was so quick, I didn't see it.

'Are you all right?' I looked to my left when I felt something tug my sleeve. It was Neville.

'Yeah,' I said. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'

We left the room. The next door we tried we couldn't open, even with Harry's knife, which melted. The room span again and we picked another door. It was the one Harry had seen, he was sure of it. He led us inside. It was bright room with bookcases and desks inside it, a crystal bell jar at the far end. Harry led the way across the room, stopping Ginny as she watched a bird be born from an egg, and opened the opposite door. We were in another room, this one as large as a church. It had row upon row of shelves with hundreds of small dusty orbs on them. We proceeded forwards when Hermione said it was row ninety-seven Harry had mentioned. Finding the row, we turned into it.

'He should be near here,' whispered Harry. 'Anywhere here … really close … Somewhere about … here …' but we'd reached the end of the row and Dad wasn't there.

'Oh no,' I breathed to myself. It was a trap. Dad wasn't here … and now we were in deep trouble.

But the others hadn't realised. Harry had become fascinated by something Ron had pointed out. One of the orbs had his name on it.

_S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D._

_Dark Lord_

_and (?) Harry Potter_

None of us knew what it was. Hermione said not to touch it but Harry reached out and picked it up. Nothing happened. Harry cleaned it of its dust but still nothing.

'Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me.' The seven of us span round to see black shapes surround us, masks covering their faces under their hoods. Death Eaters. 'To me, Potter,' repeated the voice of Lucius Malfoy. Harry didn't do so. 'To me.'

'Where's Sirius?' Harry said.

The Death Eaters laughed. Harry demanded again where Dad was but they would not tell us. That was when another, a female Death Eater, spoke up. She teased him, mocking him with a baby voice. I had a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach as I dreaded it was the person I thought it was.

'You hear him?' she laughed. '_You hear him?_ Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!'

'Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix,' said Malfoy softly. It was, it was who I thought. 'He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. _Now give me the prophecy, Potter_.'

Harry still refused and Malfoy threatened to start using wands on us. Instinctively, all of us raised our wands. One of the Death Eaters attempted to summon it, the prophecy they called it, but Malfoy stopped them. They wanted it in one piece. That was when Bellatrix stepped forwards and I saw her for the first time in person. My heart sank. I looked so much like her though I'd always been told I looked like my Mum. We both had long hair and deep eyes, hers mad though. It was as if I was looking in a mirror but like I was the good version of her. She threatened to hurt Ginny, something which spurred me to do something I would never do.

'You're not going to harm any of my friends,' I said, taking a slight step forwards. I felt someone's hand take my sleeve to pull me back. 'I won't let you.'

Bellatrix's eyes turned on me. She smiled the most manic smile I'd ever seen.

'Well, well, well, we finally meet,' she sneered. 'I finally meet my cousin's daughter. Come out, come out, little Jennifer,' she said, trying to lure me forwards more. I stayed where I was. 'I see you at last got reunited with your daddy. Such a shame for him to lose you again.'

'You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us,' Harry told Bellatrix. He put his arm in front of me and moved me back. I glanced at him. 'I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?'

The conversation continued for a while, Malfoy demanding the prophecy while Harry threatened to break it if he didn't tell him why it was so important. He went too far though when he said Voldemort was a half-blood and Bellatrix attempted to Stun him. Malfoy deflected it though and two of the other orbs were broken, small ghostly figures rising form them.

As the distraction continued, I heard Harry whisper out the corner of his mouth to someone, 'Smash shelves.' whatever that meant. But it clicked straight away. Harry wanted us to break the shelves to distract the Death Eaters. He kept Malfoy talking for a few more minutes before all of a sudden he shouted the signal. The six of us shouted, '_REDUCTO!_' and six spells flew from our wands, breaking every shelf in sight.

'RUN!' Harry yelled.

We didn't need telling twice and we all ran off while the Death Eaters were distracted. I ran after Ron as he was in the lead, Ginny, Luna and the others just after me. We ran through the first door we saw, leading us into a room full of planets and astrological things. We rushed straight for the next door when we heard the one behind us slam shut. Looking behind, we realised Harry, Hermione and Neville weren't with us; instead, three of the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix and Malfoy had followed us. The four of us were cornered.

'Say your prayers,' said Bellatrix, raising his wand.

The Death Eaters sent spells at us instantly and we were forced to take cover under whatever we could. We tried our best to defend ourselves, managing to Stun one of them. Malfoy and Bellatrix did everything to stop us. Ginny was caught by one of their curses, breaking her ankle, while Ron was hit by a horrible liquid from a tank which made him go all weird and giggly. I used my shield as best I could to protect us but I could only protect those close to me.

'RON?' I looked up, narrowly missing a curse from Malfoy as I did so. That had been Harry's voice. 'JENNA? GINNY? LUNA?'

Next minute, I felt myself being thrown backwards. I heard Ginny scream as it happened. I was thrown against a nearby wall and collapsed on the floor. Beside me, Luna too had had the same spell done to her. Looking up, I lifted my wand and shouted, '_Murus!_'. It created a wall around us. I knew it would be easy to break but it gave me and Luna time to get Ron and Ginny and hurry to the next room. Shutting the door afterwards, Ginny pointed her wand at it and said, '_Colloportus!_'

We'd ran straight into the room where we found Harry, Neville and an unconscious Hermione. Well, they seemed to be faring better than we had. By now, Ron was laughing insanely to himself; Ginny was in great pain with her ankle; and Neville had a broken nose and was covered in blood. Next second though, Harry, Neville and Luna were pulling the others into the next room while I tried to hold back Bellatrix and the others. We got into the next room and sealed it. We were back in the brain room.

'It doesn't matter!' said a man's voice. 'There are other ways in – WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!'

'Jenna – Luna – Neville – help me!' shouted Harry.

Together we started sealing as many of the doors as we could. But the Death Eaters managed to catch us, knocking Luna out as well as she tried to seal the door they ran through, leaving only me, Harry and Neville able to fight. Ron certainly didn't help things when he summoned a brain to him and it started to wrap its tentacles round him.

'Harry, it'll suffocate him!' screamed Ginny, but then she too was taken down by a spell hitting her in the face.

Neville and I tried to stop them as best we could when I saw Harry run for it. What was he doing? But it seemed to lead the Death Eaters away from the rest of us. Quickly, Neville chased after him leaving me to check the others were OK. I hauled them all up against the wall in one place, putting a Body-Bind Curse on Ron to keep him still before running after Harry and Neville. They were in the stone room from earlier; Bellatrix and Malfoy had their wands on the two of them. Neville was twitching and screaming pain.

'_No!_' I shouted suddenly. They turned to me. 'Leave them _alone!_' I sent Stunners at them but Malfoy merely deflected them.

'That was just a taster!' said Bellatrix. She stopped her attack on Neville. Next moment, I felt her hand round my neck, her wand pointed at my face. She was facing Harry. 'Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch my cousin die the hard way!'

I looked down at Harry desperately, begging him not to hand over the prophecy though I kept quiet. My heart sank though as I watched him slowly hold it out. Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley and … Dad! While Lupin, Moody and Kingsley went for the Death Eaters, Tonks and Dad went straight for Bellatrix.

'GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!' he shouted, running towards us with his wand drawn.

Bellatrix threw me aside and began duelling with Tonks while Dad ran to me.

'Jenna, thank God!' He pulled me into his arms and checked me over. 'I want you to get out of here, now!' said Sirius quickly. 'Get over to Harry and get out of here!' I nodded and stood up. Dad did so to and went to join the fight. I stopped and looked back at him for a moment. He was a strong fighter as he went up against one of the Death Eaters but I couldn't help but worry. I turned away and ran over to Harry and Neville. Helping Harry, we got Neville moving and started to climb up the stone levels. Malfoy almost caught up with us as we tried to get Neville up as his legs flailed about, Lupin stepping in to protect us.

'Come on!' said Harry desperately, hauling at Neville's robes. 'Just try and push with your legs –'

'Harry, I'b sorry!' cried Neville. 'I'b so sorry, Harry, I didn'd bean do –'

'It doesn't matter!' Harry shouted. 'Just try and stand, let's get out of –'

'_Dubbledore!_' said Neville suddenly. I looked at him.

'What?'

'DUBBLEDORE!'

Harry looked up to see Dumbledore appear from nowhere and join the fight. However, I'd stopped when I saw Dad being hit by one of Bellatrix's curses. He jeered at her as he stood straight again, saying she could do better, when he was hit by another jet of light. He was thrown backwards and everything seemed to start to slow around me as I watched him. It seemed to take Dad ages to fall: his body curved in an arc as he sank behind a ragged veil hanging in the archway I'd seen earlier.

'DAD!'

Without thinking, I ran down the stone levels to get to him. I couldn't hear or feel anything around me; I just had to get to Dad! I had to. But I felt something suddenly grab me round my chest and I was being pulled back from him. I recalled my dream in my head as I struggled against the force; I could see Dad but I couldn't reach him.

'There's nothing you can do –'

'Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!'

Those voices seemed so distant to me as all I could see or think of was Dad. I had to get to him! I needed him! I couldn't lose him!

'DAD! COME BACK, DON'T LEAVE ME, PLEASE!' I shouted. I continued to fight against whatever was holding me. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks. 'DON'T GO. COME BACK!'

'– it's too late.'

'We can still reach him –'

'There's nothing you can do, Harry … nothing … he's gone.'

'He hasn't gone! SIRIUS! SIRIUS!'

'DAD! DAD, PLEASE –!'

'He can't come back.' The force holding me tightened and I was pulled further back from the arch. 'He can't come back, because he's d—'

'HE – IS – NOT – DEAD! SIRIUS!'

'DAD! Dad … come back, please … he's not dead! He can't be …' But I couldn't believe it. He would have come back by now. I slowly stopped fighting against whatever was holding me but I was still staring at the archway, still pulling away at whatever was holding me. 'Please … bring him back …'

* * *

**AN: well, i've done it. i tried to delay it as much as i could but found it was inevitable so i had to get it over and done with. sorry to all those who couldn't stand it, sirius is my fav character to and i hated when JKR killed him but i had to do it to. sorry. well, please leave a review and tell me wat u thought. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**and thx to liverbird1, awpotdc, Sakura12, dracosfling, Ginny-and-Draco-fan, DianaMC, gohan8k and literate-angel for reviewing the last chapter. keep reading and keep reviewing!**


	27. The Fear of Acceptance

Chapter 26

The Fear of Acceptance

I felt myself being dragged back from the arch even further. I just continued to stare at it, tears running down my face. Dad … was gone …

I wasn't aware of what was going on beside me. I just stood there, staring ahead. I could feel someone gripping my arm while someone else approached us. I realised it had been Lupin who had held me back from helping Dad as he spoke to Neville. He ended the spell on Neville's legs and he told him where the others were before turning to Harry. He'd been the other person shouting.

'I'b really sorry,' he said. 'Was dad man – was Sirius Black a – a friend of yours?'

Harry didn't seem to answer straight away. But then all of a sudden –

'Harry – no!'

'SHE KILLED SIRIUS!' I looked behind me to see Harry rip his arm from Lupin's grip. 'SHE KILLED HIM – I'LL KILL HER!'

I watched numbly as Harry ran off before looking anywhere. I wasn't taking anything in. Everything just seemed to have stopped around me. I couldn't hear anything properly; I couldn't feel anything; anything in front of me I just stared through it. I'd become numb as I tried to understand what had happened. Nothing seemed to get through to me anymore now he'd –

'Jenna?' I felt Lupin's hands take my face and try to raise it. I wouldn't let him, closing my eyes and pulling away. 'Come on, Jenna, look at me.' I continued to fight Lupin, pulling back. I could feel the tears falling down my face again. 'Jenna, look at me!' My face was raised again. This time I opened my eyes. I could feel myself shaking. 'It's OK, Jenna,' Lupin said to me. His hand was in my hair, holding the back of my head. He pulled me into a tight hug. 'I'm here for you. It'll be OK. I'm here.'

'No,' I breathed. I started to turn in Lupin's arms but he pulled me back. 'No, it's not OK. He's gone.' I tried again and again to push Lupin away but he would not let go. I managed to turn away from him but I couldn't get free. 'No, it's not all right!' I shouted as he refused to let me go. 'She killed him! He's gone! She killed him!' Then, 'LET ME GO!'

I felt my hands suddenly grow hot, gripping Lupin's arm round my waist and he let go. I ran from him to the door back into the room where Ron, Hermione and Ginny where. I didn't stop but carried on to the circular room. The door straight in front of me was open and I ran through it. I had to find Bellatrix. I wanted to cause her as much pain as she'd just caused me. She'd stolen my father from me and she was going to pay!

I reached the lifts up to the Atrium but didn't stop. In my head all I could think of was, _I need to get to the Atrium_. The door to the lift was closed. Automatically, I thrust out my hand in front of me; the door burst from it's hinges. Jumping into it, I automatically thought of needing to fly to get up there. Next moment, I was flying up to the base of the lift, wings at my shoulder blades. I didn't even realise I'd managed to do that. Thrusting my hand out again, the floor exploded in front of me and I landed in the lift, the wings vanishing. I could hear voices behind the open door. Peering out, I saw Bellatrix and Harry, Harry crouched behind the fountain. She was jeering him.

'Potter, you cannot win against me!' she cried.

'Wanna bet?'

I don't know what made me do it. I wasn't myself. I just shouted it before leaping out of the lift as a dog. I ran the length of the Atrium right for her. She screamed, 'It can't be!', sending curses at me. I dodged the curses and ran round the fountain past Harry. She was just in front of me. I ran straight for her and attacked her, sinking my teeth into her as my left paw scratched her over her eye. I held on as she tried to throw me off. I just wanted to cause her pain. Next minute, I felt something hit my face and I was thrown back against the wall. I let go of the dog image and transformed back into my human form as I hit the wall; I felt a crack in my left arm at the same time and landed on the ground.

A few minutes later, I turned over and sat up, pushing myself up with my right hand, holding my left to my chest. It must have broken; it hurt so much. I coughed as I did so from the pain in my back having hit the wall. I looked straight at Bellatrix. She was panting from my attack.

'You killed him,' I coughed. I used the wall to help stand up. 'You murdered my father!'

'You're just as weak as he was,' Bellatrix replied. 'Too sensitive for a Black's own good!' She sent another curse at me. I pushed myself away from the wall and threw myself to the ground to miss it. Looking up, I saw Bellatrix laughing quietly. 'You _are_ weak, kid. Both of you. Give up now! I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete –'

I saw a Stunner being sent at her and realised Harry was still behind the fountain. Bellatrix put up a Shield Charm and the spell was rebounded. It was coming straight for me. Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled forwards. It was Harry. We ducked behind the fountain as the spell went past us.

'Are you all right?' he asked me.

'I'm fine,' I said. 'Just my arm.'

'Potter, I'm giving to give you one chance!' shouted Bellatrix. 'Give me the prophecy – roll it out towards me now – and I may spare your life as well as my cousin's!'

'Well, you're going to have to kill us, because it's gone!' shouted Harry. Then he let out a yell of pain before laughing. 'And he knows! Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?'

Bellatrix was distraught at the thought that the prophecy had gone. I watched as Harry told her what had happened, that it had got broken when he was helping Neville up the steps.

'LIAR!' shrieked Bellatrix. 'YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! _Accio prophecy!_ _ACCIO PROPHECY!_'

Nothing came towards her. The prophecy was gone. Harry was still laughing beside me though he was clenching his eyes in pain as his scar seemed to sear. He shouted at Bellatrix that there was still nothing to be summoned and that she shouldn't waste her breath begging Voldemort for forgiveness for failing.

'He can't hear you from here!'

'Can't I, Potter?' said a high, cold voice.

I gasped as a tall, thin man appeared before us. His snakelike face was white and gaunt from underneath his black hood. His scarlet eyes could be visible in the dim light as they glinted in contrast to his white skin. Voldemort was standing right in front of us, wand drawn, and ready to kill us at any moment.

'So, you smashed my prophecy?' said Voldemort softly. 'No, Bella, he is not lying … I see thef truth looking at me from within his worthless mind … months of preparation, months of effort … and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again …'

Bellatrix begged for forgiveness but he told her to be quiet. He then turned to us. He raised his wand slightly. He was ready. He'd had enough of Harry and he was going to kill us.

'I have nothing more to say to you, Potter,' he said quietly. 'You have irked me too often, for too long. You _and_ this annoying girl! _AVADA KEDAVRA!_'

I closed my eyes and looked away as I braced myself to be killed. But when I heard a crash in front of me, I looked up to see the statue of the wizard from the fountain had leapt to life and protected me and Harry from the spell. Voldemort was furious but it didn't take long for him to realise who had stopped the curse. Across the hall stood Dumbledore.

Voldemort instantly sent another green jet at Dumbledore. It missed him though as he vanished in an instant, reappearing behind him. He made the rest of the remnants of the statue come alive, the witch going for Bellatrix while the goblin and house-elf went to the fireplaces and the centaur charged at Voldemort. Beside me, Harry and I were being moved back by the wizard. In front of me, a fight began between the two older wizards.

'It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'The Aurors are on their way –'

'By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!' spat Voldemort.

Another Death Curse was sent at Dumbledore but it missed, hitting the security guard desk. Dumbledore flicked his own wand creating a spell whose force pounded through the area, forcing Voldemort to conjure a shield to protect him. The spell was deflected, a ringing sound after the hit.

'You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?' called Voldemort, from behind his shield. 'Above such brutality are you?'

'We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,' replied Dumbledore calmly, walking towards him. Nothing worse than death? Death was the end … everything stops after that … 'Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit –'

'There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!' snarled Voldemort.

As they spoke, more and more spells were fired, the Death Curse being repeatedly used by Voldemort. The hall was being torn apart by the fight while Harry and I were being protected by the wizard statue. The centaur statue became dust as it protected Dumbledore, whose wand was controlling a long flame whip which he wrapped round Voldemort. But then it became a serpent, wrapping itself round Dumbledore. Harry shouted to him to watch out as another Death Curse came at him but it was swallowed up by Fawkes, him then bursting into flame and ash. The snake then vanished into smoke and the water from the fountain swallowed Voldemort up into a cocoon.

'MASTER!' screamed Bellatrix.

Beside me, Harry started to move. He was stopped though when Dumbledore shouted, 'Stay where you are, Harry! Both of you!'

I didn't move. The whole hall had become silent apart from Bellatrix's sobs and the now baby Fawkes' cries. Then suddenly, Harry began to shout in pain beside me. I jumped. Looking at him, I felt a burning start on my chest and I could feel his pain as he began to talk. It was my necklace. My necklace was telling me Harry was in pain. But it wasn't his voice. It was Voldemort's coming from him.

'_Kill me now, Dumbledore _…' I glanced at Dumbledore to see him standing over us. He was just standing there, doing nothing. Why wasn't he helping him? Harry was in pain! '_If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy _…'

'Professor, help him!' I shouted. I looked at him desperately but he wouldn't do anything. 'Can't you see he's in pain? Help him!' He wouldn't. I turned to Harry. 'Harry! Harry, fight him! Please, you can do this! Fight him!'

But then, he reached out and put his hand around my throat. I gasped at his grip. It was so tight. This wasn't him though. It was Voldemort! I tried to pull his hands off but I couldn't. The burning of my necklace got worst as he did so.

'… _or I'll kill the girl _…'

'Professor, please!' I begged hoarsely. Voldemort's grip tightened on my throat. 'Please, help him!' Then … it stopped. Something happened and Harry let go, falling down to the floor. 'Harry!' Coughing slightly, I leapt forward and turned him over. He didn't react. I gently shook him. 'Harry, wake up!'

Around me voices started in the hall. I ignored them as I stared at Harry. He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't! I watched him fearfully. He didn't move. Then, thankfully, he opened his eyes. Beside me, Dumbledore was leaning over him as he sat up. Someone addressed Dumbledore and he turned away. It was Fudge. But now as it was over, I just looked away from Harry at the damage. And it hit me. We'd come here because Harry thought Dad was in trouble and been led straight into a trap. I felt myself being lifted to my feet as Dumbledore checked us over before turning to Fudge.

'You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts,' he said. 'You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you … half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think well shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me.'

Next he was addressing me and Harry.

'Take this Portkey, Harry! You too, Jenna.' He held out the head of the wizard statue to us. I merely stared at it as he put a spell on it. When it finished glowing, I numbly reached out to touch it. 'I shall see you in half an hour,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'One … two … three …'

In a moments notice the Atrium of the Ministry vanished and I was in Dumbledore's office. The head fell away from my hand. I stood shakily for a moment or two before I slowly sank to my knees on Dumbledore's office floor. All I could think was,_ It was a trap … It was all a trap …_ I didn't hear or know or care what Harry was doing beside me. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I'd fazed out again. I was trying to understand what happened and why.

Why did my premonitions have to show me my father's death? Why is it all I ever saw in my head was always related to Harry in some way? Why was it always him who made these things happen and why did I always suffer because of it? It was always him. Riddle was after him when he used Ginny, and then me as bait; he was the one who helped bring Voldemort back, who got Cedric murdered; he was the one who had led us to the Ministry; he was the one my Dad cared about more …

At that moment I heard something behind me and I looked round.

'Dumbledore thinks very highly of you, as I am sure you know.' It was one of the portraits. He was talking to Harry. 'Oh yes. Holds you in great esteem.'

Anger suddenly seemed to flare up in me and I stood up.

'You,' I said, my voice dry. My fists were clenched, my right by my side and my left over my chest; it was still in pain. Harry turned and looked at me. 'You!' I felt the tears in my eyes again as I went over to Harry. And I slapped him. I slapped him as hard as I possibly could. Harry recoiled back a bit but just let me do it. 'You and your arrogance!' As he moved back, I followed and hit him on the chest. I just wanted him to feel the hurt I did right now. 'I tried to tell you it was a trap, I tried to warn you, but no, you wouldn't believe me. And now he's –'

I hit him again and again on the chest. I felt Harry's hands try to stop me but I carried on hitting him, wanting to hurt him so badly. But my mind blanked, like it was hiding something from me, and I gave up and let the tears fall. You know those moments when your mind goes blank? After something traumatic happens like a car crash. When your mind hides information from you. Well, I had one of those moments. My mind refused to let me acknowledge what had happened so it took me longer to accept it. Hence what I did. Still, I buried my face in the shoulder of Harry's robes, my hand still hitting him but I couldn't muster the strength to hurt him properly any longer. I felt his arms go around me but I didn't have the energy to throw him off.

'I'm so sorry.' was all I heard him say.

I pushed Harry away from me. I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to hear him. Well, that wasn't going to happen. I was just about to walk away out of Dumbledore's office when the fireplace bloomed with emerald flames and Dumbledore appeared. I ignored it and tried to open the door only to find it locked. I held in a groan of frustration and turned around. I didn't say anything but sat in the closest chair to me. Dumbledore wasn't going to let me go in a hurry.

But Dumbledore did not address me. He spoke to Harry. _What a surprise_, I thought. I didn't care about what they had to talk about. At that moment, I just – who am I kidding? I didn't what I wanted to do. I couldn't speak, I couldn't think, I couldn't cry. So I just listened. Knowing I wasn't likely to be going anywhere in a while, I looked up and listened.

Everyone was in the hospital wing being patched up by Madam Pomfrey. Tonks had been taken to St Mungo's and apparently would make a full recovery. Well least they were all right, I s'pose. They hadn't lost anyone … But then Dumbledore made the biggest mistake of saying he knew how Harry felt. I would have laughed but I didn't have the physical strength. The portrait of my great-great-great grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, put in his opinion but Dumbledore told him to be quiet. He went on to say Harry being able to feel this pain was his greatest strength, that it made him human. I looked at Dumbledore incredulously. Feeling pain a good thing? He had to be kidding, right?

'THEN – I – DON'T – WANT – TO – BE – HUMAN!' bellowed Harry. I jumped when he did so and started chucking round things in the office. I'd never seen him like this. 'I DON'T CARE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE –'

He picked up a table and threw it against the floor near me. I flinched as it splintered.

Dumbledore was insistent that he did care but Harry wouldn't have it. He then tried the door but it wouldn't open, just as it had done for me. He said to let him out but Dumbledore wouldn't. Not until he'd had his say. What was there to say? We'd just risked our lives for nothing and – Again, my mind wouldn't let me think it. Harry didn't care about what Dumbledore had to say. But then he said something which even surprised me.

'It's is _my_ fault Sirius died.' I flinched as I heard my Dad's name. No, he wasn't. He was at home waiting for me. 'Or should I say, almost entirely my fault – I will not be so arrogant as to claim responsibility for the whole. Sirius was a brave, clever and energetic man, and such men are not usually content to sit at home in hiding while they believe others to be in danger. Nevertheless, you should never had believed for an instant that there was any necessity for you to go to the Department of Mysteries tonight.'

I looked at him. A little late to be telling us that, isn't it?

By now, dawn was approaching. Harry finally did as Dumbledore said and sat down in front of his desk. He still wasn't addressing me though. Phineas asked if what he had just said was true and couldn't believe it. Well it wasn't; Dad was at home! Dumbledore went on to say he owed Harry an explanation. That he'd made an old man's mistake. And he went on for ages about Harry's scar. So what? I didn't care. It all went right over my head. I didn't give a toss anymore. But when it got to the whole Occlumency lesson business, I looked up. I had wondered why Dumbledore had got Snape to teach him instead of himself.

'You see,' said Dumbledore, 'I believed it could not be long before Voldemort attempted to force his way into your mind, to manipulate and misdirect your thoughts, and I was not eager to give him more incentives to do so. I was sure that if he realised that our relationship – or had ever been – closer than that of headmaster and pupil, he would seize his chance to use you as a means to spy on me. I feared the uses to which he would put you, the possibility that he might try and possess you. Harry, I believe I was right to think that Voldemort would have made use of you in such a way. On those rare occasions when we had close contact, I thought I saw a shadow of his stir behind your eyes …'

That stirred something in my memory. When Dumbledore had fled, he'd spoken to Harry before he left. He'd taken hold of his wrist and when I looked at him, I felt a pain that Harry seemed to be feeling. Just like tonight. When Voldemort had possessed Harry in the Ministry, when I looked at him, I could feel his pain because of Voldemort being inside him. A shiver ran down my spine. But why was I feeling that pain? I'd already had a thought that Harry and I were linked somehow but that was ludicrous.

So Dumbledore had got Harry to learn Occlumency to stop Voldemort from possessing him. Well, fat lot of good that did. And distancing himself to protect him? I tuned out again as Dumbledore took a pause, then continuing by talking about the snake attack on Mr Weasley and what Snape had found out from the Occlumency lessons. Harry hadn't practiced it at all. So if he had then none of this would have happened. It was all –

'I tried to check he'd really taken Sirius,' said Harry. 'I went to Umbridge's office, I spoke to Kreacher in the fire and he said Sirius wasn't there, he said he'd gone!'

'Kreacher lied,' replied Dumbledore. I glanced at Dumbledore; it didn't take a wise wizard to tell us that. 'You are not his master, he could lie to you without even needing to punish himself. Kreacher intended you to go to the Ministry of Magic.'

I felt anger burn up in me at that. For the fact Kreacher had purposefully sent us there but also at myself. Why didn't I go to the office with Harry and go through the fire? Why did I have to go try and get my broom back? Kreacher would have had to have told me the truth if I'd ordered him to. I let out a silent sigh. How could I be so stupid? Also, it turned out that when Dad had ordered Kreacher to get out, he did just that and went to the Malfoys.

Turned out that Snape of all people had been the one who alerted the Order about our intended journey to the Ministry when Harry gave him that message about Padfoot in Umbridge's office. He'd even given her fake Veritaserum when she intended to interrogate me and Harry after Dumbledore's disappearance.

'Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kinglsey Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin were at Headquarters when he made contact. All agreed to go to your aid at once. Professor Snape requested that Sirius remain behind, as he needed somebody to remain at Headquarters to tell me what had happened, for I was due there at any moment. In the meantime he, Professor Snape, intended to search the Forest for you.'

_Dad_, I thought suddenly. _Why didn't he _– But again my mind seemed to get blocked. The longer it did this, the harder it turned out for me to accept it. I scrunched my eyes closed as I tried to think about the situation but my mind would not allow me.

'But Sirius did not wish to remain behind while the others went to search for you. He delegated to Kreacher the task of telling me what happened. And so it was that when I arrived in Grimmauld Place shortly after they had all left for the Ministry, it was the elf who told me – laughing fit to burst – where Sirius had gone.'

Kreacher though hadn't told Narcissa anything about the Order but had given her good enough information. That Dad was the person who cared about Harry the most. I felt a stab at my chest as he said that. He cared about me though … didn't he? And that the person Harry would do anything to rescue was my Dad. And how did Dumbledore know this? Because he'd used Legilimens on Kreacher and persuaded him to do so. And he'd laughed all the way through.

Dumbledore over trod the mark though when he suggested that if Dad had treated Kreacher better, none of this might of happened. This was not Dad's fault. This had nothing to do with him! But as Dumbledore pointed out, Kreacher was what wizards had made him so in some ways, it was partly all our faults for treating him badly. That got Harry really angry but it was true and he wouldn't listen to anything Dumbledore said about Snape.

'Snape – Snape g – goaded Sirius about staying in the house – he made out that Sirius was coward –'

'Sirius was much too old and clever to have allowed such feeble taunts to hurt him,' said Dumbledore.

Harry was adamant that Snape was not the good guy here but Dumbledore said again that he trusted Snape, something he'd said many times before. But Snape and Dad hated each other and he'd forgotten that some things can't be forgotten and those feelings weren't overcome. I watched silently as this argument unfurled. By now, the sun was now fully up in the sky, creeping across the floor.

'But that's OK, is it?' yelled Harry, already on his feet from earlier. 'It's OK for Snape to hate my dad, but it's no OK for Sirius to hate Kreacher?'

'Sirius did not hate Kreacher,' said Dumbledore. 'He regarded him as a servant unworthy of much interest or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike … the fountain we destroyed tonight told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward.'

'SO SIRIUS DESERVED WHAT HE GOT, DID HE?'

'I did not say that, nor will you ever hear me say it. Sirius was not a cruel man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living reminder of the home Sirius had hated.'

'Yeah, he did hate it!' shouted Harry. 'You made him stay shut up in that house and he hated it, that's why he wanted to get out last night –'

'I was trying to keep Sirius alive,' said Dumbledore quietly.

Again, my mind blocked out what was said. I refused to believe it.

And at that point, for the first time I saw Dumbledore as nothing more than an old man. Something Harry had said had made him bury his face in his hands. He was no more human than the rest of us. He had made mistakes and now he was seeing the consequences as we all do. A man I'd respected, though found ridiculous at times, appeared to show all signs of weakness any other person I would expect to.

'It is time for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry,' he said quietly. He did know I was still in the room, right? 'Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything. I ask only a little patience. You will have your chance to rage at me – to do whatever you like – when I have finished. I will not stop you.'

At this point, I tuned out again for what must have been the third or fourth time in the last three hours. I really had given up caring. I'd only just noticed the pain my arm was in having been broken when Bellatrix threw me up against the wall when I attacked her. I really couldn't care less about what Dumbledore had to say about Harry. The less I heard, the better. All I knew was that I wanted to be on my own. I only started listening again when Dumbledore got to the events of last year.

'You came out of the maze last year, having watched Cedric Diggory die, having escaped death so narrowly yourself … and I did not tell you, though I knew, now Voldemort had returned, I must do it soon. And now, tonight, I know you have long been ready for the knowledge I have kept from you for so long, because you have proved that I should have placed the burden upon you before this. My only defence is this: I have watched you struggling under more burdens then any student who has ever passed through this school and I could not bring myself to add another – the greatest one of all.'

I looked up curiously at Dumbledore. What was he on about? Neither me nor Harry understood.

'Voldemort tried to you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know the full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his coast, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear the prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you.'

I gasped silently at that. That small orb, that insignificant thing that had been what the Death Eaters had wanted, that little thing had had the key to destroying someone in? It made me think for a moment. Prophecies, they were foretold future events, right? So, though I'd been seeing future events in my premonitions … was I capable of making a prophecy?

I was drawn back from my thoughts by a thump on the desk. Looking up, I saw Dumbledore had brought out what looked like a large stone basin to me but him and Harry obviously knew what it was. I couldn't see what was in it from where I was sitting but Dumbledore tapped the surface of it with his wand and out came a small, silvery figure, draped in shawls with magnified eyes. It was Professor Trelawney. And when she spoke her voice was oddly dry and harsh.

'_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seven month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies_ …'

The figure sank back into the basin. _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches?_ I thought._ Born as the seventh month dies? Harry wasn't the only boy born at the end of July. Didn't Neville have his birthday the day before Harry's? I mean, he __– but that meant … it might not have been Harry if Neville's parents had defied Voldemort three times. It might have been Neville Voldemort had marked. Oh my God …_ I let out a slow breath as I realised something Dumbledore had been pointing out to Harry at the same time. Harry wasn't necessarily the only boy that prophecy could have applied to. But why did the prophecy have Harry's name on it then?

'The official record was re-labelled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child,' Dumbledore was explaining at that moment. 'It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one to whom Sybil was referring.'

'Then – it might not be me?' That's not what it meant, Harry.

'I am afraid,' said Dumbledore, 'that there is no doubt that it is you.'

It was because of his scar. That scar was Voldemort's mark on Harry. He marked him as his equal. I felt my heart sink. I couldn't believe. My best friend, a guy I'd known for seven years, he was expected to defeat the most evil wizard alive. And that meant he could either live or die.

I know what you're thinking. Why should I care that he's the one who can defeat the Dark Lord when earlier I didn't want to be touched by him? Because, though I changed a lot because of Dad's death, I could never really hate Harry no matter how much I showed it all because of something a lot deeper inside me.

Harry was persistent that Voldemort had chosen wrong. It was intriguing though as Dumbledore pointed out that Voldemort had not gone for the pureblood (Neville), who are supposed to be of superior magical abilities, but the half-blood (Harry) like himself. That he had seen himself in Harry before he'd met him. That was just weird. But Voldemort had not heard the whole prophecy so didn't wait to attack the one he thought to be the danger. And the power the Dark Lord knows not? What could Harry possibly have?

When he asked, Dumbledore cut him off, 'There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the force of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to save Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests, nor be touched by it.'

At that moment, I swear Dumbledore's eyes met mine. I started in my seat slightly.

'In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you,' he finished.

Dumbledore ended by telling Harry why he was not a prefect before sending him to the hospital wing. The door finally unlocked so after Harry left, I took that as my cue to do so as well. However, as I was about to leave, Dumbledore spoke to me.

'Every one of us has a part to play in the story of lives,' he said. I turned round and looked at him. He wasn't looking at me so I didn't know whether he was addressing me or not. 'Though we find tasks set to us sometimes difficult, sometimes unwanted, sometimes draining, we all must do our parts. Only then do we realise our purpose in this world and see that there is always something worth fighting for. We must use our gifts, whether they be power, or wisdom, or love, for what they are intended for and live with the consequences they bring.'

I continued to watch Dumbledore for a moment after he'd finished. He didn't seem to have anything else to say so I turned and left for the hospital wing. When I got there I saw that Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville were all talking to Harry. They all looked up when they saw me enter. Before they could ask anything though, Madam Pomfrey bustled me off to another bed and told me to get into some pyjamas and get in. I did so without a fuss. She fixed my arm, bandaged it up and I got into bed and stayed there.

That day when I tried to sleep I couldn't because my dreams were haunted by all the stuff that had happened over the last twenty-four hours but my mind was still shutting things out. I was still refusing to acknowledge what happened. Because of this I ended up spending the rest of the last week of term in the hospital wing in bed. Madam Pomfrey obviously knew what had happened and was keeping me in. I could see why. I'd become numb again. That was only way to describe how I was. I wouldn't speak, I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't sleep. I'd just sit there staring into space out of the window or lying under the sheets staring at the wall. I couldn't seem to think about anything other than what happened.

The others were dismissed on the Sunday before school was due to end, Hermione and Ron kept in till the Wednesday because of their injuries. Harry came to get them and I heard her tell him that I hadn't spoken since I'd been brought in and Madam Pomfrey had fixed my arm. Before he left with them, Harry came over to my bed. I heard him approach but had remained still under the covers, not looking at him.

'Jen?' he said. I didn't respond. 'I just –'

'I think you better leave her, Harry,' said Hermione's voice. Her footsteps too approached my bed. 'She needs time.'

I heard their footsteps walk away and they left.

I was finally released on the last day of term. I'd started speaking again but I knew deep down I hadn't accepted things. I mean, who can ever just accept that their parent is dead? Still, I was released after breakfast and went straight to the Gryffindor Tower. Everyone who passed me stopped and stared at me before moving on. When I got back to the Tower, people around me kept saying things like, "Sorry for your loss" and "We hope everything will be all right for you" but I couldn't seem to understand what they were talking about.

I spent the rest of the day in my dormitory, packing my things. Outside it was raining quite heavily for a summer's day. When Parvati, Lavender and Sally came in they all stopped when they saw me. I looked at them briefly before continuing to gather my toothbrush and things off my bed to put in my trunk. Hermione, on the other hand, I didn't see her all day. Then, seeing as it was almost time for the end of term feast, I went downstairs and up to the boys' dorm to see if Ron was still there doing last minute packing.

He wasn't. I should have known he'd want his food more than he'd do his packing. So, I turned to leave. But as I did so, something caught my eye. A shard of glass or something was glinting as the midday sun drifted over it on the floor by Harry's bed. I went over to it and picked it up. It was mirror-glass, a sort of mixture of Muggle glass and mirror tile which Muggle police officers used. Dad had told me about it. He and James Potter had had two identical mirrors made of this stuff they'd used to talk to each other in during separate detentions. But why would Harry have it?

I don't know what spurred me to do it but I walked straight over to Harry's trunk and opened it. Pushing aside his books and stuffed-in robes, I searched through his trunk for what I thought the mirror-glass had come from. And sure enough, there it was. Partly wrapped up in brown paper was a small square shattered mirror. And on the back was a note from Dad saying to use it when needed. I couldn't believe it. Harry had had the mirror all this time and he never told me.

I chucked the mirror back into Harry's trunk and slammed it shut. I ran down from the boys' dormitories to the common room and out of the portrait hole. He'd had that mirror all along! Why didn't he tell me! We could have used that mirror to get in contact with Dad and it would have saved us trying to use Umbridge's fire and going into the Forbidden Forest to get rid of her and going to the Ministry where he ended up –

'Well, have a nice holiday, Harry.'

I looked up to see Harry just ahead of me, saying goodbye to Luna. My eyes narrowed as I looked at him and I marched right up to him.

'Why didn't you tell me you had the mirror?'

Harry span round and saw me standing behind him. I was glaring at him, my hate for him starting again. I could feel myself shaking.

'What?' asked Harry.

'Why didn't you tell me you had the mirror?' I repeated, my voice shaking as well in my anger. 'Why didn't you tell me Dad had given you that mirror?'

'How do you –?' began Harry, shocked that she knew.

'Do you really think Dad wouldn't have told me about it?'

'Yeah but how do you –'

'I was in your room looking for Ron when I saw a shard of glass on the floor. Going through people's stuff is not usually on my to-do list but I knew if I found what I thought it was then I would know who was to blame.'

'Hold on, you went through my things? Why on earth would you do that?'

'It doesn't matter. You had the mirror. Why didn't you use it?' I asked him incredulously. 'None of this would have happened if you had used it.'

'You went through my stuff!' said Harry, ignoring my question. 'Friends don't do that.'

'And friends don't go leading others into traps!'

'Jenna, if I had of known about the mirror, I'd have used it but I didn't. Sirius gave it to me but I never intended to use it. I didn't want to know what it was.'

'So it is all your fault,' I said. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. It was all because of him. 'I knew it. I knew it was your fault all along.'

'Now, that's not fair,' said Harry. 'Jenna, I didn't mean for Sirius to die. None of us could have stopped what happened –'

'No, you could have!' I shouted over him. 'None of this would have happened if you had stopped and thought for once in your life!'

I brushed past Harry, knocking his shoulder, and walked away from him. I'd walked only a few steps before I heard him following me as he tried to get me to stop.

'Jenna!' he shouted. 'Jenna, wait! Jenna!'

He chased after me, continuing to call me. I was already halfway down the corridor when I heard him just behind me so I sped up. I didn't want to talk to him ever again. Outside I could hear the rain as it pounded hard against the windows. Harry continued to follow me as I walked through any passageway to get away from him. I didn't want to go to the feast. I just wanted to be alone but Harry wouldn't leave.

'Jenna!' shouted Harry again.

I didn't stop. I didn't know where I was going or why, I just had to get away from him but he wouldn't leave. I quickly ran up a staircase, through another door, and up a second set of stairs. I went through the door at the top into the pouring rain, getting soaked. I was on the observing platform of the Astronomy Tower. That was when Harry was able to catch up and he grabbed my arm.

'Get off me!' I shouted at him, yanking my arm from his grip.

'Sirius's death was not my fault' said Harry forcefully. 'I didn't mean for any of this to happen but it did.'

'That doesn't bring him back, Harry,' I snarled. 'I lost my father because of you.'

'I said I was sorry!'

'Sorry doesn't cut it! You had already lost your parents and I felt sorry for you because I knew what it was like to have no one! But when I finally found my father and my family, who should end up being closer to him than me? You! I've never even felt like he wanted me around when you were here. He was always more concerned about his precious little godson than about his own daughter, and because of that, he's dead!'

Everything I'd felt over the past year or so was spilling out of me. I had been so jealous of Harry and the relationship he'd had with my father that at that moment, I didn't care how I sounded. I just wanted to put Harry in his place and tell him what I thought of him.

Harry just stood there, panting from the run. He didn't say anything, he just stared at me. The rain continued to fall down on to us. We were soaked to the skin. My tears were mixing with the rain on my face. His hair was sticking to the sides of his face as the loose bit from my plait stuck to mine.

'Jenna, I regret his death as much as you do and I know what you're going through,' started Harry calmly but I cut him off.

'No, you can't possibly feel what I do right now,' I snapped. 'It wasn't because of your best friend that your parents died. It wasn't because of me that he died. It was because of you! Just like it was because of you that your parents died!

Harry didn't say anything to that; I think he was too shocked by what I'd said. It was low, and I knew it. Under normal circumstances I would never have said that but I had so much hatred in me it just came out.

'You think you've had a rough childhood well you have no idea what it's like to have absolutely no one in your life, having to fend for yourself at the age of five, being hated by everyone around you. And when I do find someone, they are taken away from me. Sure, the Dursleys didn't love you but you had a place you could call home. I had nothing. And now, with my Dad dead I'm left with nothing again. He promised he'd never leave me and because of you he's broken that promise and I'm never going to let you forget this.'

'Jenna, blaming me is not going to bring him back,' said Harry. 'Sirius is gone for good. He's not coming back.'

'See? You don't even care!' I shouted. 'I've lost my father and you expect me to just accept it?'

'Jenna, you've got to!' Harry stepped up to me and grabbed my upper arms. I tried to throw him off by pulling my arms away from his grip but it was too strong and he would not let go, no matter how much I tried. 'Sirius is gone!'

'No! He's not gone!' I shouted. I wouldn't just accept it like that! 'Get off me!'

'You've got to accept he's gone!' said Harry forcefully. 'It'll hurt more if you try to fight it.' He kept hold of my arms as I fought against him, hitting him on the chest, trying to get away. I wanted – no, had to get away from him. 'He can't come back. He's gone.'

'No! I won't!' I shouted again and again. 'I won't! He said he'd never leave me again! I – I won't.'

Then, I just seemed to give up fighting against him and began to cry, letting out all of what I'd been holding in since what had happened at the Ministry. Sure, I'd slapped him in Dumbledore's office but I hadn't comprehended the whole situation yet. But as I fought against Harry, I realised he was right and that my Dad was never going to come back.

I felt Harry release my arms and pull me in as my knees gave way so I was crying on his shoulder, my hands still pushing him away from me on his chest. I could feel his arms around me and for some reason, though I'd just been fighting his grip, they felt comforting and I didn't want them to let me go. I just wanted him to hold me … almost as if I wanted him to protect me from the loneliness I feared.

This was the first time I'd ever cried because of all the insecurities I had from being an orphan. I'd always been so strong, fighting for what I believed in and standing up to people. But the prospect of having no one again frightened me and I gave up trying to hide it, the outer defences I'd built those years ago crumbling to dust.

'I could have stopped this,' I cried faintly into his robes. 'I could have stopped her. I knew this was going to happen, it's my fault …'

'Jenna, it's all right,' he said softly. 'You couldn't have stopped Bellatrix, no one could of. It's not your fault. It's all right, I'm here for you.'

I stopped crying though the tears were still falling from my eyes and looked up at Harry. He was soaked, as was I, from standing in the rain. And as we stood there, Harry holding my upper arms and me pushing my hands against his chest, our eyes connected in a way they'd never done before. I felt butterflies being set loose in my stomach, something unknown to me. Closing my eyes to blink, I felt something soft brush against my mouth, a shiver going down my spine as I raised my head ever so slightly, until my lips were captured by his, matching the rhythm he set …

* * *

**AN: oooh, cliffhanger. wat will the result be? well, hope u enjoyed the chapter and plz leave me a review and tell me wat you think. tho sadly, i probably won't be updating for a while as my holiday is almost over. soz. still, please read, enjoy and review! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**and thanks to all the people who reviewed the last chapter!**


	28. Running Away

Chapter 27

Running Away

As soon as it had started, it ended. In the few seconds that Harry and I were in that position, I felt like I'd wandered into a dream. Like none of this was real. But when I felt something brush back the wet hair from my face I came to my senses and pulled away by disappearing into a flash of fire, leaving him on the observing platform of the Astronomy Tower. I reappeared somewhere in the castle, I didn't know where, and fell against the wall. I slid down its cold surface, my wet robes creating a mark as I did so, my hand covering my mouth and my eyes wide in shock … I'd just kissed my best friend.

No, ex-best friend. He was responsible. I could never forgive him.

At that moment I felt a small pain on my right arm. Gasping, I pulled down my sleeve to look at it. There was a new line on it, crossing over the single line from years ago, forming a second cross. It had just been cut into my arm. I ran my finger over it. It had somehow just been magically sliced in my arm. Now I had two crosses on it, like in Quidditch, you got a cross or strike for each foul you made. It was like I had two strikes on my arm. As I looked at them though, I realised something. I now had a fresh line … and Dad had just died. My Mum died years ago and I'd had the single line for as long as I could remember. And the other cross as well … James and Lily. But why?

The train journey home wasn't too eventful for me. I spent most of my time staring out of the window. I'd joined Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville in a compartment for the journey back but I didn't say anything to Harry. I didn't want anything to do with him anymore, not after finding out that he could have stopped all of what happened from happening but I couldn't just act like I'd suddenly started to hate him. The food trolley came by but I wasn't hungry no matter how much Hermione tried to get me to eat something. We were about halfway back when Harry finally attempted to speak to me though.

'Jen?' he said cautiously.

'I have nothing to say to you,' I said, not looking at him.

'Jen, please, I just – I am really sorry about what happened.'

I sat up and looked at him over my shoulder. I looked into his eyes.

'I don't know whether I can forgive you this time,' I said simply before turning away again.

Nothing really much happened for the rest of the journey. Cho walked past with her friend Marietta and Ginny explained she was going out with Michael Corner now. Ron was pleased that Ginny wasn't going out with him any longer but got very irate when she said she was interested in Dean. Oh well.

There was a whole welcoming committee waiting for Harry when we got off the train and allowed through the barrier. Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks and Lupin along with Mr and Mrs Weasley with Fred and George, and the Dursleys just back from them. Mrs Weasley was the first to reach us and hug her children and Harry tightly. When she hugged me, I didn't respond.

'Cheer up, dear,' she said comfortingly to me. I just looked at her. 'Everything's going to be fine. We're all here for you.'

I didn't reply. What did she know? She hadn't just had someone stolen from her. I was then pulled into a tight hug from Lupin as soon as he saw me. Again, I didn't respond.

I couldn't leave straight away. Moody, Mr Weasley and Lupin wanted to speak with the Dursleys about Harry. It was all Harry this and Harry that. I waited away from them as they did so. Ron and Hermione said their goodbyes to me just before they left with their parents leaving me waiting for Lupin. As soon as he was done, I headed straight for the exit. He had to jog to catch up with me.

'Jenna?' he said to catch my attention. I kept walking. 'You didn't say goodbye to Harry.'

'I don't care,' I said monotonously. 'I don't want anything more to do with him.'

That was only the start of Lupin noticing the change in me. And the start of the troubles that summer.

As soon as I got home from the station I went straight up to my room. I didn't bother to unpack my trunk. I just stood there staring round my room, my eyes drawn to the picture on my desk. It was of my Mum and Dad. I walked over to my desk and picked it up. They looked so happy together. So happy before they had me. Next moment, I chucked it across my room so it smashed against the opposite wall. I couldn't help it. And I just sank to my knees, crying. That was when my door opened. I ignored it though. It was Lupin.

'Jenna!' he gasped. I heard his footsteps approach me before I was pulled forwards, his arms wrapping round me. I could feel myself shaking as I buried my face in his robes. 'Hey, it's all right,' whispered Lupin softly to me. His hand stroked my hair. 'It's all right.'

'He said he'd never leave me,' I cried, my voice muffled. 'He promised me. He said he'd always be there for me. I can't do this anymore.'

'Ssh,' cooed Lupin. 'You don't always have to be so brave.'

'He promised.'

'I know, I know.'

'He broke that promise … he never cared about me … he only cared about Harry … he only wanted him safe at the Ministry … he never wanted me …'

'That's not true.' I felt Lupin release me and raise my face. 'Sirius loved you more than anything. You're allowed to be angry. You're allowed to be hurt. You're allowed to cry. But don't you think for one minute he loved Harry more than you.'

'He never showed it,' I cried. 'He never –'

'That is not true,' repeated Lupin. 'When Sirius heard that you had gone to the Ministry, he begged us to let him go so he could get you, not just Harry. He wanted to make sure you were safe more than anything.'

I looked at Lupin. I wanted to believe him, I really did. But everything, the letters, the way he had been around me, the meeting with Snape when he lied to me, coming to the Ministry, everything pointed towards him caring more about Harry than me. I just couldn't believe that Dad had loved me.

'I want him back, Lupin,' I said quietly, a tear running down my cheek. I laid my head on his shoulder. 'I just want him back. I want my family back.'

'You've still got your family,' replied Lupin firmly. 'You've got me, and Tonks.' He kissed the top of my head. 'And I'll always be here for you, no matter what. Nothing will ever come between us. Nothing will ever be more important than you.'

I raised my eyes to look at him briefly. He had his closed as he held me close so I cuddled closer to him, looking away. He may have said he'd always be here for me and that nothing would come between us … so why did I have a feeling that wasn't going to happen?

Over the next week showed how much I'd changed in the short space of time that had passed since Dad's death. I didn't talk very much, I spent virtually all my time alone in my room, and I wouldn't cry any longer. I had accepted Dad's death and everything but … I still didn't want to believe it. It made it seem so final. Nothing seemed to cheer me up and when a letter from the Ministry came, I felt nothing when I read what it said.

'They need me to sort out what's to happen with Dad's body,' I said quietly, reading the letter to Lupin. 'Funeral arrangements. And I need to go hear Dad's will on Wednesday at the Ministry.'

Lupin went with me to the Ministry. I can tell you it wasn't fun having to make funeral arrangements for your Dad, even with the Ministry offering to pay for it. And you know why? Because it felt guilty for him dying on their premises and for having not realised he was innocent all along though I'd been saying it since he escaped. I certainly did not appreciate it when Fudge intruded just after I'd settled the arrangements.

'I, that is, the Ministry,' he said pompously, 'would like to offer you a full apology over the matter of your father's innocence.' I looked at him incredulously. He had to be kidding, right? Now he was apologising? 'We were regrettably wrong about his allegiance with You-Know-Who and are very sorry for your lost and any inconvenience or grief we may have caused you. His death was an unfortunate accident and we understand that you are in grievance for him.'

'Any inconvenience you may have caused me?' I repeated. I couldn't believe him. 'Apologising to me after he's dead and saying sorry for any inconvenience it's caused? How thick are you?'

'Jenna, please,' hissed Lupin. I ignored him.

'Can I ask you something, Mr Fudge?' I said. I got up from my chair and walked over to the Minister. 'Have you ever had a parent sentenced to a lifetime in jail for a crime he didn't commit?' Fudge was about to answer but I didn't let him. 'Have you ever had a parent killed right in front of you? Have you ever watched a parent being murdered right in front of your eyes by your own family?'

'Er, well … no, no I haven't,' mumbled the Minister.

'Then don't you dare say you understand my grievances. I have no intention of accepting your apology. Not after what your Ministry did to me, denying me of a father. Sending him to prison without trial. Believing him to be in league with Voldemort.' I didn't care if I said his name. 'And his death was no accident. He was murdered. Murdered in cold blood. And if you think I'm just going to accept an apology and brush it under the rug as your Ministry is, then you are sadly mistaken.'

'Jenna, I think it's time we leave,' said Lupin. He placed his hand on my shoulder and steered me towards the door. 'We'll see ourselves out.'

Lupin was not impressed with my behaviour in front of the Minister, or should I say, soon to be ex-Minister for Magic. I didn't care. He deserved it. His joke of a Ministry had deprived me of a father because of their stupid justice system and I was not prepared to listen to them any longer.

I booked Dad's funeral for that Sunday. I wanted it over as quickly as possible. He was buried at the same place where my Mum was, next to her grave. Nearly all of the Order turned up for the funeral, except Mr and Mrs Weasley seeing as they had to either work or look after Ron and the others and some of the members who got killed earlier that week. I didn't say anything but once everyone had gone and it was just me and Lupin, I laid some flowers on both his and Mum's graves. Now it was final … he was gone for good …

As the week progressed, more and more Death Eater attacks were being published in the _Daily Prophet_ each day. Now that Voldemort's presence was known, thanks to an article that had been written the day after the Ministry incident, the Death Eaters were attacking places openly now. Emmeline Vance was the first to be killed, followed by Madam Bones, the woman who overlooked my hearing last year. The Ministry quickly produced several leaflets and guides for the wizarding community about protecting your family and stuff. On top of that, Fudge indeed got replaced by a man called Rufus Scrimgeour and the paper was now producing articles guaranteeing the public's safety. The article about Harry being the Chosen One though? The moment I saw that, I threw it in the bin.

That was the biggest change in me that Lupin had noticed. The fact I couldn't stand to see or hear about Harry. All my photos of us I'd put away in the attic because I didn't want to see them anymore and anytime he was mentioned in the paper, I'd either walk out the room if Lupin was reading the article aloud or throw it in the bin. As I'd said at the station, I didn't want anything more to do with him. He was the one responsible for Dad's death; it had all happened because of him and I was never going to forgive him.

What had annoyed me most though was what was in Dad's will. It had been read out that Wednesday I was at the Ministry. Dad had left me a lot of gold to get me through the rest of school and for just after I finished along with his old flat he had with Mum but Grimmauld Place and all that was in it had gone to Harry. I didn't particularly want Grimmauld Place anyway but the fact that all the things that were rightfully mine had gone to him. It just wasn't fair. Those things rightfully belong to me.

What happened at the beginning of the second week of holiday though was what pushed me to do what I did. Lupin had said to me he'd be here for me whenever I needed him and so far he had been so. But not even a day after Dad's funeral a letter from Dumbledore had come for him. I'd been up in my room when I heard Lupin calling me from downstairs. I guessed it was because dinner was ready or something. I left my room and appeared at the banisters to see him putting on his travelling cloak.

'Lupin, where are you going?' I asked. I came down the stairs to see him putting various things in his pockets. 'What are all those bottles for?'

'They're potions,' he said, putting away the last of them. 'I've been assigned to a task for the Order and I'll be gone for the next few days and on and off throughout the holiday.'

'You can't,' I said. 'It's the full moon on Thursday. Can't they get someone else to do it?'

'No, it's a task only I can do.'

'What it is?' I asked. Lupin glanced at me but didn't answer. 'Lupin, what are they making you do?'

'I have to go underground,' he said though reluctantly. 'That's all I'm saying. The less you know, the safer you'll be. I'll see you tomorrow but Arthur and Molly are going to take you the rest of the holiday.'

I couldn't believe this. Lupin was leaving? But he said he'd be around when I needed him. I just buried my Dad, I needed him now and he was being called away?

'Lupin, no, you can't go!' I said. I blocked his path to the door as he tried to leave. 'You said you'd be here for me when I needed you. I need you now! I've just buried my Dad! You can't leave now!'

'Jenna, I'm not leaving you,' said Lupin softly. He put his hands on my shoulders and came down to my level. 'I'll be back tomorrow. And whenever I'm free, I'll visit you at the Weasleys. But I have to do this. I'm the only one who can. And without me here, you're not safe. Protection Charms can only go so far. You'll be safer with the others.'

He gently stroked my cheek before standing straight and walking round me. I watched as he opened the door to leave.

'I'll see you tomorrow.'

He was gone. I tried the door after he shut it to go after him but he'd placed a Locking Spell on it. I stared at the door. No … this couldn't be happening! Not Lupin as well! I couldn't take it anymore! I couldn't bare to watch another person leave me!

Instantly, I ran back up to my room and pulled out my school bag. Quickly I chucked some tops and things inside it before grabbing my wand and my money bag from my trunk. Going to my dresser, I pulled out my jewellery box and took out my mother's locket. I tied it round my neck to join her owl-feather necklace. I realised at that moment I had a third necklace on; it was the one Harry had given me. I pulled it from my neck; it broke and I left it on my dresser. Then, taking some parchment, I wrote a note for Lupin to find.

I wasn't thinking straight but now that Lupin had to leave for an Order mission I couldn't bare to watch someone else I loved get injured or killed, especially if it was because of me. I didn't want to watch anyone else die. So, with the note written and some stuff from my room, I went downstairs to get some food. Leaving the note on the kitchen table addressed to Lupin, I went over to the owl stand in the living room where Gizmo was. He woke as I approached.

'Hey,' I said softly, stroking his chest. He gently fluttered on to my shoulder and nipped my ear affectionately. I lifted him off and put him back on his perch. He looked at me oddly. 'Take care of Lupin for me, Gizmo. Make sure nothing happens to him.'

Next, I grabbed my long green coat from the hall and left Moonlake Cottage out of the kitchen window.

That night I spent wandering the roads to get my way into London, hitching a ride with a car if one came along. I didn't trust my Animagus ability, not when my magic had gone all weird in the Ministry. I managed to get to the outskirts where I took refuge in a park. I spent the night in one of those things Muggle children climb in and out of to hide from each other.

I didn't sleep much that night. All I could think of was Lupin's reaction when he discovered I was gone. He'd be devastated. I was everything to him, all he had left of his little sister as he'd told me so many times. But if I had to watch him die too I wouldn't be able to cope. If this was how I reacted to the death of a man I didn't even know that well, how was I going to react to the death of the one who saved me from the orphanage? I knew if I lost Lupin, I would completely break down.

But that wasn't the only thing I was running away from. I was running away from the fear of losing people, losing Lupin, but also from Harry. I couldn't stand him. He didn't care at all that Dad had died, or at least in my eyes he didn't care. And the nerve of him, kissing me? It was just sick. But it had made me feel so … so strange, staring into his eyes … and though I didn't realise it at the time, I was starting to feel things for him I'd never felt for any other guy before, things I later wished I wouldn't feel …

-o-

It was early in the morning when Lupin returned. He'd had a hard night. He'd been sent by Dumbledore to go underground with the majority of the werewolf community. Dumbledore had had a feeling that they were one of the first groups Voldemort would try to convince to join his side. So, Lupin had Apparated into Diagon Alley the previous night to stake out the area he was to live in for some of the summer. It didn't look a particularly welcoming area but he was going to do as Dumbledore requested.

Jenna, however, had not taken this news to well. Lupin didn't want to leave her, not after what she'd just been through. But this was important. He was the only person who could go underground with the other werewolves and he wasn't prepared to let anyone else do so. It hurt Lupin to see how much Jenna didn't want him to leave but he had to do it. But he would make it up to her again as soon as possible.

Lupin cancelled the Locking Spell on the front door and walked inside. He put the light on in the hall and took off his travelling cloak. Jenna would be asleep. It'd be best not to disturb her. She was like her mother, hated being woken up for no good reason. Lupin walked through the dark living room and into the kitchen, flicking his wand to bring some more light to the room. He then tapped the kettle to get it making some tea. Once that was done, he went to sit at the table where he found something. It was a note with his name on it. In Jenna's handwriting.

Curious, Lupin opened it and read it. It made his heart stop.

_I'm sorry, I can't take this anymore. I've taken my most important things and by the time  
__you find this, I'll be gone. I can't stand to watch another person leave me. I don't want to  
__watch someone else I love get killed. I don't want to see you die because of me. I won't be  
__returning to Hogwarts so don't attempt to find me there. I'm sorry._

'Jenna!'

Instantly, Lupin ran upstairs to Jenna's room. Throwing back the covers on her bed he found it was empty. And as he thought, when he saw her jewellery box on her dresser, Jenna had taken her mother's locket. Lupin couldn't believe what was happening. Lupin had always known Jenna was capable of running away at any moment and now, something he'd dreaded would happen since the day he adopted her, Jenna had done just that.

Desperately, Lupin ran back downstairs and out of the front door. He lit his wand and began searching the fields around their home. He shouted Jenna's name again and again. Lupin had to find her, he just had to. She was capable of anything, especially since the powers she had which Tala had tried to bind to stop them from manifesting had begun to break out. The burn on his arm was evidence enough of that. Lupin did not give up searching though. He kept shouting until he'd shouted himself hoarse but Jenna was nowhere to be found. It was daylight when he finally returned home.

'She's gone.' Lupin collapsed down on the sofa, his head in his hands. 'I let you down, Tala. She's gone … Jenna …'

-o-

I woke up the next morning, at first wondering where I was before remembering what had happened, and climbed out of the plastic climbing box I was in. It was quite early seeing as the sun had just fully risen by the looks of it. Gathering my stuff, I walked out of the park and headed for the road. I was travelling back to London. From there, I didn't where I was going to go but I knew one place I had to go: Grimmauld Place.

I managed to hitchhike my way into London and I was dropped off by an underground station in Greenwich. There I came to a problem. I had only gold, I had no Muggle money. I had to go to Diagon Alley to change some of my gold into money I could use. But Diagon Alley was near the centre of London. I had no way to get there. Plus, if anyone saw me in Diagon Alley, they'd tell Lupin where I was. I didn't want him to find me. He's better off without me. But I needed to get some Muggle money. I had to go there.

It took me the rest of the day to hitchhike further into London, walking some of the way and relying on street maps and strangers to help me get into the centre. It was getting dark by the time I at least got near to where Diagon Alley was in Charing Cross. I was nowhere near the entrance yet though. Still, I knew by tomorrow I'd be able to at least sort out one way of getting around other than walking. That night, I took refuge in another park, this time on a bench sleeping under my coat.

I had an early start the next day as I planned to get in and out of Diagon Alley as quickly as possible. I managed to hitch a lift to Kings Cross station and from then on I was able to find my way and I managed to get to the Leaky Cauldron. Though it was the summer, I kept my coat on over a t-shirt so I didn't get too hot but also so I could keep my hood up and remain hidden. Walking in, I was very conscious of the people in there were watching me.

'Mornin',' said the barkeeper, Tom. I jumped slightly when he addressed me. 'Can I get you anything?'

'Um, a Butterbeer, please,' I said. I was quite thirsty and hungry for that matter. 'And if you have some pumpkin pasties, that'd be great too.'

Tom handed me a bottle of Butterbeer and a pumpkin pasty over the counter. I gave him the five sickles I owed him and sat down in a corner booth to eat them. Though I'd been in the Leaky Cauldron before when it was quite empty, it didn't compare to how eerie it seemed this time. I felt like I was being watched. Quickly finishing my pasty, I grabbed my Butterbeer, thanked Tom, and left the pub through the back entrance to go into Diagon Alley.

I spent no less than an hour in Diagon Alley. I didn't want to be too long in case one of the Weasley twins were about in their new shop. I went straight to Gringotts. I had some money with me but got out some more just in case. After the usually sickening journey down to my vault, I went to the exchange desk and got it changed into Muggle money. The amount I had gave me just over eighty pounds. Well, seeing as I didn't intend to leave the London area for now, I didn't need much money. I had enough to see me through a little over the first week.

With money in hand I left Gringotts. My next stop was the small food shop at the end of the Alley where I could buy some more food. Again I bought enough to last me the rest of the week so I wouldn't need to come back here in a hurry. Storing it in my bag, I thanked the assistant and left the building. I quickly made my way through the growing number of wizards gathered in the street. At one point I got knocked over and my hood came down. I pulled it up as fast as I could so as not to be recognised. I got out of Diagon Alley straight after that.

Now with some Muggle money, I headed straight back for Kings Cross station. From there, I'd be able to get to Grimmauld Place. However, I couldn't help my curiosity as I past a shop on my way back to the station. It was a piercing shop. I already had my ears pierced. I'd got them done when I was nine. Matron had said I could have it done as a birthday present. However, I'd always fancied having my navel pierced. I don't know why, I'd just always wanted to get it done.

I spent a while looking at the shop window. I loved all the designs of studs they had. I didn't want any of the earrings. I had a nice pair of silver earrings in at that moment. They were a pair of Muggle gothic ones which were a sort of spiky curve shape. Lupin had got them for me for my fourteenth birthday. But then my eyes were drawn to the navel piercings. There were some really nice ones. A pink butterfly; a pair of pale purple hearts; a yellow flower; simple bell-bar ones. The one I liked the most though was one with a star on the top half and a sickle moon on the bottom with a small red gem in it. I just had to get it, it was so beautiful.

But could I really get my navel pierced? It hurt when I got my ears pierced so the pain of getting my navel pierced would be even worse, surely. Lupin would kill me if he ever found out. And I was still fifteen, I wouldn't be allowed to do it without parental consent anyway. Then again … I looked down myself. I had been mistaken for being older than I was before. Some Hufflepuff who asked me out for the Yule Ball had thought I was in his year when he did so, and he was in the sixth year. I guess I could pass for sixteen.

I went into the shop, braving it. A little bell rang as I opened and closed the door. Least the shop looked good on the inside. I didn't want to risk an infection while I was out in the streets. It'd be all right once I got to Grimmauld. Anyway, someone came out from the back when I entered the shop.

'Hi, can I help you?' I looked up. It was a young man, no older than about twenty. He smiled at me. 'Anything you looking for?'

'Oh, um,' I started, trying to remember why I'd come in. 'I was intending to get a piercing.'

'Right,' said the man. 'What piercing did you want?'

'I'd like to get my navel pierced.'

Luckily, the guy thought I was sixteen and I just had to sign a form about getting my navel pierced. It was actually quite bad though; he just took my word for it, didn't asked for identity or anything. In any case, he took me through to the piercing room where he pierced my stomach. It didn't actually hurt that much, he'd put a freezing spray on it before putting in the piercing of the star and sickle moon I wanted. In total, it cost twenty quid so I had enough to spare for it.

'Don't forget, you must wash it every morning and night so it doesn't get infected,' said the guy, handing me some special earring cleaner. 'And don't take it out for at least three months. Keep the pad over it for the first couple weeks, all right?'

I nodded and left the shop. I couldn't believe I'd got away with it. I'd got my navel pierced. Once I turned the corner, I lifted up my top and gently peeled away the padding to have a quick look. It didn't look half bad. I could certainly feel the sting now from the needle though so I covered it up again and pulled down my top. Checking the time, I set off again for Kings Cross station.

Once there, I knew the way back to Grimmauld Place. In all honesty, I didn't want to go back there. Too many memories of Dad and such. But there was something in that house I wanted to make sure Harry didn't get his hands on. It was the locket I had found while we had been cleaning up the house, the one with the snake engraved on it. That was the only thing in the place I wanted to keep seeing as it was the only thing that didn't seem to off-putting, even if it did have a snake on it.

It took the best part of the rest of the day to get to Grimmauld Place. Not because I was walking slowly or because I couldn't remember the way. It was because I had a sudden thought that other people might now know of the whereabouts of it though they wouldn't be able to find the exact location. Kreacher had gone to the Malfoys. And Narcissa would know he was from Grimmauld Place without him needing to tell her where the Headquarters to the Order was. So as I approached the street leading into Grimmauld Place, I finally braved using my Animagus ability.

Hiding round the corner, I checked the coast was clear. Then, concentrating hard, I conjured up the image of a cat. A simple tabby cat. At first I couldn't feel any of my bones change shape to indicate I was transforming. I opened my eyes and sighed. I'd heard of traumatic events effecting a wizard's powers. But I wouldn't give up thus I tried again. Closing my eyes in concentration, I thought really hard about being a cat.

_A tabby cat_, I thought repeatedly. _A brown and black stripped cat. A tabby cat._

Again I didn't feel anything at first. I couldn't have lost it, I just couldn't have! Biting my lip I tried even harder. And I felt it. I felt the familiar twist of my bones and I fell forwards on to my hands, now front paws. Opening my eyes, I checked my full body had changed. I was all cat. With that done, I peered round the corner before running off up the street.

There was no one around Number Twelve Grimmauld Place when I got there and it squeezed out between Number Eleven and Thirteen. I leapt on to the front steps. But then I came to a problem. I'd always been with an Order member when I came to Grimmauld. I didn't know how to get through the door or what spells were on it. Looking round, I tried to think of another way to get in. I came up with only one solution. Transforming again, I became a small bird and flew up to the roof before plummeting through the chimney. There was so much soot in there that by the time I reached the bottom, I was covered in the stuff and coughing badly. I tumbled out the bottom and returned to my original form.

'I still can't control it,' I muttered as I got up. That was the second time in the past month I'd transformed back before I meant to. 'I'll never get the hang of it again.'

Dusting myself off though I was still covered in soot (you couldn't really tell with my hair though) I headed for the kitchen door to go upstairs. I quietly crept up the stairs and came to the hall. It was very dark. I glanced up the next set of stairs. My grandmother's portrait was on these ones. I had to be very careful not to wake her up. I went up one step at a time very slowly so as not to do so. I managed to make it past her portrait until –

'_You really don't think I can't hear you?_'

I froze. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw the curtains over her portrait had come open. But for once, she wasn't screaming blue murder.

'_Well, well_,' she said. Her eyes were fixed on me. Knowing she was going to address me, I came down the stairs towards her. '_So who do we have here?_'

'I would have thought you knew who I was,' I said. 'I'm Jenna … your granddaughter.'

'_Yes, I know who you are_,' spat Mrs Black. '_The daughter of my eldest. Disgraceful as he was to the family. You, however _–'

'My Dad was not a disgrace,' I said angrily. 'He was an honourable man who fought for what was right. Not what was cruel.' At that point, I saw her smile.

'_Just as I thought. Proud to be who you are, just like your father. Proud to be a _–' Mrs Black shivered, '– _a Gryffindor. And yet, you can't see who you truly are_.'

'Who am I then? Enlighten me.'

'_Oh, you're more black at heart than you realise, that's all_.' I started slightly. '_Sneaking into houses. Creeping about in the shadows. I've heard about many of the things you've done, my granddaughter, many things from Phineas. About how you attacked your cousin after a Quidditch match. And you seem and look very much like my niece, Bellatrix. Very delightful girl. I believe the two of you have met._'

'I am nothing like Bellatrix,' I snarled. I have to say, I felt quite stupid arguing with a portrait. But that was below the belt in my opinion. 'She murdered my father! I would never kill another person because I thought they were lower than me or because they were a blood traitor. I know who I am and I am no Black.'

'_Suit yourself_,' shrugged Mrs Black. She settled herself comfortably into her chair. '_You'll come to see in time how much of a Black you truly are._' and her curtains closed over her portrait.

I glared at where her portrait was for a few more moments before continuing upstairs. There was no point in creeping now, considering she knew I was there. I walked up the stairs and along the first floor landing back to my old bedroom. Inside, I flicked on the light. Luckily it still worked. I went over to the chest of drawers straight away. Pushing aside the clothes which had been in there for God knows how many years, I found what I was looking for: a small black box.

I took the box out of the drawer and placed it on my old bed. Going back to the drawer, I searched for a few more minutes until I found the key. With that in hand, I returned to the box and unlocked the small padlock on it. It clicked open. I unhooked the padlock and opened the box. There inside a small brown envelope was a small yet very heavy locket, a small snake engraved on the front. I took it out and clipped it round my neck, just in case the next thing I was looking for wasn't there.

I left the box on my bed and left the room. If anyone was to come looking for it, they'll find it's already gone. Quickly, I made my way up the next two flights of stairs and towards a door at the end of the landing which led to the roof. The thing I expected to find was the Black family owl, Aldarn. Like most of the things in Grimmauld Place, he was black but surprisingly friendly to me though he never was to Dad. As I thought, I found him nesting in the small cover on the roof.

'Aldarn!' I called over to him. He opened his small blue eyes and looked up at me. 'I've got a job for you.'

He seemed reluctant at first but when I took out some cooked bacon pieces I'd bought back in the food shop in Diagon Alley Aldarn quickly responded. He sat nibbling at them for a good few minutes before he looked obediently at me and held out his leg.

'I need you to take this,' I said, taking the necklace off and placing it back in the small envelope it had originally been in, 'to The Burrow. But don't deliver it to anyone. Just wait in the trees around The Burrow till I get there. Just wait for me.'

Aldarn hooted dolefully about the long journey and spread his wings. I watched as his flew off into the dimming sky. Below me, I saw the street lamps were beginning to come on. It was getting late. The sooner I was away from Grimmauld the better. The Death Eaters would probably be coming to look round here soon for a way in and I didn't want to be here when they tried. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

I went back inside the house and climbed out through a window to get back down to street level. And as soon as I did so, I heard something rustle nearby to me. Someone was nearby. Cautiously, I walked back to the pavement. I turned round again though when I heard the rustling again. And to my horror, there stood Bellatrix. And not just her but Narcissa too.

'Out for a little stroll, are we?' asked Bellatrix. She pointed her wand at me. 'Well, little witchlings should learn it's not safe to walk the streets at night. You never know what could be out there.'

Bellatrix needed no order to attack me. The moment I took a step backwards, she fired a spell at me, I didn't know which one as she did it without words, and I was forced to run. I ran as fast as I could down the street in order to get away from her and Narcissa. The pair of them were firing spells at me. Glancing behind, I could see they were going to catch me any minute.

I ran as fast as I could away from my cousins. Whenever I could manage it, I put my shield up around me to block the spells but they were so strong, the shield kept faltering. Bellatrix wasn't kidding when she said she was strong. The spells got deflected in every direction, bits of stone chipping off from the building. I had to get away from them but I couldn't seem to find a way to do so. I ran down any path I could find but they kept following. I couldn't lose them.

I came to an alleyway in a part of London I didn't know. Behind me, I could hear Bellatrix and Narcissa approaching me. I looked around desperately for a way out. I was trapped. My only option was to try and get over a wire fence at the opposite end of the alley. Quickly, I ran towards it only to feel something suddenly hit me on the small of my back and I was thrown forwards. I fell to the ground, my head hitting the pavement. I tried to sit up but my head was hurting so much that I fell back dazedly to the ground. I opened my eyes to see Bellatrix and Narcissa standing over me …

'Pleasant dreams,' whispered Bellatrix.

I was about to put up my shield to defend myself when everything went black.

-o-

'Remus, you look exhausted. You need to get some sleep.'

'I'm not resting until I find her.'

Lupin stood stubbornly at the window of his living room, staring at into the night. He'd spent the last two days searching for Jenna but to no avail. She was nowhere to be seen.

The minute he'd got up after searching for her the night she vanished, he'd gone straight to The Burrow to see if she'd gone there but neither Molly or Arthur had seen her and she hadn't been in contact with Ron or Ginny. After that, he went and informed Dumbledore that she was missing and he said that Lupin was to look for her instead of continuing his mission for now. Tonks, who at the time had been speaking with Dumbledore, offered immediately to help find her.

'You should go home, Nymphadora,' sighed Lupin. 'There's no point in both of us looking for her.'

'I'm not going anywhere,' said Tonks. 'Not until I know my cousin is safe. And don't call me Nymphadora, Remus. You know I can't stand it.'

Lupin let out an angry sigh and walked away from the window. He slumped down on the sofa and put his face in his hands, running one through his hair as he sat up again.

'This is all my fault,' he said. 'If I'd have just said no to Albus about the mission then she'd still be here. I should have been here for her.'

'Remus, you were there for her,' said Tonks comfortingly. 'But you said so yourself, Jenna was capable of running away –'

'You have no right to say that!' snapped Lupin. 'You don't know Jenna the way I do!' Tonks gasped slightly at his tone. Lupin saw this and sighed again. 'I'm sorry. I just … I can't lose Jenna. She's all I have left. I mean, what if the Death Eaters have captured her? They'll – they'll kill her.'

'You mustn't think that,' said Tonks soothingly. Lupin glanced at her. 'Jenna's a strong witch. We'll find her, Remus. I promise you, we'll find Jenna and she'll be back with you before you know it.' She leant forwards and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. 'I don't want to lose Jenna either. She is my cousin after all.'

Lupin looked at Tonks. She didn't have to help him with this, it was his own fault Jenna had runaway, and yet here she was. He remembered how he used to see her as nothing more than a little girl with a silly crush on him. Sirius's kid cousin. Now though, she was a young ambitious though still clumsy woman willing to risk her life to help fight a battle which could have no end.

Tonks merely smiled as Lupin looked at her. The brave face and all. She could still remember the day she first met him. It had been when Sirius was sent to prison and they'd met in passing at Azkaban. He'd been silent but smiled at her as they passed. Ever since, when she found out he was in the Order, she'd found herself even more clumsy whenever he was around.

The two of them remained seated on the sofa, saying nothing, just looking at each other, until Tonks impulsively leaned forward and pressed her lips against Lupin's, gently kissing him. At first, Lupin was surprised by this bold move, his eyes widening slightly. However, he did not pull away straight away, allowing the kiss to continue for a few seconds. But this was neither the time nor the place. Jenna was still out there.

Lupin was the first to pull back, Tonks doing so too, blushing and looking down.

'I-I'm sorry,' she mumbled quietly. 'I-I shouldn't have –

'It's all right,' replied Lupin uncomfortably. It had been a long time since he last felt a woman's touch. He stood up and returned to the window. 'You – you should go.'

'Yeah.' Tonks hastily stood up and went to grab her coat. Lupin watched her as she did so. 'I'll help look for her again tomorrow … See you, Remus.'

'Yeah, bye.'

* * *

**AN: well, here's the next chapter i'd actually managed to finish before i went back to skool, just needed to edit it slightly before i cud post it tho. well, plz read and leave me a review. BlAcKdAuGhTeR. And thx to all those who reviewed the last chapter**


	29. From One Hell to Another

Chapter 28

From One Hell to Another

Pain. All I could feel was pain. Nearby I could hear a dripping. I was lying on something cold and hard. I opened my eyes but all I could see was darkness. I tried to move but my body was so sore I couldn't, closing my eyes again and gasping slightly as it ached. Slowly, I brought my hands from my sides in front of me to push myself up. A rattling sounded as I moved them. It took so much effort just to sit up, opening my eyes again to look around.

I was in a dark room, a cellar. The dripping was coming from the far corner. As for the rattling, as I put my hand to my head I saw there were chains around my wrists. They were connected to the wall behind me. Where was I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember was coming out of Grimmauld Place and … and Bellatrix and Narcissa had cornered me. They'd attacked me in the street!

'Wake up, little witchling.' A voice sounded close to me. I looked around. I couldn't see anyone. 'Over here.'

A light appeared above me. It was at the top of some stone stairs. A door had been opened. Bellatrix was standing in the doorway, her shadow being cast on the wall. As she came down the steps her footsteps echoed in the empty room. I watched her cautiously as she began to approach me. I backed away towards the corner of the room but found that, when she flicked her wand, the chains around my wrists shortened and I was pulled against the wall. I was on my knees, my hands and arms above my head.

Bellatrix came and stood in front of me. She was bending down to look me in the eye. I merely stared back. I could feel myself shaking.

'Scared, girl?' she asked quietly. I wasn't scared of her. It was rage. The urge to lash out at the person who killed my father was immense. Bellatrix smiled as I refused to answer. 'My, my, just as stubborn as he was. Just as stubborn as Sirius.'

'Don't you dare!' I shouted suddenly. I lunged forwards but the chains stopped me reaching her. 'Don't you dare!' I fought against the chains, trying to get to her. 'Let me go!'

Bellatrix merely laughed. I glared at her, resting back on my knees.

'A fighting spirit, how cute. But I'd save your energy. Those chains aren't going to break with force.' I watched as Bellatrix took a few steps around me, observing me. She spoke a few seconds later. 'I was never one for familiarities so I'll just get to the point, shall I?'

_What is she on about_? I thought.

'Where is the necklace?' asked Bellatrix.

'What necklace?' She smiled again, her thin lips pursing together.

'Don't play games with me. You have seen my power.' All of a sudden, I let out a scream as my body suddenly convulsed in pain. It stopped again a second later. 'I needn't have to remind you. So I'll ask you again. Where is the necklace?'

'I don't … know what … you're talking about …' I breathed. My head was bowed. 'I don't have any necklace of yours.'

'No, not mine,' mused Bellatrix. She drew out her wand and hooked it underneath my necklace, my mother's locket. I looked at it as she did so. My locket? 'Oh, how quaint. Did Sirius give you this locket?' I felt my anger again as she said my Dad's name. 'Well, it's not the one I'm after. Now I shall ask you one more time. Where is the necklace?'

Again, I felt my body convulse as she used the Cruciatus Curse on me again. She lifted it a few seconds later.

'I only have the ones I'm wearing,' I said, panting. 'I don't have any others.'

'Don't lie to me, girl!' snarled Bellatrix. She gripped my face in her white hands and lifted it so I would look at her. 'I saw you disappear into Grimmauld Place! You must have taken it!'

Taken what? I only took what was mine!

'Taken what?' I asked. 'I haven't got anything Voldemort would want. Unless he wants things to accessorise with his black heart!' One step too far.

'Silence!' snarled Bellatrix. She swung her hand at me, a ring on her finger slashing over my cheek as she hit me. 'How dare you! You are not worthy to say the Dark Lord's name! Blood traitor!'

'Enough, Bella!'

It was Voldemort. I looked up. I could feel the blood trickling down my cheek from the cut Bellatrix's ring had made. He was coming down the steps into the cellar. He flicked his wand and brought a little more light into the room. His scarlet eyes shone out of his pale, snake-like face. I wouldn't have been surprised to see a forked tongue flick out of his mouth I have to say. Still, I remained crouched on my knees, watching as he got closer.

'That is no way to treat our guest,' he said softly.

'My apologies, My Lord,' said Bellatrix. She bowed in front of him. 'But she needs to learn when to hold her tongue.'

Voldemort merely smiled, his thin mouth twisting into a curve, before turning to me.

'I believe we've never been properly introduced,' he said curtly. 'But as I'm sure you're aware of by now, I am Lord Voldemort.' I didn't reply. 'Come now, niceties must be observed. Dumbledore wouldn't want his student to appear rude.' Again, I didn't answer. 'Answer me, girl!' He pointed his wand at me.

My mind went blank. It sort of … floated away. I couldn't feel the pain anymore. I felt … happy for some reason. Like nothing was wrong. I didn't even hear myself saying, 'Jennifer Black.' My mind then came back. I shook myself. What just happened? That wasn't right. I just blanked out momentarily … the Imperious Curse?

'Very good,' I heard Voldemort say. I looked back at him. 'Though I would have expected more of a fight from a Black. She is your relation, is she not, Bella?'

'She has all the features of a Black,' replied Bellatrix. 'The looks certainly. But as for magic, she is weak. She isn't worthy to call herself Black, My Lord.'

Voldemort again smiled and turned to address me.

'Now, seeing as you refused to answer Bella, I will ask you,' he said. 'Where is the necklace?'

Again with the necklace? What necklace? The only necklace I had taken from Grimmauld was that gold locket. Why was it so important? It was the Black family locket. It rightfully belonged to me. I was the last of the Black bloodline on Dad's side, it was mine. Why would Voldemort want it?

'I don't have any necklace,' I said slowly. 'None that you would want.' I wasn't about to tell him where it was.

Voldemort was silent for a few moments as he observed me. I kept my eyes away from him, looking at the ground. Then, 'I see there is some truth in your words. The rest though … I see are not.' I looked at Voldemort. He wasn't reading my thoughts, was he? 'No matter,' he said. 'You are stubborn now because you still have energy to resist.' Voldemort turned away and headed to the steps. 'Let's see how willing you are to speak when you are more tired. Come, Bella.'

They left, shutting the door and locking it. The sound of the locking clicking shut echoed through the empty cellar. The chains holding my wrists lengthened and my hands fell to my sides.

'I'm in deep sludge,' I sighed. Leaning back against the wall, I rested my head against it, my knees pulled up to my chest with my arms wrapped round them. 'Lupin … help me …'

I don't know how long I was kept in that cellar. The days seemed to pass without much notice seeing as I never saw daylight down there. I only knew it was during the day as either Voldemort or Bellatrix came down to speak to me, trying to find out what I'd done with that necklace, and each day I kept telling them I didn't have it. They used very short doses of the Cruciatus Curse to try and loosen my tongue but I wouldn't speak. And because of him using the Imperious Curse on me when he tried to find out my name, I was on my guard to try and resist it. But the less energy I had, the less I was able to fight it.

I was surprised I managed to hold out as long as I did. Voldemort wasn't completely cruel by not giving me any food at all but what he did give me certainly didn't stop me from being hungry. Table scraps, my favourite meal. However, after what must have been at least two weeks, I soon bypassed hunger and stopped eating completely. I just didn't have an appetite. I think I'd lost at least a stone and a half in weight over that period of time.

Voldemort and Bellatrix weren't the only people who came down to the cellar. There was only one other. I had been down in the cellar at least three weeks by then when I received an unexpected visitor. The door had opened and, when I looked up, I saw a man I didn't recognise. He was a tall man but his body seemed a shadow of its former self, like it had been drained and was only just getting its strength back. Like when Dad had come out of Azkaban, all frail and thin. He had dark hair drawn into a ponytail and his eyes were a deep grey. I watched as he approached me.

'Now who do we have here?' he asked.

The man stopped just in front of me. I expected the chains to shorten but this time they remained long. I stared at him wearily as he observed me. His grey eyes roved up and down me. He took in every detail of me before he spoke again.

'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,' he mused to himself more than out loud. That's when the chains shortened but this time I was forced to stand instead of kneeling. 'And yet, I wonder if she is …'

When the man moved closer, I raised my hand as best I could and drew up my shield. The blue circle surrounded me, illuminating the man's features. He did look withered, only just regaining his former strength. He stopped as it blocked his way, laughing.

'Ah, yes, just who I thought it was,' he said mirthfully. 'The rumours around the Dark Lord's followers were true. The Black girl indeed has been captured. Such a pleasure, I must say. A great similarity to your mother.' My eyes narrowed. How did he know my mother? He must have seen my confused look as he added, 'Rabastian Lestrange,' making a small bow, 'at your service.'

'At my service?' I repeated sceptically. 'If I wasn't so doubtful of that I'd laugh.' I will someday learn to think before I speak. 'Still,' I continued, eyeing him closely but lowering my shield to save energy, 'how do you know my mother? And why would you be so interested if I was the Black girl?'

'Why, she was one of my better victims,' replied Lestrange. 'As I said, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. She had a sweet taste … I'm merely curiously if it runs in the family. Though fifteen year old witches aren't generally my type.'

_Victims_? I thought. _He did something to my mother?_ I tried to think back. I didn't really known much about my Mum. Lupin had never told me much about her and Dad had only told me what their relationship had been like. But what did he mean by a sweet taste? Mum's only boyfriend to my knowledge had been Dad. Why would he –? No …

'You,' I said slowly. I looked up at Lestrange to see him smiling. 'You're the man who raped my Mum, aren't you?'

'Like I said, one of my better victims. And now her daughter stands before me.' He took a step forwards.

'You won't lay a finger on me!' I growled at him. My shield encircled me again as I raised my hand, blocking him. 'You almost killed my mother! You deserve nothing more than to go back to Azkaban!'

Lestrange chuckled, 'Like I said, I have no interest in fifteen year old witches.' He turned away from me and walked back to the steps. 'I just wanted to see the daughter of the one who escaped me locked up.'

He left.

After a while I began to wonder where exactly I was. I couldn't hear any cars or people outside the house when it was quiet. But wherever I was had to have been a meeting place of some sort for Death Eaters. Frequently during the time I spent there I could hear voices above me. Bellatrix seemed the most regular Death Eater there. Voldemort himself wasn't there that often. The only other voice I recognised one day was Narcissa Malfoy. And not only her but Malfoy too. It was news to me that Narcissa was a Death Eater. Malfoy though? But what they were talking about was very intriguing.

It must have been late in the day, maybe even night, when the Malfoys arrived. I only knew this by the fact I could just hear an owl hooting somewhere outside. Still, I'd been leaning against the wall thinking for what must have been the hundredth time "That drip's getting worse" when I heard Voldemort address Narcissa. Curious, I went to move closer to the steps when I remembered the chains around my wrists. I carefully lifted them up and slid along the floor to get nearer. I couldn't hear them that clear but I got the gist of what they were talking about.

The first thing I heard were a few shouts. Malfoy was in pain of some sort. Just before his screams though I'd heard a mumbled word. It sounded like a spell. His shouts only lasted a few seconds. After that the conversation went quieter and I had to strain to hear it. From what I got, Malfoy had a job to do. Something when he was back at Hogwarts. He had to remove someone or something. I didn't hear Voldemort's exact words. After that the conversation was between Malfoy and Narcissa. Hearing that Voldemort had apparently gone, I went back against my wall.

Thoughts were buzzing around my head as I leaned back against the cold surface. What was Voldemort getting Malfoy to do? And why was he screaming? Voldemort wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on Malfoy with his mother there, would he? I don't know. Narcissa would never allow it. She may be a Black by blood but she wouldn't let her own son be hurt. What was it Malfoy had to do?

It must have been just under a month in total I'd been stuck here when that conversation took place. It was another good few days before Voldemort graced me with his presence again after that. By now I spent most of my time sleeping for the sheer fact I didn't have enough energy from the lack of food. Well, there wasn't much to do down there anyway. Still, when the door opened, I looked up to see him coming before sitting up against the wall.

'Are you willing to talk now, Black?' asked Voldemort as he came down the stairs.

I remained silent.

'Answer him!' shouted Bellatrix. She was with him. I heard her footsteps approach me. I didn't do anything. I didn't even flinch when she slapped me, merely letting my face turn away. 'Answer him!' she demanded.

'I've told you,' I said quietly. I rested against the wall. 'I don't have your necklace. I don't even know what you're talking about.'

'Yes, as you've stated every time I've asked,' said Voldemort. 'Even from probing your mind I still have not been able to find the information I want. It seems you indeed are telling the truth about the necklace. You do not know of which necklace I speak.'

I felt the chains round my wrists shorten and pull me on to my knees. I didn't have the strength to fight against them so I just remained there, hands held above my head and leaning forwards slightly, my head bowed as I looked away from him. I was so hungry though I didn't know it and so tired from lack of sleep. I just didn't have the energy.

'But it is not that I want to know this time,' Voldemort continued. 'This time you have some information I want to know. Something even you don't know yet.' This made me look up. How could I have some information Voldemort wanted which even I didn't know? He did not explain this, instead he merely asked, 'You receive premonitions, do you not?'

Begrudgingly, I nodded. I didn't ask how he knew this. Looking up, I saw Voldemort walk up to me and place his hand firmly over my forehead, his long fingers gripping it tightly. Instantly my head started hurting. He was making me get a premonition. I didn't even think it was possible to do so. It hurt so much. I had closed my eyes and I could hear myself screaming.

_People running in fear … fires torching everything in sight …_ _Harry and Voldemort fighting against one another … Death Eaters fighting the Order … death and destruction everywhere … Harry lying on the ground … Voldemort standing over him, wand pointed at his chest …_

Harry … I could see him. He – he was wounded. Voldemort was torturing him. He was hurt! I – I had to help him. Voldemort was going to kill him! But it was a vision, it wasn't real. But still, Harry was bleeding and … he was hurt. Voldemort was going to kill him. I couldn't take it. Harry wasn't going to die. What I was seeing wasn't going to happen. Voldemort wasn't going to win! It wasn't true! It wasn't going to happen! HARRY WASN'T GOING TO DIE!

'NO!'

All of a sudden, I felt my magic burst from me in one blast. I felt Voldemort's hand leave my head and I fell forwards, hanging up by the chains round my wrists. My hair fell over my face and I was left panting in pain. My head was throbbing. I heard a soft laughter in front of me and I looked up. Voldemort was a few feet away from me, still on his feet; his red eyes were glinting in both malice and laughter, a soft chuckle coming from him.

'So the little witchling does have magic,' he said softly. 'More powerful than I first anticipated, Bellatrix, but still only mediocre.' Beside him, Bellatrix nodded.

'She can use Dark magic if she wishes like all Blacks can,' said Bellatrix, 'but she refuses to.' She came up to me and raised my face, her pale fingers and sharp nails holding my chin. 'She may wish it wasn't true but Dark magic runs in all Blacks, good or bad.' I pulled my face from her, glaring at her behind my hair.

'That maybe so,' mused Voldemort. 'But she has no strength to fight me. Now, Black,' he turned to face me, 'what did you see?'

I knew it was pointless to not say anything. Bellatrix would just hit me or torture me again. Taking a moment to regain my breathing, I said, 'I saw … the fight, between you and Potter … it stopped before I saw who won though … I didn't see the outcome.'

I stopped. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I didn't want to see Harry die. As I said, no matter how much I hated Harry I could never really do so. He meant more to me than I knew at the time and the thought of losing him … I didn't want it to happen.

'Very well,' said Voldemort. I was drawn back from my own thoughts when he spoke. 'Not particularly useful information, but it's a start. And how intriguing. The things I felt when she threw me back.' I looked up. Voldemort was staring at me. 'A hidden flame, a need for someone. I've seen it before. Yes, I recognise it. Its been years since I last encountered that. And yet, she doesn't even realise it.'

I stared at him, utterly bewildered to what he was on about.

'Now,' said Voldemort. 'To keep that magic of yours under control.'

What? I saw Voldemort draw out his white wand and approach me again. Next, he released the chain holding my left wrist and pulled my arm towards him, pulling back my sleeve. I knew what he was going to do. Though I felt weak from being starved and what had happened minutes before, I tried to yank it back. He wouldn't let go.

'No!' I shouted. I wasn't going to let him do it. 'No! Get off me! Let go of me!'

I continued to pull away but Voldemort's grip merely tightened around my wrist. With a particularly sharp jerk, he pulled my arm forwards and placed his wand tip on my forearm. I felt a searing pain spread all over my arm and I screamed in pain. It was excruciating. It seemed to last forever, Voldemort's wand on my skin, burning it from tip to flesh, until it finally stopped. Looking down at my arm, I now saw the Dark Mark burnt black on to it, the snake writhing out from the mouth.

I'd been branded a Death Eater.

It was another few days before I had regained any energy from that confrontation with Voldemort. I spent a lot of that time asleep seeing as Voldemort had got what he wanted out of me. And when I wasn't sleeping, I was thinking. I had to get out of here. I needed to find a way out of this place, wherever I was. I tried to think of any possible means of escape but whatever it came to, I couldn't get out of that door. It was the only way in or out of the room. There were no holes in the walls and no windows. But after much thought, I came up with a plan. I just hoped it worked.

After sleeping more to get more energy, I waited till it was nearing nightfall. It was nearing the time when they brought me the food I got for supper. Hearing the footsteps approach the door, I allowed my body to go limp. I had to relax and concentrate. Clearing my mind, I closed my eyes and thought of a Thestral's invisibility. If I could be invisible they'd think I'd already escape. After a few moments I felt my body begin to tingle and vanish into the darkness.

The footsteps approached. I opened my eyes and saw the light at the top of the steps. I kept absolutely still. The man came down the stairs and walked over to where my chains supposedly hung limply. It took only seconds for him to raise the alarm that I'd gone. And just as I'd hoped, he left the door open.

Quickly, I became visible again before transforming into a snake. It was the first animal I could think of to get out of those chains. My arms became free as I changed. Changing back, I stood up. I was a bit shaky at first but managed to stand. Then, as quickly and as quietly as I could, I hurried up the stairs to find a way out. Following the lights seemed the best bet. They took me down a corridor near to a room. Around me I could hear voices shouting. It was best I didn't linger. But when I saw my bag lying on table I had to stop to get it. Bellatrix must have taken it off me when she captured me. I peered round the doorframe to see the room was empty. The voice I heard suddenly became louder though. Quickly I grabbed my bag and ran down the corridor.

I managed to find an open window to climb out of. I jumped out of it and landed a few feet lower in some bushes. The house appeared to be in a clearing in a wood. Luckily it was only just starting to get dark. I stumbled back to my feet and just ran for it. I had to get as far away from that house as I possibly could. I could already hear the voices shouting as they realised I'd only just escaped. And soon, they were chasing me.

I didn't know where I was. I just kept running. Behind me there were at least three Death Eaters, one being Bellatrix. I could hear her screaming orders to capture me. Soon, spells too were being fired in order to knock me down. I avoided them as best I could but my only thought was to get away. And because I didn't know where I was I didn't know if I was running round in circles or not. Every so often I took cover behind a tree as spells and curses flew past me, taking seconds out to try and figure out what to do before running off again. All I could think of at that time though was, _I need to get home! Lupin!_

-o-

It had been over a month since Jenna had disappeared. Lupin had almost given up hope of finding her. All he could do was pray that she was safe. Lupin had to find her, he just had to. He couldn't let Tala down. So he didn't give up entirely. Whenever he had time, Lupin searched every place he could think of to where Jenna could be.

When he had been told that Jenna had been seen in Diagon Alley his spirits lifted slightly. But it was clear that she hadn't stuck around. Where could she have gone though? However, it had been that which had given the Lupin the biggest clue to where Jenna would have been heading. The moment he found out, he headed straight for Grimmauld Place. But when he got there, he found something that made his fears come to life.

Lupin had Apparated to a secluded area near to where Grimmauld was located. He had to be careful in case there were Death Eaters nearby. He made sure the coast was clear before coming out from the shadows where he was hidden. He walked quickly up to where Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was and watched it appear. Drawing out his wand, Lupin cancelled the spells on the front door and pushed it open. It had been empty since the attack at the Ministry in case Kreacher had informed the Death Eaters where the Order's Headquarters was.

The house was silent. Looking around told him no one had been here. He continued on upstairs to where Jenna had stayed over the previous summer. Again the room was empty. Nothing had been disturbed. Lupin let out a sigh. This had been his one hope. If Jenna hadn't been here then he had no clue to where she was. He closed the door behind him and left the room. Quietly he walked back down the stairs and across the hallway to the front door. He sealed it once again when he was out of the house.

Disheartened, Lupin walked back down the street to head for a safe place to Apparate away. A few Muggles passed him as he turned into another street, greeting him cheerfully. Lupin merely nodded his head to them. As he did so though, he noticed something lying on the ground. A green coat. Lupin walked over to it and picked it up. He couldn't mistake it, it was Jenna's for sure. But that just confirmed his worse fears: either Jenna had been captured … or she was dead.

Lupin sighed as he remembered. Moonlake Cottage seemed so empty without her. Her room was still how she'd left it. Lupin just looked around it. He had always tried to protect Jenna from harm but had made mistakes along the way; he kept who her father was from her but was wrong when he saw how much Sirius truly cared for her; when she had asked him about her premonitions he didn't tell her the reason why she had them; and he made the biggest mistake when he put the Order before Jenna when she needed him the most.

'Jenna … be safe … please, come home.'

But that wasn't the only thing on Lupin's plate now. Tonks, as nice a woman she was, had put him in an awkward position. That kiss a few days after Jenna disappeared ... it was neither the time or the place. And now whenever he saw Tonks he could see the sadness in her eyes at the fact he turned her down. Things were just going from bad to worse.

-o-

The trees suddenly stopped and I found myself just managing to stop before the ground ended. In front of me was a very steep scree hill and I was standing on its ledge. OK, where the heck was I? Behind me I heard Bellatrix's voice shout, 'There she is! Get her!' I looked behind me to see Bellatrix and the others pushing through the last few branches which separated us. I had three choices; one) transform and fly away, two) risk being knocked off by the Death Eaters and be killed, or three) get captured and probably killed again. Wow, great choice: die trying to fly, die fighting, die captured.

'Get her!' screamed Bellatrix.

Flying it is.

Quickly I thought of a phoenix and prayed to God that I would transform in time. It worked and without a seconds more thought, I took off to fly away.

'She's getting away!' shouted one of the Death Eaters.

'_Incarcerous!_'

I heard Bellatrix scream that spell. Next thing I felt was binds tying themselves around both my wings. I flapped against them but they tightened with each movement. The binds were pulling me back to the ground. _Keep flapping_, that was all I could think of. Not such a good idea when there are ropes wrapped around your wings.

It didn't take much for a snap to happen in my left wing, particularly when I broke my left arm only a month or so ago. Next thing I knew I was falling back to the ground. I felt my back hit the ground and I felt myself change back. My body was rolling down the hill. I tried to grab on to the stone to stop myself but they lose so came away as I grabbed them. I came to a stop at the foot of the hill. The ropes that had bound my wings were all tied up round my body. I tried to get up but I couldn't. I just lay there …

-o-

'_Incarcerous!_' screamed Bellatrix.

Ropes flew from the end of her wand and wrapped themselves round the wings of the phoenix before her. She was not going to let the Black girl escape her so easily. She was going to finish her off like she finished off her cousin. The bird began to struggle as the binds tightened. Bellatrix pulled back on her wand, pulling the ropes towards her to bring the bird down. However, before she'd got the bird was even near the ground, its wing seemed to bend in the wrong direction and it fell.

Bellatrix released the ropes from the tip of her wand as the bird hit the ground. Approaching the end of the ledge, she looked over to see the witchling rolling down to the bottom of the hill. From what Bellatrix could see, she wasn't moving. A smile began to form on her pale lips. Looks like she was dead anyway, killing two birds with one stone really.

'She couldn't survive a fall like that,' said Amycus.

'No,' sneered Bellatrix. 'I believe she'll be seeing her dear father sooner than she expected. Looks like the last Black is finally eliminated.' She turned away from the hill and began to walk back to the house. 'Come on,' she ordered. 'We must inform the Dark Lord of her departure.'

-o-

I let out a groan in pain and opened my eyes. I was outside, I could feel the breeze on my face. I didn't know how long I'd been out but it was dawn; the sun was just beginning to rise. Carefully I sat up. There were ropes round me. I brushed them off and looked up. I was at the foot of a steep scree hill. _I must have a very high endurance level for pain to fall from up there_, I thought. _Either that or I've felt so much pain in the last few weeks that I've become numb to it._

I put my hands behind me and pushed myself to my feet. That's when I felt a pain in my arm. OK, maybe not. I looked at my left arm. My wrist was at a bit of an odd angle. Great, a broken wrist. I checked myself over for other injuries. Nice lot of scratches, some bleeding, and my clothes torn and hanging off me.

'Well I'll be getting a trip to the hospital,' I mumbled. I took a wobbly step forwards. I took another look around; there was a small stream beside me. I guess my best bet was to follow that. 'Whenever I get back to civilisation that is.'

At the pace I was going it took me a good couple of days before I managed to get to a place with any people about. Even so, I tried to remain hidden. I didn't want Bellatrix to find me. I found I was somewhere in the north of England. Well that narrowed it down slightly. And with a broken wrist (I managed to rip off some more of my jeans to make a small sling) I couldn't transform to travel quicker. But there was another way.

Taking out my wand, I threw it out and summoned the Knight Bus. There was a loud honking and two bright lights appeared to my left. The large purple bus appeared and stopped in front of me. Quickly I tied my hair up as best as I could to make it look shorter than it was. Stan came out as usual to say his "Welcome to the Knight Bus" business but I merely went past him to the second floor.

'Oi!' he yelled behind me. 'Where you headed?'

'Nowhere in particular,' I replied. I stopped and took out my moneybag, handing him five Sickles. 'Just get me as close to the southwest as this will take me.'

Yes, the southwest, not London. I figured the chances of Lupin still being at Moonlake Cottage were slim. So I headed for the southwest … for The Burrow.

The Knight Bus was the fastest method of transport I could think of and for once Stan didn't question anything I did and left me in peace on the second floor. I remained by the window and watched the towns and villages pass me by. It beat walking at least. Another reason for Stan not bothering me was because of there being so many other passengers that day. The Knight Bus seemed to have become a popular way to travel now that Voldemort's presence was known. But that was a downside. It took a good part of the day to get to the southwest where I was dropped off.

During that time, I was able to scrounge a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ an old wizard had left behind on his seat. It was the nineteenth of August. Whoa. I'd completely missed my sixteenth birthday and I'd been at that house for over a month indeed. The news of the day was that Voldemort's attacks are getting worse. Well that was news to me. In other news a potion had been created to restore hair to its original colour. Hadn't they ever heard of hair dye? Putting down the paper, I heard Stan call up the stairs, 'Oi! Missy with the attitude! We're in Tiverton. Is that southwest enough for you?'

I came down the stairs and said that was fine before getting out. However, he stopped me before I could leave.

'Hey,' he said, 'do I know you?' I glanced at him.

'I highly doubt it.' and I walked off.

Right, I was in Tiverton. And Ottery St Catchpole was near Exeter … somewhere. Maybe they should start teaching geography or something in Hogwarts. I had to somehow get to Exeter and then find a map to show me where Ottery St Catchpole is. Then it's home sailing to Ron's. Oh screw it. I know it probably wouldn't work but it was worth a go.

I placed my bag round my neck with my good hand and walked away from the pavement into the bushes. Once sure I was hidden, I concentrated on the image of a Thestral. This was going to hurt. And boy, it did just that. The moment I tried to change my wrist, it hurt even more but I forced it to change. Once fully transformed and sure I was invisible, I pushed off on my good three hooves and flew into the sky. The only good things about being a Thestral was that I needn't know where I was going because of the Thestral's sense of direction and the wings were on my shoulder blades so I didn't have to walk.

It took me a couple of hours to fly to The Burrow but it had already been late when the Knight Bus had stopped at Tiverton. It must have been at least nine o'clock at night when I saw the familiar sight of The Burrow in the distance. Unfortunately though I was shattered. Come on, being starved and tortured for nearly a month. I was surprised I was still running though what it was I was running on I didn't know. As I landed and transformed back on Stoatshead hill it was all I could do to stay standing. But I had to change again so as to make sure no one saw me who I didn't want to see me.

Quickly I changed into my usual animal; a wolf. Regardless of the pain in my left front paw, I hurried as fast as I could down the hill towards The Burrow. It was just such a relief to know I was going to see some friendly faces. As I went I stumbled slightly in the trees as the darkness crept in. I could see the house just in front of me. I was going to be safe. I stumbled again a bit down the small slope just behind their house before limping over to the doorway. There were lights on in the kitchen and I could hear voices. Sitting up on my back legs, I used my good paw to scratch the doorframe.

The voices stopped and there was a slight shuffling before, 'Who's there?' I didn't have the energy to reply but merely let out a short whine. 'Declare yourself!'

Not having a choice I transformed back. I instantly fell forwards against the door, managing to just about steady myself, and said, 'Mrs Weasley … help me.'

I felt myself begin to lose consciousness again and start to fall over. After that moment I just remember seeing the door opening and a pair of arms going round me before I completely passed out.

-o-

'Is there still no news, Remus?' asked Mrs Weasley, handing him a cup of tea.

'None,' he replied. 'None whatsoever.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked over from their seats at the kitchen table to where Mr and Mrs Weasley and Lupin were gathered. Lupin looked even worse than he usual did. Jenna's disappearance had certainly affected him. He had large dark circles under his eyes, even more so than when he looked tired just from a full moon approaching. It looked like he hadn't slept in days from searching for her so often.

Jenna's disappearance in some ways had affected Harry too. He felt guilty, like he was partly responsible. It was because of him that Sirius had died. And Jenna's last words to him, 'I don't know whether I can forgive you this time.' had really hit home for him. Harry didn't know what it was but the idea of losing Jenna's friendship made him feel really low. He'd known her now for almost eight years. She was his first proper friend. If Harry admitted it, he relied on Jenna; she was the only person he could really talk to knowing that she wouldn't judge him or anything. He couldn't see life without her.

A soft scratching sound suddenly started at the kitchen door. Everyone jumped and turned to look at it. Mrs Weasley approached it apprehensively, taking her steps slowly and placing her head against the door. They weren't expecting anyone to appear tonight, especially this late. Harry and the others looked at each other then back at the door. The scratching had stopped.

'Who's there?' she asked. No answer. 'Declare yourself!'

A faint voice came from behind the door.

'Mrs Weasley … help me.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione were immediately alert. Lupin too instantly looked up. That voice … could it be? From the sounds of it, whoever had spoken was either very tired or badly injured. Mrs Weasley opened the door just in time to see a tired and wounded teenage witch collapse. She just caught her before she completely passed out. It was Jenna.

'Jenna!' gasped Lupin.

He dropped his cup and instantly ran over to Mrs Weasley. He quickly picked Jenna up as Mrs Weasley closed the door. She just lay unconscious in his arms.

'Remus, place her on the sofa,' said Mr Weasley.

As Lupin did that, Mrs Weasley began barking orders to Bill and Charlie to set up a bed in Ginny's room and get the potion box from the larder while she, Mr Weasley and Lupin checked Jenna over. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny hurried to see what was happening. As he looked over her, Lupin's heart was pounding hard, just out of sheer relief that she was alive. Her breathing though was shallow and her body was covered in cuts; her left wrist appeared to be broken judging by how limp it was and she had lost some weight.

'She's been attacked,' said Mrs Weasley. 'Oh, the poor thing. Least she's still breathing.'

'Jenna.' Lupin ran his hand over her cheek. Her forehead was hot. 'Jenna, can you hear me?'

Harry and the others watched apprehensively as Charlie returned with a small box. Mrs Weasley had pulled out her wand and was muttering the odd incantation, cleaning Jenna's face of blood and repairing her broken wrist before strapping it tightly in some bandage. Next, she handed Lupin a small bottle. He took it and lifted Jenna's head, placing it against her lips. He poured a small amount into her mouth. It must have been a reviving potion of some sort because a few seconds later Jenna began to stir.

'Lupin …' she said hoarsely.

'Jenna,' sighed Lupin in relief. She was all right. 'Jen, I'm here.'

'Death Eaters … Bellatrix … attacked me … Voldemort, he …'

'Ssh, it's all right, dear,' Mrs Weasley replied soothingly. 'You're safe now. Oh, Remus, she looks dreadful. What those people must have done to her! She's lucky to be alive.'

A brief smile flickered over Lupin's face as Mrs Weasley said that, the first in days, and he replied, 'Luck always favours the ones who need it. I'm just glad she's back.'

'She's got a bit of a fever,' muttered Mr Weasley. 'Other than the broken wrist, she's only got minor cuts and bruising. Nothing a few potions won't heal in a couple days. The most important thing is she gets some rest and some food. She appears to have lost quite a bit of weight.'

'Arthur, carry her up to Ginny's room.' Mrs Weasley got up and packed up the potion box and turned for the kitchen. 'Out of the way, you four!' she snapped at Harry and the others. 'Ginny, do you mind Jenna having your bed tonight? She needs the rest.'

'Sure, Mum,' she replied. 'I'll go find her some pyjamas.'

Ginny disappeared upstairs. Mr Weasley and Lupin followed with Jenna in Lupin's arms. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched as they took her upstairs.

'Do you think she'll be all right?' asked Hermione worriedly.

'Jenna's strong,' replied Harry. His eyes were focused on Jenna as she was taken upstairs. 'She'll be fine … I hope.'

-o-

The next morning I woke up to find myself lying in a bed wearing someone's pyjamas. I had such a headache and the bright light of the morning didn't help. When I opened my eyes, they were slightly blurry at first but soon focused to see I was in someone's room. I let out a groan as I moved on to my back. I brought my hand to my forehead and brushed back my hair before seeing a bandage wrapped round it. I could move it. It had been fixed. That's when someone spoke to me.

'Jenna, you're awake.'

I sat up in bed. It was Hermione. And with her was Ron and Ginny. She was holding a tray of food. She came and sat down on the end of my bed and placed the tray on my lap. I looked at the food. It looked so good but I just didn't have the appetite to eat it.

'How're you feeling? We were so worried about you.'

'I'm fine,' I replied quietly. I poked the fork into one of the sausages on the plate and took a bite. I knew I had to eat something. 'Just a little sore.'

'Can you remember anything that happened?' asked Ron.

'Not really, it all seems a bit of a blur,' I mumbled. Yes, I know I was lying. I'd just seen Harry walk in the room. He was watching me. 'I only remember someone chasing me and next thing I was lying at the bottom of a hill. I didn't know where I was.' I shook my head. 'It took all the energy I had left to get down here.'

'Did you see Voldemort?' asked Harry. I looked at him. He was staring at me. 'Did he hurt you?'

'I really don't want to talk about it now,' I said, ignoring Harry's question. I stared coldly back at him. I didn't want to talk to him. It was none of his business. I pushed the tray off my lap and I got out of the bed, heading for the door. 'I just want to take a shower and forget about it.'

'OK,' said Hermione. She came over to me and gave me a hug. I returned it. It was so good to see them again. 'You know we're here if you need us.'

'Yeah,' agreed Ginny. She too gave me a hug. 'So if you want to talk about it, we're here.'

'Thanks, guys,' I said.

'By the way, Jen,' added Ron before I left, 'you passed all your OWLs.' He handed me an opened letter. 'The letters came earlier in the holiday. Your work paid off.'

Well that was a nice surprise. Taking the letter, I headed for the bathroom reading my results. I got all Outstandings. I was quite surprised I passed Divination and History of Magic as well as I did. My Divination exam had consisted of me making up the biggest load of nonsense ever. It had worked though. With that in mind I took off Ginny's pyjamas and had a shower. It felt so nice to finally be clean again and be able to wash my hair.

For the rest of the day I spent my time sitting in the living room on the sofa, my knees pulled up to my chest. I was staring out the window, looking at the sunshine. You really don't know how lucky you are to see the sun shine until you don't see it any longer. Plus I felt much better being on my own than with the others. When it was time for lunch Mrs Weasley was insisting I ate something but I couldn't stomach any of her food. I had no appetite whatsoever. But I ate something just to keep her happy. Then it was back on the sofa to think. It was the afternoon when someone came to me.

'Jenna?'

I looked away from the window to the wooden arch separating the sitting room and kitchen. It was Lupin. I opened my mouth to say something but no words came. I honestly didn't know what to say to him. I had been dreading the moment when he would come to speak to me. I knew he'd be angry at me for running away but he had to see it from my point of view. It felt like he was leaving me. So instead I looked away from him, my hair falling over my face. I heard a few footsteps approach me before arms went round my body, pulling me closer. I felt them grip me. I held on to Lupin's arm as he hugged me, resting my head on his shoulder.

'I am so glad you've come home,' said Lupin. I could hear the emotion in his voice. I felt like I was going to cry knowing how much I must have hurt him. 'I thought I'd lost you forever.'

'I'm sorry,' was all I could say. Lupin let go of me and held me in front of him on the sofa. He raised my face so I would look at him.

'No, I'm sorry,' he said. He looked so sincere. 'I shouldn't have accepted that mission. I should have been there for you. I put something else before you, something I said I'd never do. I gave you my word.' Lupin was silent for a few seconds before he continued. 'The main thing is you're safe and home. And if you don't want to go back to Hogwarts, I'll keep you out till you're ready.'

'No, I have to go back to school,' I said. 'I think it's better if I go back. It'll take my mind off things that happened. And I need to do my NEWTs anyway. No point in getting behind at the start of my NEWT years.'

'If you're sure,' said Lupin. He gave me another hugged and smiled. I just managed to do so in return. 'If you tell me which subjects you want to continue, I'll go to Diagon Alley and get you the textbooks you need.'

I told Lupin I'd decided to do Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology, Potions (yeah I know, who would openly put up with Snape for another two years willingly?) and Transfiguration. But after the summer I'd just had, I wanted to do something to help stop the Death Eaters and Voldemort and being an Auror seemed to be the most logical way of doing it. Even if it did mean working for the Ministry.

I spent just over a week at The Burrow. After a couple days of sleep and regaining some sort of appetite I looked for a moment in order to have a look round for Aldarn. I hadn't forgotten that he should be around here somewhere. I had to find a moment when the Weasleys and the others were all busy and I had a moment to myself when I couldn't be interrupted. The best time to do it I found was before bed, when they were all relaxing in the sitting room or upstairs getting ready for bed. The only chance I had was on the last Wednesday of the holidays.

It was nearing eight o'clock and everyone was away from the kitchen door. I offered to put the rubbish out and so found an excuse to go outside. I took it out as I said I would before lingering round when I came back in to see if Mrs Weasley had left the window. Once she had, I disappeared back into the garden. I headed straight for the bushes near the chicken coop.

'Aldarn!' I hissed quietly. 'Aldarn, you here?'

I waited for a few moments. He didn't seem to be there. Maybe he was out hunting? But then there was a doleful hooting and I saw him flap out from the bushes. He didn't seem pleased. As I took the letter he gave me a sharp nip on the finger like he used to do to Dad before flying off.

'Thanks to you too,' I said as he disappeared.

'Who are you talking to?'

I spun round, pocketing the letter as I did so. Behind me was Harry. He was standing on the doorstep and was watching me. I looked away and headed for the small wall around the chicken coop, saying, 'None of your business.' in reply.

'Why did you do it?' I turned round again. Harry was walking over to me. 'Why did you run away?'

'It's none of your business!' I said again. I walked passed him to get back to the house seeing that I wasn't going to get any peace out here but he caught my wrist to stop me. 'Get your hands off me!' I burst, yanking my wrist from his grip. 'Who do you think you are?'

'I'm your friend,' replied Harry. 'Or at least, I was the last time I looked.'

'Well people changed with time, Potter, believe it or not.'

'Since when did you call me Potter?'

I just shook my head and walked off. But again he stopped me, this time by walking in front of me.

'Jenna, please,' he said, 'I just want to know if you're all right.' I stared at him. Why would he care? 'You disappear two weeks after school finishes and turn up again over a month later without a word of where you've been. I've been worried about you. Lupin has been thinking you were dead!'

'Oh, of course you have,' I replied sarcastically. 'Guilty conscience getting the better of you?' I pushed him on the chest as I said that making him take a step back. 'Didn't want another death on your hands?' I walked round him but only to be stopped a third time, grabbing my arm.

'It's not been like that at all!' protested Harry. Yeah, right. 'I – what's that on your arm?'

I looked down to see he'd grabbed my left arm. Voldemort had burnt the Dark Mark on to that arm! I could just see the tip of the snake's black tail writhing slightly below my wrist. The sleeve of my jacket had rolled up when Harry had grabbed it.

'It's nothing,' I said. I tried to free my arm but Harry wouldn't let go. 'No, I – let go!' He took a step forwards and took the rest of my arm in his other hand. 'No, don't!' He pushed up my sleeve and revealed the Dark Mark. I stared at it as it writhed on my arm. Beside me Harry was looking at in disgust before looking up at me.

'Did Voldemort do this to you?' he asked me. I didn't answer. I just stared at him as he looked right into my eyes. 'Did Voldemort do this to you?' asked Harry again.

'Why do you care?' I asked quietly. I pulled my arm from his grip and turned away, pulling my sleeve down my arm. 'Why do you care so much what happened?'

I looked down at the ground, my hair falling over my face and my arms crossed over my chest holding my elbows.

'Because I care about you.' I glanced through my hair back at him. 'You're my best friend.'

'Well maybe you aren't mine anymore.' and I walked off back inside.

That night I lay awake in bed for hours, tossing and turning. I felt so bad for telling Harry he wasn't my friend anymore but it was how I felt. I may have accepted Dad's death but the fact Harry did not seem sorry about being responsible for it just made me so angry at him. He just didn't care. I couldn't forgive him. And I was stuck with him here for another three days before I was to leave for Hogwarts. The sooner I was back at school, the better I figured as I'd finally be able to get away from Harry.

* * *

**AN: whey-hey! another chapter and Jenna's finally back at The Burrow where she belongs ... even if she's with people she doesn't want to be around. well, hope you enjoyed it and plz leave a review. and thx to all those who reviewed the last chapter! luv ya all! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	30. Love to Hate

Chapter 29

Love to Hate

Besides the run in with Harry out in the garden the final week of the holidays wasn't that bad. I spent most of my time making sure I had everything for returning to Hogwarts while avoiding the downstairs like the plague. Fleur Delacour, or Phlegm as Ginny had more affectionately named her, was engaged to Bill and as I'd found out spent a lot of time at The Burrow. It was actually impossible to put up with her. She had an opinion about virtually everything.

'Eet is simply not 'ealthy!' she said indignantly one day as I walked into the kitchen. Her eyes turned on me when she saw me. 'You can see 'er bones! You should tell 'er to eat more!'

I had hastily walked back out the kitchen after I'd collected my laundry Mrs Weasley had indicated for me with a nod of her head. I returned to Ginny's room where Ginny and Hermione were busy packing their trunks as well. I put my new robes (Lupin had got me new ones because I'd grown somehow over the summer) and books into my trunk along with my casual clothes, leaving out a pair of jeans and top for the trip to wear to the station the next day.

The next morning when I got dressed I saw to my dismay that Fleur did have a point about my figure. You could see my ribcage and pelvis and my clothes were a little baggy. Well I had lost weight. Even Ginny and Hermione said something about it. My reply was that I was just glad to have an appetite again. After breakfast a Ministry taxi came to collect us. I was in one with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry. Great. Once at the station, we were escorted on to the platform by two rather sour-looking Aurors. I passed through the barrier after the first Auror with Ron and Hermione and I was so relieved to see the red train gleaming in front of me. The Hogwarts Express.

Ron and Hermione were the first to disappear seeing as they had a prefects meeting at the start of the train journey and said they'd see us later. After the usual round of hugs Mrs Weasley bustled us on to the train, also informing me I had the chance to come to The Burrow for Christmas if Lupin was busy. I said I'd let her know when it got closer the time. I got on the train and waited with Ginny seeing as she wanted to wait for Harry (he'd gone to speak to Mr Weasley) before finding a compartment. If she was there, I didn't have to talk to him. Once he was on the train, we waved goodbye to Mrs Weasley and set off for Hogwarts.

'Fancy trying to find a compartment?' asked Harry once the station vanished from view.

'I can't, Harry, I said I'd meet Dean,' said Ginny. 'See you later.'

I held in a groan at that. Right. I wasn't going to have a compartment with Harry on my own. So I went off to find my own, once I'd said to him, 'D'you mind? You're in my way.'

'You going to find a compartment?' he asked me.

'Not with you,' I said before walking past him and down the train past some girls staring at him.

I managed to find a compartment to myself and so hoisted my trunk into the shelves and stowed Gizmo's cage beside it. While still on the seat though, I opened my trunk and began searching round it in. I was looking for that necklace. Finding it, I took it out the envelope and tied it round my neck when I heard some "ooh"-ing coming from outside my compartment. I turned round and got down off the seat to see a few guys from the year above outside the door leering at me.

'Aww, the show over already?' said one of the guys. It was David Turner, a seventh year Hufflepuff who'd once asked me to go to the Yule Ball with him. He wasn't particularly good looking in my eyes and had a rather cocky personality. 'Told you we should have got here earlier.'

'You want something?' I said to them. I opened the door and stood, arms crossed, looking at them.

Turner glanced at his friends before nodding his head for them to leave. His friends, a couple of Ravenclaws and a Gryffindor, a wire-haired boy called McLaggen, grinned at him before walking off. Once they were gone, Turner turned back to me.

'What do you want?' I asked him straight out.

'Isn't it obvious?' asked Turner. He took a step forwards. I merely stared at him as he leaned on his hand over me. 'Oh, come on, surely you must know … a girl like you.' I really didn't like where this was going. 'You must put out for guys all the time with a body like yours. Come on … just a little something …'

Turner leaned closer to me, his own arms going round my waist. I felt my heart race as he went way to far. I felt his hand slide downwards and grope me while his lips brushed against my neck. I had to stop myself shivering at his cold touch. I didn't like the idea of what he was going to do. So I did something about it.

'You want something,' I said, trying to sound calm. 'Here!' I sharply lifted my leg and kneed Turner right where it would hurt the most. He let out a short "Oofh!" and went down. His hands were clamped tightly over his … _privates_ and he was cringing. I felt a small burst of satisfaction at watching him cower. 'And you can give that message to any other bloke in your year who thinks they can try it on with me,' I said, glaring down at him. 'I'm not some target to score on. Now do me a favour and bugger off.'

With that, I walked back into my compartment and shut the door.

The weather outside was quite patchy as we progressed further to Hogwarts. At sometimes the mist that had started due to the Dementors being loose from Azkaban hung on the grassy fields we passed or the sun would be seen just peaking from a cloud. I spent most of my time staring out the window at the passing countryside gripping my left arm. It was burning but that was because it was still sore from when Voldemort had branded me. My wrist though was fine and so I'd taken the bandage around it and wrapped it round the rest of my arm to hide it. It wouldn't vanish.

The next time I got a visitor in my compartment was near lunchtime. I'd gotten bored of watching the countryside and had taken to lying, upside down, on the seat. My legs were up above my head and my hair was brushing against the floor as we jerked along the track. Anyway, a voice had spoken and I looked up to see someone at the door, staring back at me. Sighing, I pushed my feet against the wall and flipped on to the floor.

'Can I help?' I asked.

'Are you Jenna B-Black?' asked the girl nervously. I nodded. 'P-Professor Slughorn asked me to give this to you.'

She handed me a scroll with a violet ribbon tied round it and disappeared. I watched as she ran off down the corridor into the next carriage. I guess she was scared of me because I'm a Black. Shaking my head, I closed the door and opened the scroll. It was an invitation to have lunch with him. But why would any new teacher want to speak to me? And who was this Professor Slughorn anyway? It would be a record if I'd just got into trouble and still only on the journey there. Checking my watch I saw it was almost lunchtime so I set off towards compartment C.

When I got there Professor Slughorn jovially welcomed me into the compartment, or rather what little room there was left in the compartment. I have to say when I saw him I took a slight step back. He was a short balding old man with a long, silver walrus moustache and a rather large belly hidden underneath a green velvet waistcoat and long robes. He certainly seemed fond of his food. Well, if this was the new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts he was very jolly for a jinxed job.

I saw I wasn't the only student Professor Slughorn had invited. McLaggen, the wire-haired Gryffindor who had been with Turner was there along with Blaise Zabini, a tall black kid in my year who was friends with Malfoy, and a Ravenclaw I didn't know. McLaggen was grinning at me. Slughorn quickly introduced me before offering me a seat beside the window. A few minutes later Ginny arrived and she looked as perplexed as I did. She took a seat next to me.

'Do you know what this is about?' she whispered to me. 'He just asked me if I'd liked to have lunch after he caught me hexing Smith. I thought I'd got detention.'

'I haven't the faintest idea,' I whispered back. 'But I don't like the look of it.'

Slughorn got talking to me and Ginny when the door opened again and in walked Neville (he'd changed a bit over the summer. He'd gotten taller for one) and, much to my annoyance, Harry.

'Harry, m'boy!' boomed Slughorn when he walked in. 'Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr Longbottom!' Slughorn greeted them happily and they sat down as he placed his large bottom back on his seat. He then introduced the other three boys in the compartment before getting to me and Ginny, saying, '– and _these_ charming young ladies tell me they know you!'

Harry looked at us from around Slughorn. Ginny grimaced slightly while I looked away.

After the introductions Professor Slughorn got on to the real business. It turned out everyone who was there, besides Ginny, had some connection to a particularly famous witch or wizard. He went round each of us asking questions about our relatives. After talking to Marcus Belby, the Ravenclaw there, about his Uncle Damocles; McLaggen whose Uncle Tiberius knew the new Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour; Zabini whose mother was a beautiful witch who had been married several times; and Neville about his parents, he got to me. And I was not looking forward to it.

'Now, let me see,' he said jovially, puffing out his chest as he turned to me in what I assumed was pride. 'The last living Black sitting before me. I knew your grandfather, Orion Black. Had one of the largest libraries of Dark Arts books I'd ever seen. I had the pleasure of having all your relatives through my house. All in Slytherin besides your father, I believe. Orion wasn't pleased about that. But I'm sure you carried on the tradition?'

'No, Professor, I didn't,' I replied. 'I'm not in Slytherin.'

'Oh ho!' chuckled Slughorn. He took a sip from his goblet. 'The last Black not a Slytherin?' I wish he wouldn't call me the "last Black". 'Then I suppose you'd be a Gryffindor like your father?' I nodded. 'Such a shame. I got his brother, your Uncle Regulus. Would have liked to have the pair. Such a shame he died. Smart boy, smart boy. Just unfortunate.'

Once he'd done reminiscing about my family he turned to Harry. It seemed that Harry was to be his star student in our year. He brought up the fact Harry was this "Chosen One" and that he had amazing powers to which I found very hard not to roll my eyes at. Zabini certainly didn't withhold his opinion. He gave a small cough which obviously said he wasn't impressed. Ginny certainly took it as an offence.

'Anyway,' Slughorn had said, turning away from the glares Zabini and Ginny were giving each other. '_Such_ rumours this summer. Of course, one doesn't know what to believe, the _Prophet_ has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes – but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was _quite_ a disturbance at the Ministry and that you were there in the thick of it all!'

I looked up at this. This was the last thing I wanted brought up. I'd managed to avoid speaking about Dad the whole time I was at The Burrow and I certainly didn't want to talk about it now. And of course, what came with the mention of the Ministry attack was the prophecy.

'We never heard a prophecy,' said Neville. I looked round Slughorn as he said this to see he'd turned bright red.

'That's right,' added Ginny. 'Neville, Jenna and I were there too.' I looked at her, startled. Why did she have to bring me into it? 'And all this "Chosen One" rubbish is just the _Prophet_ making up things as usual.'

Slughorn was surprised to hear that Ginny, Neville and me were at the Ministry too. His small eyes travelled over each of us but he didn't seem to believe it. Least he changed the subject afterwards. His anecdotes of other famous people he'd taught continued for a good portion of the rest of the trip and I spent most of the time staring out the window only half listening. The countryside was slowly disappearing as the darkness crept in meaning we were nearing Hogwarts.

I was the last to walk out of Slughorn's compartment because he wanted to know if I had known anything about Dad's innocence. I avoided the subject and headed back to my own compartment shaking my head. Slughorn was just some old collector and wanted to keep up the tradition of having his prized students. And in all honesty, I didn't want to be another in his collection. I would be glad to get back to my compartment and be on my own. Unfortunately though I heard the last person in the wizarding world I wanted to hear.

'Talking of which … here's the little bitch now.'

I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes, letting out a slow sigh of contempt. I did not want to be dealing with Malfoy at this precise moment. But with the bitch comment, I thought maybe I should show him what I was really made of. I turned to look at him, a wry smile on my face. Malfoy now had got up and slid the door open. As I turned though I saw something appear briefly above him in the luggage rack. Strange …

'The dead girl walking then?' he asked, a grin on his face.

'Malfoy,' I said slowly. 'What an unpleasant surprise. I'd forgotten you'd be coming back.'

'Mother said you would be dead by now.'

'Oh, it takes more than two Death Eaters to kill me or did your mother not inform you of that after she attacked me? Broken wrist, that was about the worst of my injuries besides a few cuts. Otherwise, still walking.'

'Mother said you didn't even try and defend yourself,' sneered Malfoy. 'I'm surprise you're still walking, let alone breathing. Taking on an experienced Death Eater like Bellatrix and not using magic has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done.'

'Well unlike you,' I replied, eyes narrowed. 'I abide by the rules. You know, the old "no magic outside school until you're seventeen". But compared to Bellatrix your mummy's spells merely tickled.'

'Leave my Mother out of this,' snarled Malfoy.

'And what are you going to do about it? Finish off your mummy's work on the middle of a train? You haven't got the guts, Malfoy. You're pathetic and you're a coward.'

Malfoy's eyes darkened and he drew back his hand. He looked like he was about to slap me. However, just as his hand was about to connect with my cheek, I lifted my hand and drew up my shield. Malfoy's hand banged against it and rebounded so it hit against the compartment doorframe.

'You bitch!' yelled Malfoy, grasping his hand. He glared at me. 'You little –' he was drawing his wand.

'Ah, ah, ah, Draco,' I warned him. 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' The look of disgust already on Malfoy's face deepened. 'Or do you want a spell thrown back at you as well?' Reluctantly, Malfoy pocketed his wand. 'Going to give you a little bit of advice,' I said quieter to him. 'I should watch your back this year. I heard things while I was in the cellar, I know you're up to something.'

'You can't prove anything, Black,' sneered Malfoy. 'It's your word against mine.'

'And who are they more likely to believe?' I asked. Malfoy didn't reply. It was nice to see I put the fear in him. 'Besides, I think your left arm would be revealing enough.'

'You dare, Black.' Malfoy grabbed my neck and thrust me back against the window. I wasn't prepared for that. 'You're going to get what's coming to you. One of these days, Black, your luck will run out and you'll get what you deserve.'

'Is that a promise or am I going to need an I.O.U?' Malfoy merely glared at me but let go. 'Well, be seeing you.'

I glanced back at the luggage rack before walking off. Behind me I heard the door of his compartment slam shut. God, the urge to just hex him right there and then was immense. The little prat. If he hadn't of been in that compartment with the other Slytherins I would have hexed him.

I slammed my compartment door shut and slumped down on the chair, staring out into the darkness. Malfoy was such an arsehole sometimes. Of course he'd think it funny his mother almost killed me during the summer. I was just lucky I escaped Bellatrix and Narcissa, very lucky … unlike Dad. I felt the tears start at my eyes again and tried to force them back. I looked up though when I heard voices whispering outside my door. Through the window I saw faces of some new first years, staring in at me. As soon as they saw me look at them though they ran off. I wasn't in the mood for stares. With them gone, I rested my head against the window, holding back my tears.

It wasn't long till I heard people again. Actually it was only one person. I'd just heard my compartment door open (I thought it had done so on its own accord so hadn't moved) and someone say, 'Jenna?'

Looking up, I saw a boy I hadn't seen in over a year. He was tall, well built and had long, floppy brown hair and hazel eyes. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a jacket open over his t-shirt and was watching me with a worried expression. I instantly shrunk back in my seat, my hair falling round my face.

'Noah,' I said quietly. My hand instantly went to my left arm, making sure it was covered. 'What are you doing here?'

'Going back to school, like you are,' he said. 'Have you been crying?'

'No,' I said quickly. 'What makes you say that?'

'Because your eyes are red.' I looked at my reflection in the window. He was right. When I turned back round, I saw he was sitting next to me. It startled me slightly. 'Jenna, is anything the matter?'

'No,' I said. 'Nothing at all.'

'Jenna, you can tell me,' he insisted. 'I won't tell anyone.'

I remained silent for a few more seconds staring at him, biting my lip.

'So besides the fact my father was killed by my cousin right in front of my eyes and was only proven innocent after he was dead when I was saying it for the past three years that the stupid Ministry of Magic actually offer me an apology.' As I spoke my throat felt like it was closing up. 'And now I have no one to rely on because my Uncle is always busy protecting the bloody person who was responsible for his death and that – '

I suddenly couldn't speak because something was stopping me. A feeling had suddenly started which made me tense at first but it felt so nice. My eyes widened momentarily before I realised what was happening and I closed them, responding by doing the same back. I couldn't speak because … Noah had kissed me. It lasted for several seconds before I pulled back, my eyes lowered.

'Why did you do that?' I asked breathlessly.

'Because I wanted to,' replied Noah. I just stared at him.

'But why? I-I'm a Black. Why would you possibly want to kiss me?' I just couldn't understand it. The last time I spoke to Noah was over a year ago and we honestly didn't know each other very well. 'I – my Dad was a convicted murderer; my whole family were Dark wizards; I'm known as a slut in your year. What could I possibly – ?'

'Ssh.' Noah placed his finger over my mouth to quieten me. If it was any other bloke I would have pushed them away but I just let him do it. 'I don't care,' he said softly to me. 'I know the real you. You haven't got a Dark bone in your body.' But he didn't know me.

'But you don't – '

'Ssh. Don't you believe me?' I couldn't answer that. Noah watched me, waiting for my reply, before glancing out the window. 'Look, meet me on the platform when the train stops.' He stood up and headed for the door. 'Oh, and don't wear your hair like that,' he added, turning back to me. He ran his hand over my cheek, brushing my hair behind my ear. 'I like to see your face.' Noah left.

I stared after him as he left, utterly bewildered. Getting into my robes and gathering my stuff I got off the train and found Noah on the platform like he asked me to. I just had to see where this was going. I got into a carriage with him and we were taken up to school. The new security measures were evident straight away. When we got out of the carriages Filch was waiting for us by the main doors into the Entrance Hall with a Secrecy Sensor which he ran over each student as we entered. After that we proceeded into the Great Hall. I sat with Noah. Further down I saw Ron and Hermione but strangely no Harry.

_I wonder where Harry is_, I thought absently before turning away and watching the Sorting.

The feast was as good as ever. It was during that that Harry turned up. I'd heard whispering and looked up to see him enter, his whole face covered in blood! A laughing drifted over from the Slytherin table and I saw Malfoy smirking about something. I stared at him for a few moments until I realised Professor Dumbledore had stood up and was starting his speech. He greeted us as warmly as he always did, his arms outstretched. One of them was black.

'What happened to his arm?' asked Noah.

'I don't know,' I replied. 'It looks like it's been cursed.'

'We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn,' he stood up, 'is a former colleague of mine and has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master.' I actually gasped at this while several people around me were whispering. That meant only one thing. 'Professor Snape, meanwhile,' continued Dumbledore, oblivious to the whispering, 'will be taking over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.'

'No!'

I looked down the table along with loads of other people to see Harry had shouted. He was half out of his seat, looking aghast. I think it was safe to say that he was against it.

After that Dumbledore reminded us that now Voldemort was back safety measures were even more important. I wasn't likely to go wandering off anywhere soon, not now I wasn't going to be hanging round Harry anymore. The only annoying thing about that was I couldn't speak to Ron or Hermione without him being there. Dumbledore had his full belief in us that we weren't going to anything to jeopardise our own safety and he sent us to bed.

I returned to the warmth of Gryffindor Tower with Noah. As we walked up there I was getting a lot of stares and whispers from other people. I felt very self-conscious, more than I usually did when I was back at Hogwarts. Noah must have seen this because next moment I was dragged into a secret corridor between the four and seventh floors.

'Thought you might appreciate some peace and quiet,' he said, walking beside me with his hands in his pockets. 'You, er, certainly got a lot of publicity when the _Prophet_ reported your dad's death.'

I instantly stopped, feeling uncomfortable. I hadn't spoken about Dad's death to anyone, not even Lupin. I never wanted to. But now the opportunity presented itself, could I?

'I know it's probably a hard subject for you,' said Noah, bringing me back from my thoughts, 'but sometimes it's better to talk to someone about your problems.' Somehow, I smiled.

'Thanks, Noah,' I said slowly. 'But it's not something that's easy to talk about. I never really knew him.' and I explained to him what had happened since I found out he was my Dad. We took slightly longer in getting to the Tower because of this but Noah listened to me. 'And, now he's gone,' I finished as we walked out from behind the tapestry near the Fat Lady's portrait. 'It's just hard to grasp the idea I'm never going to see him again.'

'So that's why I found you without Harry and the other two?' asked Noah. I nodded. He said the password and we were admitted into the common room. 'What does Harry think?'

'I don't care what Potter thinks!' I said instantly and obviously too loudly as faces turned to look at me. I glanced at them before walking over to a chair in the corner. Noah followed. 'Potter cost me my father,' I said more quietly. 'I don't care if he's the "Chosen One" or not. That is something I can never forgive him for and I don't intend to do so.'

Noah seemed unconvinced. He watched me for a few seconds before saying, 'If you say so, Jenna. But surely your friendship with him was stronger than that?' I looked at him. 'I just don't want you getting hurt, that's all. I know I wouldn't want to risk a friendship as strong as that over something I might be wrong about.'

I was slightly annoyed that Noah seemed to be taking Harry's side on this but kept my peace. He was looking out for me, that was all. I didn't need looking out for though. I was sixteen. I could take care of myself. I proved that over the summer. Nearby the clock chimed it was nine o'clock and I got up.

'I'm going to bed,' I said. I started for the stairs when I felt my hand be taken.

'Just talk to him,' said Noah. 'Or at least think about it?' Though I was pretty sure I wasn't going to do so, I nodded. 'Well, goodnight then.' Next moment, Noah had leaned into me and he kissed my cheek. 'See you tomorrow at breakfast.' I blushed and ran up to the girls dormitories for bed.

I got up the next morning and joined Noah for breakfast in the Great Hall. It was a pretty quiet affair and I spent most of it staring into my cereal. Professor McGonagall then came round handing out our new timetables and clearing the sixth years for their NEWT subjects. She was pleased I'd passed all my OWLs and soon cleared me for the five subjects I was doing. I had a free period first lesson but Noah had to go to Transfiguration and said he'd see me at lunchtime.

I returned to the Tower thinking about what was happening with Noah. He seemed really concerned about me though I honestly couldn't think why. We didn't know each other that well; we ran into each literally three times in the fourth year and danced at the Yule Ball; and he comforted me on the train … and kissed me. Why did he seem to care so much when he barely knew me?

'Jenna!' I looked up to see Ron calling me from the other side of the common room. Harry was with him. 'Over here! You got a free period too?' I turned away and headed upstairs. As much as I wanted to go talk to Ron, not while Harry was around. So I spent my free lesson in my dormitory reading up on the Potions we'd be studying in _Advanced Potion-Making_. An hour later I went downstairs to find Ron and Harry gone. I hoped silently that Harry wouldn't be in my next lesson but the chances of that were slim. I set off for Defence Against the Dark Arts, the first lesson with Snape of the year.

I got to class just as Snape came out and ordered us inside. I took a seat in the middle of the room next to Su Li, a Ravenclaw who was in my Divination class during OWLs. She was of oriental decent and had short black hair and dark eyes. She was one of three Ravenclaws taking the subject. As I looked round the classroom I saw Snape had really added his style to it; the curtains were drawn and it was dark while the walls had several portraits of mangled bodies and such. Very pleasant. About as pleasant as Snape was in his introduction.

After telling us to leave our books, he said, 'You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given the confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped and OWL in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the NEWT work, which will be much more advanced.'

I glanced round the class. Most of us here, apart from the Slytherins, had all been part of the DA last year. Malfoy was also grinning happily about something. I guess he was pleased Snape finally had the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. And as Snape talked about it, I was definitively thinking along those lines as well.

'The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible.

'You defences must therefore be flexible and invented as the Arts you seek to undo. These pictures,' he indicated the ones beside him, 'give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse, feel the Dementor's Kiss or provoke the aggression of the Inferius.'

Each of the portraits looked more horrible and gruesome than the last. The Inferius, a zombie to any Muggle, certainly didn't look like something you'd want to mess with in a dark alley. Parvati seemed positively terrified when she asked Snape if they had been sighted. He merely brushed it off before setting us to try practicing non-verbal spells which he took great delight in calling us all novices in.

'You will now divide,' said Snape, once he'd shot down Hermione about her answer to what non-verbal spells were, 'into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other _without speaking_. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in _equal silence_. Carry on.'

I looked round to ask Hermione if she wanted to be partners but saw she was already with Neville. It came to my great surprise though when Su asked me if I wanted to be her partner. I agreed straight away and we practiced together on the far side of the classroom. On the other side I could hear Snape berating Harry as usual.

'Do you remember me telling you we are practising _non-verbal_ spells, Potter?'

'Yes.'

'Yes, _sir_.'

'There's no need to call me "sir", Professor.'

I just managed to stifle a laugh at that along with half the class gasping. I quickly turned back to jinxing Su afterwards. When class had finished I left with her seeing as we both had to go to the library before our next lessons. We needed some books to help us with Snape's homework. We spent are free lesson in there researching it.

'I'm sorry to hear about your dad,' said Su casually at one point. I looked up.

Though slightly caught off by this, I replied, 'Thanks but I didn't really know him.'

'But he was your father?' OK, I really didn't want to talk about this. 'Didn't you visit him while he was in prison or anything?'

'To be honest, Su, I'd rather not talk about him. I didn't know him and wasn't that close to him anyway.'

I closed my books and walked off for Charms. After that it was lunch and I had another free period before Potions. When I got there I found Harry standing there with Ron and Hermione. Was he going to be in all of my lessons? Besides those three, there were very few in the class. Malfoy was there with three of his Slytherin friends; four Ravenclaws including Ginny's ex, Michael Corner; and Ernie from Hufflepuff were the only other people studying Potions. The door opened and out came Slughorn, gesturing us into the dungeon.

When I walked I was immediately hit by several smells at once, all of which made me feel relaxed and reminded me of things. I could smell a woody smell which I knew at once I always associated with Lupin (his robes always smelt like a forest); fresh bread was another; caramel and peppermint; but there was one smell I didn't recognise but I knew was familiar to me, like I'd known it for years. I couldn't think where though. It was coming from a gold cauldron where Hermione was sitting with Ron. In front of me another full of a pale pink liquid. I knew this was the Draught of Living Death. It was one of the potions we had to study this year. I guess we were making that one today.

Slughorn was certainly a very cheerful Potions master. We got out our textbooks, scales and potion kits ready and waited as he introduced NEWT Potions to us (and gave Harry and Ron equipment seeing as they didn't have any). The gold cauldron, along with another two which were simmering slightly he said were potions we should already know and he indicated one where the Slytherins were sitting. Looking over I saw a dirty brown substance in it. It was Polyjuice Potion. I could still remember when we brewed it in the second year. I was fortunate and didn't have to drink it. Hermione instantly put her hand up as usual and answered for Slughorn.

'Excellent, excellent!' he beamed. 'Now this one here …' he indicated the gold cauldron behind me on Hermione's table. As I turned to look at it, that familiar smell hit me again but I couldn't work out what it was. 'Yes, my dear?'

'It's Amortentia!'

'It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask but I assume you know what it does?'

Hermione did and she explained it was the most powerful love potion ever. Slughorn asked if she knew it because of it's mother-of-pearl sheen and Hermione nodded, adding, 'And the steam rising in characteristic spirals and it's supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us.' and she hastily stopped as she almost let out what attracted her. I smirked at that. I knew why she'd stopped telling us what attracted her.

Needless to say Professor Slughorn was very impressed with Hermione, awarding her twenty points for Gryffindor, and quite surprised to hear she was a Muggle-born. But Harry had already apparently mentioned this to him. After that, he continued describing the potion.

'Amortentia doesn't really create _love_, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession.' But all love potions did that. None of them actually were useful to make someone fall in love. Love was something you created yourself. And in my opinion, love was a dangerous thing to mess with. 'It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room – oh yes. When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.'

He was about to set us to work when Ernie said he hadn't mentioned the potion on the front desk. I leaned up slightly to have a look. It was in a small black cauldron, the potion itself a brilliant golden colour. Slughorn chuckled merrily again.

'Oho. Yes. That. Well, _that_ one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis.' Behind me, I heard Hermione gasp. 'I take it that you know what Felix Felicis does, Miss Granger?'

'It's liquid luck,' breathed Hermione. 'It makes you lucky!' No kidding.

'Quite right, take another ten points for Gryffindor. Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed … at least until the effects wear off.'

'But Professor,' I said, raising my hand. He looked at me. 'Some people say there is no such thing as luck so how can there be a potion to inspire it? Surely all it does to the drinker is help them make good decisions.'

'A valid point, Miss Black,' said Slughorn, nodding his head. 'I see you have the observational skills of your father as well as his scepticism.' I blushed at that and shrunk into my seat. I wasn't a sceptic. 'Good decision making does enter into luck, however, Felix Felicis merely causes situations to go more in the drinker's favour when it is used. Good decisions can be made anytime without the aid of this potion. This simply makes the drinker more likely to succeed than normally.'

'Why don't people drink it all the time, sir?' asked Terry.

'Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence. Too much of a good thing, you know … highly toxics in large quantities. But sparingly, and very occasionally …'

After the discussion of Felix Felicis, Professor Slughorn soon got us working on the Draught of Living Death as I thought. For once in Potions I actually had no distractions while brewing but that was mainly because everyone was determined to win the small bottle of Felix Felicis that Slughorn had promised as a prize for the best potion. I wasn't too bothered. I just got on with my potion. I followed the instructions in _Advanced Potion-Making_ and by the end of the lesson I'd managed to get it to a pink colour but it was a little duller than the example beside me. In the end, somehow and much to Hermione's chagrin from what I could see, Harry had got the best potion and won the sample. After the lesson, I headed for lunch to find Noah.

My first day wasn't so bad all in all though it was annoying Harry was in all my lessons. I came to the conclusion that we were doing the exact same subjects. Brilliant. Anyway, once free from Potions, I returned to the Tower and changed out of my robes before heading down to the grounds. Noah had Herbology last period and I needed to go find Hagrid. I hadn't chosen to Care of Magical Creatures this year and I wanted to ask Hagrid if he would still like help with any creatures he had. Though I didn't particularly want my arm bitten off at any moment, I still loved magical creatures and thought it was worth a shot.

Hagrid, however, wasn't in too much of a good mood when I got to his cabin. I found him digging in his vegetable patch (he obviously wasn't taking a lesson at the moment) and when I said hello to him he gave me a rather icy reply. Oh dear. I think he'd taken a bit of an insult in the fact I wasn't studying his lesson.

'So where's the other three?' he asked me gruffly, back turned.

'I don't know,' I replied. 'Haven't seen them.' Little white lie. He let out a short grunt. 'Is everything all right, Hagrid?'

'Everythin's fine,' he grunted. I watched as he stopped digging and stood straight. 'Have time ter tend ter my vegetable patch 'stead of teachin' you ungrateful lot.'

'Hagrid, you're not mad about me for not doing Care of Magical Creatures, are you?' He didn't reply. 'I would have but … I'd rather like to stay in one piece this year. But I'll help with the Thestrals and stuff whenever I'm free. I'm not doing Quidditch this year so …'

I don't know what it was I said but I was suddenly pulled into the most painful hug ever.

'Ah, yer a good kid, Jenna,' said Hagrid, releasing me and putting me back on the ground. 'And I guess you can help out. Feed the Thestrals and,' Hagrid lowered his voice, 'got a little problem in the Forest ter sort out but you can handle tha' I'm sure.' He then stood straight, digging his spade into the ground. 'Now, how 'bout a nice cuppa tea?'

It was really nice having a cup of tea with Hagrid again like I used to, even if his rock cakes were a bit hard. But it didn't feel the same, not without the others. When the bell went, I said goodbye to Hagrid and headed for the greenhouses to meet Noah. When I heard him calling my name, I joined him on the way back to the castle. The others in his year were whispering again as I walked with him. I ignored them.

'So, how was first day back?'

'It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be,' I replied, walking beside him. 'Though I think I'm regretting taking Defence Against the Dark Arts.'

'Ah, yes, Snape.' Noah laughed slightly. 'I've got him tomorrow. You'd think now he's got his _dream_ job he'd lighten up on his students now.'

'Not a chance.'

After a little debate about Snape over dinner, Noah and me returned to the Tower to do homework. It was actually really nice hanging out with him instead of Ron and Hermione for once. He helped if I didn't understand something and he made me laugh more times in an hour than I could remember. He was just so much fun to hang out with and he gave me another kiss on the cheek before I went upstairs for bed in what must have been record time.

The first week of school wasn't too bad in all but definitely harder than before. Now that we were NEWT students we were expected to use non-verbal spells in all our lessons which was not easy; Professor McGonagall certainly expected us to do so. The lessons themselves were getting harder to understand even for Hermione which was something. It just meant that my promise of helping Hagrid (something I later regretted when I found out it was to help him with a sick Acromantula) got put aside seeing as I spent most free periods in the library; this was partly because I needed the extra study but also because I could avoid Harry much more easily. We had the exact same timetables.

Free periods, though some may think were all work and no play, were a blessing in disguise. It meant that you could catch up on any homework that needed doing or extra study or for practise. Most of mine were spent trying to improve my non-verbal spell casting, something which I found really tricky. And when you had neither of those to do you could spend doing whatever you felt, in my case the old past time of wandering round the castle. This time, however, it wasn't in animal form.

I'd already been having problems with transforming and holding the animal form I was in but now I couldn't even do that. Several times over the week I'd tried in my room to transform but I couldn't no matter how hard I concentrated. In the end I decided it was best to write to Lupin. Maybe he knew what was wrong. Otherwise, I guess I'd finally got my wish of being normal even if I'd gone an extreme way of doing it. I'd heard about wizards powers going weird after an emotional time. I guess after Dad's death that had happened to me.

The only other thing in free periods I did was hang out with Noah more. That is, every Friday before lunch when we both had a free period. During that time we'd either be up in the common room or go for walks round the grounds. All we'd do is talk about random things like the weather or lessons or Quidditch. But I enjoyed those times so much I'd always be counting the days till the next time we'd have a free together.

As time past though I found that lessons didn't seem to be the same as they had been the previous years. Potions was bearable now and I was getting good grades; Neville was great fun to work with during Herbology; Charms and Transfiguration were slowly getting harder; and Defence Against the Dark Arts were as painful as Potions used to be. The only problem was that each lesson had lost its charm, its spark. They were much duller now and I was sure it was because I didn't have Ron or Hermione to talk to … or Harry. I shook myself as I thought this in the middle of Charms. I didn't need Harry to talk to. I had Noah … except he wasn't in my lessons.

A reply to my letter came at the end of the second week of term. I got it in the morning post along with a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. Lupin had written back to me saying he wasn't sure why I wasn't able to transform anymore. He did agree though it was likely to be linked with the stressful summer I had. He told me not to worry and that I had to give it time to restore itself. I hoped Lupin was right. I missed not being able to transform. Putting it away I opened the newspaper to see there hadn't been more attacks. Instead there had been an arrest. Stan Shunpike, that bus conductor, had been arrested. I couldn't believe it.

Over my shoulder, Noah too was reading the article. When I asked him what he thought he just shrugged his shoulders, saying if he was to go round saying he knew the Death Eaters' plans then he deserved to be arrested. But Stan was known for boasting. And if he'd been a Death Eater, he would have killed me that time during the summer I was on the Knight Bus. Weird. And what was weirder was that Noah didn't seem bothered at all when something like this would normally start a whole debate. It just didn't seem right.

That weekend was the Quidditch tryouts for the Gryffindor team. I'd decided to give Quidditch a miss this year because I wasn't likely to be picked this year so I didn't sign up. Instead, that morning I met up with Noah again at breakfast. Once that was done we headed back to the house because Noah had some Arithmancy homework to finish.

About an hour or so later, and being very bored with my Transfiguration textbook, Noah stretched and said, 'I really don't fancy doing this right now.' I looked up at him. 'You want to leave this lot and go watch the Quidditch trials?'

'I, er, would rather not,' I said uncomfortably. I didn't want to see Harry. I'd managed to avoid him pretty well so far. Noah looked slightly disappointed at this. 'But if you really want to get away from homework,' I added, closing my book, 'we can go for a walk.'

Noah smiled and we packed up our things, leaving the common room. We walked in silence through the school and out into the grounds. You could hear the shouts and cheers coming from the Quidditch pitch as we walked round near the lake. Momentarily I glanced over there to see Harry hovering near the goalpost nearest us. I instantly looked away when I thought he'd seen me. We came to a stop by the lake sitting side by side. We didn't say anything.

I sat watching the water for what seemed like forever. It was so quiet outside. It was nice watching the water shimmering as the sun reflected on it. Beside me, I heard Noah clear his throat. I looked at him. He was staring at me … it was strange, like he couldn't tear his eyes from me. And as I watched him, I saw him slowly move closer. His hand brushed back the hair on my face as he tilted his head and … he kissed me. It felt so soft, his hand touching my cheek. Slowly I closed my eyes and returned the kiss. We broke apart a few seconds later.

'Wow,' was all I said. Noah let out a short chuckle.

'Yeah, wow.' and he kissed me again for much longer.

That night after dinner I returned to the Tower with an odd smile on my face, one that certainly got Hermione asking questions. She'd seen me walk into the common room and called me over to where she and Ron were doing homework and much to my relief Harry wasn't there. I could finally speak to them without having him around. Although it didn't stop them questioning me about anything and everything.

'So, what's got you so happy?' asked Hermione when I sat down beside her. I didn't answer straight away, delaying by taking my Transfiguration homework out of my bag and laying it out. 'Jenna, I haven't seen you smile this much in ages. Spill.'

'I've just … had a good day,' I shrugged.

'I think it's more than that,' said Hermione. She looked at me suspiciously. 'Could it be something to do with the mystery boy I've seen you with every breakfast and dinner perhaps?' I blushed, biting my lower lip. Looking at Hermione I saw her grinning. 'Well? Is it him?'

'What? The brown-haired boy in McLaggen's year?' asked Ginny. She appeared behind my chair, leaning on the back to look accusingly at me. 'The one who's practically been drooling over Jenna since we got back?'

By now, even Ron, who had been doing homework for a change, looked up and joined in the interrogation.

'Huh? What? Jenna's got a guy trailing after her?' He looked between the three of us, bemused, causing us to start giggling. 'What? What did I say?'

'Go back to your work, Ron,' said Ginny, waving her hand at his work before sitting herself in a chair next to Hermione's. Both were staring at me. Ron just let out a huff, returning to his work. 'Come on, Jenna, who is he? Do we know him?'

I sighed and gave in.

'His name's Noah Oakley. I met him in the fourth year when he asked me to the Yule Ball but that Durmstrang had already asked me so I had to turn him down. But I sort of owed him because he'd helped me twice; once when I literally walked into him and once when my bag broke. I said I'd owe him a dance and I did so.'

'And now?' asked Hermione.

'He saw me again on the train and …' I didn't want to say that he comforted me. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the ones I looked to for support. 'We got talking. Started hanging out.' I hoped the two of them would take this as how far it had gone but they were like a couple of leeches, sucking all the information out of me. 'And today,' I finished, 'we kissed.'

Ginny and Hermione squealed in delight. I couldn't help grinning as well, biting my lip again as I blushed. OK, so I had my first boyfriend, it wasn't that much of a big deal. Noah was just a guy I really liked. And he was pretty cute. Hermione and Ginny then started asking me all sorts of questions about him and I answered them truthfully. But then Ron, who had still been listening, caught me off guard when he suddenly said, 'Does Harry know?'

The three of us looked at Ron. Staring at him, I said, 'Is it any of his business?'

'Er, well, no, but,' stuttered Ron, 'he's your best friend. I mean, it's just – over the past few weeks – it's like you've been avoiding us.'

'Ron's right, Jenna,' said Hermione. 'You haven't spoken to any of us since the holidays till today. You didn't even speak to Harry at all while you were at The Burrow. You're only speaking to us now it seems because Harry's at his detention with Snape. Has something happened between you two?'

'I – no,' I said. 'No, I just – I don't – ' I actually didn't have an answer. Or at least not one that would wash with Ron and Hermione. 'I haven't forgiven him,' I muttered, feeling ashamed. I refused to look at the others.

'For what?' asked Ginny.

'For Dad's death.' This was followed by silence. When none of them said anything I continued. 'He didn't care. He didn't see how much he hurt me by leading us to the Ministry. He just expected me to get over it. I couldn't do that. I couldn't pretend like it never happened. I can't forgive him.'

No matter how much Ron, Hermione and Ginny tried to convince me that Harry did care, I refused to believe them. I even shouted at them when they told me to talk to him, just like Noah had. They didn't understand! They didn't know what it was like to have a parent stolen from you! Then Harry himself had to turn up and I left, going upstairs to bed. That was the first time I'd shouted at Ron, Hermione and Ginny and I felt so bad for doing so. But I was stubborn; Harry didn't care about Dad's death and I refused to believe anyone who said he did. Unless he showed me he cared, I was never going to forgive him.

I couldn't believe myself when I did that. But that was only the start. My reactions to anyone around me had completely changed. The moment something was said which I didn't want to talk about, particularly if it was something to do with Dad (like with Su on the first day), I became crazily defensive. I'd say things I wouldn't normally say, even worse was do things I would never do. And as time past I saw it slowly got worse.

September slowly vanished into a chilly October. Lessons were steadily getting harder and harder and when a notice was posted in the common room about a Hogsmeade visit I couldn't wait for it. What was better though was Noah asked if I wanted to go and it was to be our first proper date. How cool was that? The Tuesday before when he asked me I spent the rest of the day in such a good mood that nothing could possibly upset me. I was so happy that in Herbology I didn't really mind that much when the Venomous Tentacula tripped me up and one of its thorns dug into my leg. I had a date on Saturday. I didn't need Harry to be happy.

At dinner on Tuesday Noah told me he had a Arithmancy detention and I agreed to wait up for him in the common room. With a kiss on the lips, he left me and I headed up to the Tower on my own. When I turned into secret passageway though, I saw a third year being picked on by some Slytherins. They were using the Levitation Charm on his bag and he was jumping up and down trying to get it back. Taking out my wand, I went to help him.

'Hey!' I shouted at the two Slytherins. When they looked up I saw it was Malfoy and Nott. 'Leave that kid alone!' I said to them, walking up to them. 'What's he ever done to you?'

'It's more that he exists,' replied Nott. He flicked his wand and turned the bag upside down so the contents spilled out.

'I said, leave him alone,' I repeated, levelling my wand on them.

Malfoy looked at my wand before nodding to Nott. He lifted his wand and the boy's stuff dropped to the floor. I went to help him pick it up but he grabbed his things away from me, gasping, 'Don't touch me, Dark scum!'. I drew my hand back, stunned by his response. He ran off, tripping over his stuff. Behind me Malfoy and Nott were snickering.

I stood up slowly, saying, 'I s'pose you find that funny, don't you?'

'When are you going to face it, Black?' asked Nott. 'You may be in Gryffindor but a dragon can't change its scales. Face facts that you'd be better in Slytherin.'

'I am nothing like you,' I replied. I stuffed my wand back in my robes and started to walk away.

'You're just as Dark as the rest of your family!' jeered Malfoy. 'You're just scared to admit you're a Black!' That was what made me stop. I was not scared. And the longer he taunted me, the more angry I got about it. 'Don't want to accept your family were the Darkest wizards around! Supported the Dark Lord and everything! Don't want to accept your daddy was a murderer!'

Without even thinking I drew out my wand again and spun round, pointing it at Malfoy, and said the Banishing Charm in my head. The spell shot from my wand like a gunshot. First time I managed to do a non-verbal spell. He was thrown backwards and hit against the wall. But the second I did it I realised I shouldn't have done. I didn't curse people because they insulted me. The words _You're __more Black at heart than you realise_ echoed in my head. Seeing Malfoy get to his feet, I ran off.

I was found sitting in a corridor a couple hours later. I'd wandered around for a good few hours after the confrontation with Malfoy and Nott. It had left me feeling rather shaken. I didn't want to go back to the Tower and had just sat down with my head on my knees. As I sat there the words of my grandma's portrait kept coming back to me.

_You're more Black at heart than you realise … You seem very much like my niece, Bellatrix …_ _You'll come to see in time how much of a Black you truly are …_

'I'm no better than Bellatrix,' I mumbled to myself. Lifting my head I pushed my hair back from my face. As I did so the sleeve of my robe fell down and I saw the Dark Mark on my arm. I stared at it for a few moments before letting out a shout and thumping my hand on the wall. 'Why me!' I shouted. 'Why is it always me?'

I went to hit the wall again as it seemed to be the only way to get out my frustration, however, I felt my wrist get taken, a hand on my other arm and I looked up. It was Harry.

'Jenna, what's wrong?' he asked me. I stared at him. 'What is it?'

'Nothing that concerns you,' I said.

I yanked my wrist free and got up, walking away. Harry followed, calling after me, as I went through any passageway to get away from him.

'Jenna, will you please talk to me!' shouted Harry behind me. 'What have I done? Jenna! Jenna, please! Jenna!'

'Just leave me alone!' I stopped and turned round to face him. 'Don't you get it? I don't want to talk to you! I don't want anything more to do with you! I've had enough!'

Next moment, Harry had grabbed me and was pulling me behind a statue in the corridor.

'Get your hands off me!' I said, freeing myself. 'Who do you think you are? You are such a jerk!' Harry wasn't looking at me but peering out from behind the statue. I tried to walk away but he pulled me back. 'Get off me, Potter! Let me go! I – '

-o-

'Why me! Why is it always me?'

Harry stopped in his tracks. That had been Jenna's voice and, looking to his left, it had come from the fifth floor corridor. She sounded … upset or something. Had something happened? Though knowing this was probably just going to make her shout at him again, Harry turned away from the changing staircase and headed down the corridor. Turning the corner, Harry found Jenna sitting on the ground with her hair over her face, thumping her hand on the ground. Harry quickly walked forwards and took her wrist so she didn't hurt herself.

'Jenna, what's wrong?' asked Harry. Jenna started and looked up at him. 'What is it?'

'Nothing that concerns you,' she replied.

She yanked her wrist free and got up, walking away. Harry followed. Something had upset Jenna, he was sure of it. That had been the arm that had the Dark Mark burned on it that she'd been hitting. Something must have happened. He kept calling after her, trying to get her to stop as she went anywhere to get away. Harry wasn't just going to let her walk away from him again.

'Jenna, will you please talk to me!' he shouted. 'What have I done? Jenna! Jenna, please! Jenna!'

'Just leave me alone!' Jenna stopped and turned round to face him. 'Don't you get it? I don't want to talk to you! I don't want anything more to do with you! I've had enough!'

Just then, Harry heard footsteps approaching them. They were being way too loud and if that was Filch they were going to be in serious trouble. One of the new security measures was that unless it was for detention, no student was to be out of the common past nine o'clock. The footsteps got louder. Quickly Harry took Jenna's arm and pulled her behind a nearby statue.

'Get your hands off me!' hissed Jenna, pulling herself free. Harry on the other hand was trying to check for who was coming. 'Who do you think you are? You are such a jerk!'

Harry glanced at Jenna then back into the corridor; if she didn't quieten down, they were going to be caught for sure. The footsteps were getting louder still. He saw Jenna walk from their cover out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, he pulled her back so she was hidden.

'Get off me, Potter! Let me go!'

_She needs to be quiet_, thought Harry desperately. _We'll get caught if she keeps shouting, even with the Invisibility Cloak over us._ Harry took another glance between Jenna and the corridor. _She's going to kill me for this but it's the only way …_ Preparing himself for the worse reaction, Harry grabbed Jenna's arms as she tried to walk away again and pressed his mouth to hers to drown her shouts.

-o-

Dé jà vu I think would be the best way to describe it. I found myself unable to talk and … Butterflies suddenly got released in my stomach and I felt shivers race up my spine, my body tense. I took in a sharp breath and my eyes widened as I realised what was happening. However, I couldn't pull away. In fact, I felt my eyes close as I relaxed into it; by my side my hand twitched before I rested it on the force in front of me. It felt so nice, so right, so …

It stopped. I opened my eyes and took a step back, leaning against the wall. My heart was racing. I was panting. Beside me Harry was staring into the corridor. He turned back to me and said something about the coast being clear but I didn't hear him properly. I stared at him, right into his eyes, those … those emerald eyes … I couldn't tear my gaze from them. He asked if I was all right but I couldn't answer. It was only when I felt his touch on my arm that I snapped out of my daze. I ran off and back to the Tower.

It must have been for hours that I lay awake that night. I'd got back to the Tower to find Noah waiting for me but I went straight past him up here. I just couldn't get it out of my head. What – what happened? I was yelling at Harry in the corridor and next moment I was staring at him after he … he kissed me. But why? Why did he do it? But more importantly … why had I enjoyed it?

For the rest of the week I asked myself that question but I couldn't find an answer. The morning after it happened, Noah asked if I was all right because I'd been missing for a few hours and I shrugged it off to getting lost in a book in the library. Lie number one to my boyfriend. Aside from that and the fact I continually kept spacing out as I tried to answer my question, I kept myself to myself over the next few days of classes, relieved when it was the weekend. A trip to Hogsmeade was exactly what I needed now. Unfortunately though, it just made me even more confused.

The morning of the trip I woke up earlier than usual but seeing that it was near breakfast I got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall. Noah joined me shortly afterwards, greeting me with an arm round the waist and a kiss on the cheek. I was getting quite used to that now. Once we were finished I grabbed my Gryffindor scarf and we headed with the rest of the school towards the main doors where Filch was standing with his Secrecy Sensor. A quick once over with that (and the usual suspicious look) Noah and I walked together to Hogsmeade.

'So where d'you want to go?' asked Noah when we reached the village.

'Is there anywhere _to_ go?' I asked. Looking around I saw that a few of the shops had been boarded up, Zonko's Joke Shop being one of them which was a disappointment. 'Er, anywhere as long as it's not Madam Puddifoot's teashop,' I said as my eyes fell on a sickly looking red and pink shop.

Noah laughed, wrapping his arms round my waist from behind.

'A girl after my own heart.' He gave me a soft kiss on the neck, then saying, 'Well how about we go to Gladrags so I can find some gloves because my hands are freezing,' I smirked at that; Noah hadn't wrapped up for the weather, 'stop in Honeydukes and then head for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.'

'Sounds perfect.'

Noah wrapped his arm round my waist and we set off for Gladrags Wizarding wear. It was a nice shop which sold almost any piece of clothing you could think of, even Muggle wear for those travelling away from Hogsmeade. We spent a good fifteen minutes searching for some gloves for Noah. I think the pair that tried to eat your hands were lethal although, as I pointed out to Noah, 'The colour really brings out your eyes.' as he yanked them off his hands. In payback, he shoved a Muggle hat on my head which made me look like a jester, a Muggle from medieval times which entertained other Muggles. That's what it said on the label.

After almost being kicked out of Gladrags by the owner for making too much noise (we were laughing too much as we tried on various things) we headed for Honeydukes. As we approached it I saw the familiar large velvet belly of Professor Slughorn coming out of the shop across from it. Quickly, I grabbed Noah's arm and pulled him behind the nearest wall. When he asked me what I was doing, I explained to him I hadn't been to any of the parties Slughorn had invited me to and I didn't want him to catch me outside of class to ask why I hadn't been attending. Peering out from behind the wall, I saw he'd gone and we went into Honeydukes.

Honeydukes was as busy as usual and so it was a scramble to get to the front desk to pay for things we bought. I got some Sugar Quills to suck on during Defence Against the Dark Arts along with some of the nougat Lupin liked to give him for Christmas. Being prepared, you know? Honeydukes might close down as well with this Voldemort business. After Noah had paid for his sweets we left for the Three Broomsticks. I really needed a Butterbeer to warm up.

'Harry!'

I looked up. That had been Hermione's voice. I looked to my right to see Ron, Hermione and Harry in front of the shop opposite the Three Broomsticks, Harry nose-to-nose with Mundungus of all people. Harry had his hand around Mundungus's throat and his wand pointed at his face.

'You took that from Sirius's house,' I heard Harry say. 'That had the Black family crest on it.'

What? I took a step closer, walking away from Noah, to get a better look. Mundungus was clutching a briefcase close to his chest. His beady little eyes were wide in fear.

'I – no – what?' he gasped. I saw his eyes darting about, looking anywhere but Harry. I saw them look at me. His face seemed to pale as he saw me. 'I – really have to – got to – '

'What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?' snarled Harry.

'I – no – '

'That belongs to Jenna! Give it to me!'

'Harry, you mustn't!' screamed Hermione but she needn't have worried. There was a sudden loud bang followed by a crack. Mundungus had thrown Harry back and Disapparated. I stood frozen to the spot watching as Harry shouted after him before Tonks appeared and led him into the Three Broomsticks. She was in her normal form which was strange. But that didn't bother me. It was what I saw that did.

'Jenna?' I felt Noah's hand on my arm. I didn't react. 'You OK?'

All I could say was, 'I was wrong.'

'Jenna! A little help here!'

I came back from my thoughts just in time to see Neville being attacked by the vines of the Snargaluff we were meant to be getting pods from. It was Tuesday's Herbology lesson and once again I'd found myself straying into my thoughts. I'd been doing that a lot since the Hogsmeade trip. I just – I felt so bad … Harry had cared all along about Dad and I'd been so blind, I couldn't see it. I let out a sigh and Stunned one of the vines with my wand as Neville untangled himself, pulling out another pod at the same time. As I returned to our tray with him I looked over to see Ron and Hermione in a rather heated discussion as Harry stood beside them. I needed to talk to him, in private if pos—

'Miss Black!' I snapped out of it and spun round to see Professor Sprout standing over me. 'Is Longbottom going to be doing all the work this lesson or are we going to get our head out of the clouds, hmm?'

'Sorry, Professor,' I mumbled.

'Well, if I catch you looking like you've inhaled Flitterbloom pollen again then I'll send you to the hospital wing.' She walked away.

As soon as Herbology finished, contrary to trying to talk to him, I left as quickly as I could. I wanted to talk to him but now every time I attempted to go up to him I'd suddenly lose my nerve and get all tongue tied. I had to get him on his own but was virtually impossible as the first Quidditch match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin was coming up and every free minute was spent training.

The first Quidditch match of the season was on the first Saturday of November but there had already been changes to the team from what I'd heard. Katie Bell, the last remaining member of the original Quidditch team when I first joined, had been sent to St Mungo's because of a failed attack made by an unknown source. It happened after I'd left Hogsmeade. All I could find out was that she and her friend Leanne, a girl Noah knew well, had had an argument over a parcel she was meant to deliver and it had got torn. Next moment, Katie was hanging upside down in the air having been cursed. The Quidditch team had been down one player and Dean had replaced her.

The morning of the match I was sitting on my own at the Gryffindor table when people burst into cheers when the team entered. I could hear the "boos" coming from the Slytherins. I merely glanced at them, not cheering along. I watched as Harry sat down a few seats from me with a pale Ron (looked like his old nerves had come back), offering, 'Tea? Coffee? Pumpkin juice?' before pouring him a goblet as Ron spoke to Hermione. He was coping fine without me around. I let out a sigh and pushed away my soggy cereal. I got up to leave the Great Hall.

'Don't drink that, Ron!' I looked back over my shoulder; Hermione had suddenly turned rigid. Ron and Harry were staring at her. 'You just put something in that drink.'

'Excuse me?' said Harry.

'You heard me,' said Hermione. 'I saw you. You just tipped something into Ron's drink. You've got the bottle in your hand right now.'

I glanced at Harry. Sure enough I saw a small bottle full of golden liquid in his hand as he pocketed it; it was the Felix Felicis he'd won. But what was Hermione on about? The cork was still in it and the bottle was full. I watched the scene for a few more seconds and Harry's eyes met mine. I started and turned away, walking quickly out of the Great Hall. But as I did so, I smiled. Harry was only trying to boost Ron's confidence and I had to admit that was a pretty good way of doing it, even if it did fool Hermione as well. Seemed he did learn something from Umbridge last year after all.

For the first time ever I actually didn't want to watch the Quidditch; I would have rather been in the Tower doing homework than watch Harry and Ron fly around. The commentary coming from Zacharias Smith certainly didn't endear me to watch it. I just sat there, head on my hand, waiting for it to end. When the cheers came indicating we'd won, instead of joining everyone to go congratulate the team, I went back to up to the school on my own.

It didn't take long for the rest of the House to follow. I was sitting with my feet up and a book when I heard noises approaching, a few minutes later the portrait hole bursting open and in came everyone else singing "Weasley is our King". Nobody noticed me which was a relief. I just wanted to be on my own. However, my small sanctuary was soon disrupted when Ron and a very giggly Lavender sat down in the opposite chair and started kissing. It was actually disgusting but what was worse was I heard a stifled gasp and I found Hermione staring at them. Before I even managed to call her name to stop her, she'd left the common room. I chased after her, not wanting to be near the snog buddies. Getting out of the portrait hole, I saw Hermione heading down the corridor.

'Hermione!' I called after her. She looked round at me and stopped. I jogged over to her. There were tears bristling on her eyelashes. 'Hey, what's wrong?' I asked.

She didn't say anything at first but looked around before taking my hand and pulling me into a nearby classroom.

'Herm, what's wrong?' I asked again. She went and sat on the front desk. I sat next to her. 'Is it Ron?'

'He just …' started Hermione, her voice choked. 'He's so self-centred! He doesn't take any notice of anyone else's feelings and he thinks it all right to just do whatever he pleases!' and she broke into tears.

'Hermione, he's a guy,' I said, putting my arm round her shoulders. 'They're jerks at this age.'

'Noah isn't,' sniffed Hermione. She took out her wand and began twisting it in her fingers. Several birds flew out of its tip and began circling above us. 'I've seen you with him. He really likes you and – and you seem so happy now.'

'Noah is one of the few guys I know who isn't a jerk,' I said. But we weren't here to talk about me. 'But that's not why were here. I'm worried about you. You and Ron, from what I've seen, having been at each other for the last week. What happened?'

'I don't know, that's the thing!' Hermione almost screamed. 'I don't know what I've done! He just came back to the common room in a foul mood and accused me of things. And then this morning, I thought Harry had spiked his drink with Felix Felicis which is illegal in sporting events and I tried to stop him from drinking it but it turned out after the match that Harry had tricked him to make him play better and give him confidence and then he shouted at me saying he didn't need my help to save goals and now he's snogging Lavender as if he has something to prove – '

'Hermione, I get it.' I wanted to stop her before she completely broke down. 'But why does it matter. Ron's just acting big-headed like he usually does.' Hermione didn't reply straight away. Instead, she looked away and blushed. 'Does it have something to do with Ron snogging Lavender?' Hermione sniffed and nodded. 'Do you … _like_ Ron?'

Again Hermione didn't answer. And before I could persist to get an answer from her, though it was pretty obvious that she did _like_ Ron, the door opened and in walked Harry. I froze, staring at him as he looked at me and Hermione.

'Oh, hello, Harry,' said Hermione, her voice brittle. 'I was just practising.'

'Yeah … they're – er – really good …' replied Harry. He glanced at me as if to ask what the matter was. I didn't move.

'Ron seemed to be enjoying the celebrations,' continued Hermione. Her voice had suddenly gone all high and unnatural. God, she really had it bad for Ron.

'Er … does he?'

'Don't pretend you didn't see him. He wasn't exactly hiding it, was – '

At that moment the door opened and in came Ron and Lavender, hand in hand, laughing. This was not good. Beside me, I felt Hermione tense and I looked hopefully at Harry to do something. He didn't. Ron, on the other hand, said, 'Oh.'

'Oops!' giggled Lavender. She quickly backed out the room, giggling, not before she'd run her hand over Ron's cheek and chest. Hermione seemed to flinch beside me and she got off the desk.

'You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside,' she said, walking to the door. The birds she'd created followed, flying round her head. 'She'll wonder where you've gone.'

Hastily I got up and followed Hermione, glancing at Harry again to ask him to do something quickly. Ron was leaning on a desk, looking relieved. I looked at him as well as I headed for the door, turning round when I heard a voice shout, '_Oppugno!_' behind me. I moved out the way as the birds swooped past me and began attacking Ron.

'Gerremoffme!' he shouted, waving his arms to stop them as they pecked and scratched him. I hastily left, running after Hermione.

If I thought things were going to get easier the older I got, I was so wrong. They just seemed to get even more confusing. Ron and Hermione weren't speaking; Hermione had what appeared to be a major crush on Ron but he was with Lavender; Noah had the idea that I was avoiding him because I'd been so distant since the Hogsmeade visit; classes were getting even more duller and harder; but most importantly, I needed to apologise to Harry and get back my best friend. But that wasn't my only problem. Things were only just getting started for me as I slowly began to realise I had feelings for someone else …

* * *

**AN: well, hope you enjoyed it and as you can see things are slowly getting more complicated for Jenna. next chapter is already planned which is good news but i don't know whether it'll be up before school starts but i can tell you it's called "Just Like Old Times" and, as you can probably guess from the title, is gonna be almost completely about Harry and Jenna and them regaining their friendship over Christmas. well, plz tell me wat you thought of this chapter by leaving a review and thx to all the people who reviewed the last chapter. BlAcKdAuGhTeR **


	31. Just Like Old Times

Chapter 30

Just Like Old Times

I now found my time split between Hermione and Noah. It meant that now I had someone to talk to during lessons but whenever Harry was about, I went to Noah. I still couldn't face to speak to him around the others yet until I'd spoken to him privately and apologised. The best option I had to do this was to be during the Christmas holidays seeing as I was going to be going to The Burrow. Otherwise, it was avoid Harry twenty-four-seven if possible.

I felt really bad for spending so much time away from Noah. He was my boyfriend after all. I made it up to him by spending time with him after class if it was possible, during our Friday free lesson of course, and getting him a really nice Christmas present from Hogsmeade. No, it wasn't the finger-eating gloves. Noah however was fine with it. He said Hermione was a friend in need and I should always put my friends before myself. His approval made it a little better to be away from him but I still felt guilty. However, I had the best way to make it up to him so long as there weren't any unwanted hitches.

Unfortunately, there was one unwanted hitch by the name of Ronald Weasley. Like in the fourth year when Harry and Ron fell out, I spent some time with Ron when Harry wasn't there and found that he didn't care in the slightest that Hermione wasn't speaking to him. And if he wasn't talking, Lavender was making sure he couldn't as they kissed in the common room. This got me very irate, not just because he was being so childish but also because he was hurting Hermione.

As the last few days of term came the Great Hall was decorated as beautifully as always with its twelve trees; the suits of armour in the corridors had candles in them to make them glow; garlands of holly went round every banister; and bunches of mistletoe hung everywhere, something me and Noah enjoyed taking full advantage of when we alone in a corridor together so Christmas was certainly in the atmosphere. Well, almost.

In our last Transfiguration lesson of the term, when we were meant to be changing the colour of our eyebrows, Ron and Hermione really let loose at each other. Just back from us in the classroom Ron had managed to give himself a spectacular moustache to which both of us couldn't help laughing at though Hermione's was rather unkindly. In retaliation, Ron did a cruel but very accurate impersonation of Hermione trying to answer a question. Beside me Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears. Ron was laughing his head off while Lavender and Parvati where whispering to each other. As soon as class was over she left without half her stuff. I went to pick it up and a hand touched mine. I looked up. It was Harry. I instantly stepped back from him.

I tried to think of something to say but all I could come up with was, 'Your eyebrow's yellow.'

'Yeah, I know,' laughed Harry slightly. My pulse raced suddenly as he laughed. 'I'm going to go after Hermione. She's got Ancient Runes next. I'll see you later.'

'Yeah, later.'

Harry walked off, leaving Ron to leave with Lavender. I saw him leave just after Hermione and I snapped back to reality. He wasn't going to get off that lightly. Not when Hermione's feelings were at stake. Putting my bag on my shoulder, I dashed after them as they turned towards the changing staircase. Lavender was fawning over him again. I walked in front of them to stop them.

'Ron, I need to talk to you,' I said. Lavender was about to reject and I added, 'Now, Ron!'

I took Ron's arm and dragged him away from Lavender. I didn't care if she got the wrong idea, I needed to speak to him. He rejected all the way as we walked up the stairs and into the fifth floor corridor. I pulled him behind a statue to make sure if Lavender followed she couldn't find us before saying, 'What the hell are you playing at?'

'What?' said Ron indignantly. 'You're the one who just dragged us up here.'

'I mean Hermione, Ron,' I said. 'In case it's escaped your noticed, she just left the classroom close to tears. Why did you have to go and take the piss out of her?'

'Hey, she mocked my moustache!' replied Ron angrily.

'Which you still have,' Ron hastily pulled out his wand to get rid of it, 'but everyone laughed at it because it looks ridiculous on you.'

'Well she deserved it! She – she didn't think I could save goals on my own and that no one would want to snog me.'

'When did she ever say that?'

'She didn't need to say it! It was perfectly clear she believed it! It's her fault! She started this! If she hadn't have gone and …' Ron trailed off, starting to look uncomfortable.

'Done what, Ron?' I asked. 'Because Hermione certainly doesn't know what she's done to deserve to be treated like this and even you can't be this ignorant to how she feels.' Ron didn't look at me, staring at his shoes. 'Why are you treating her like this? What has she ever done to you which warrants being cut off and treated no better than dirt on your clothes?'

'She … she snogged Krum,' said Ron rather weakly.

'Ron, that was back in the fourth year. You can't possibly have held a grudge against Viktor Krum for two years?'

Ron didn't answer. But the moment I said that something clicked in my head. Ron had been jealous that Krum had asked Hermione to the Yule Ball; Hermione had been upset when she saw Lavender snogging Ron; Hermione was going to Slughorn's Christmas party tonight with McLaggen, someone Ron really hates – it all made sense!

'You fancy Hermione,' I said. Ron looked at me, horrified I would suggest such a thing and tried to walk away. I wouldn't let him though. 'Don't walk away from me, Ron, you have a crush on Hermione, don't you?'

'No!' shouted Ron. 'No I-I – I don't like Hermione! She – you're imagining things!'

'I know what I'm imagining things, Ron, and I'm not now!' I snapped at him. 'If you like Hermione then don't do this to her because it won't just be her feelings you hurt but Lavender's as well. You can't be with someone if you want someone else. You've got to tell her how you feel otherwise you'll break her heart!'

No matter how much I tried Ron was adamant that he didn't have feelings for Hermione. He stormed off in a fowl mood, leaving me in the corridor. I was stunned. I couldn't believe Ron and Hermione had feelings for each other. If those two continued the way they did they were both get hurt. If they kept playing this game of who can make the other the most jealous then they'd end up hating themselves for the rest of their lives and I couldn't bare to watch my best friends do that. Like I said, love was a dangerous thing. I'm not saying those two were in love, we were sixteen, no one falls in love at sixteen. But if those two were meant to be with each other then they were going about the wrong way to see it.

After my seemingly pointless rant at Ron, judging on how he was at dinner, I returned to the Tower in order to hide from Hermione and her nagging at me to go to Slughorn's party. I had no intention of going. At that point I didn't even have enough energy to do what I intended to do tonight. Instead, I collapsed down in a chair in the common room, groaning inwardly at how stubborn people could be. That is till half a ton of person sat on me.

'Noah! Get off!'

'Sorry, is the chair talking?' he said, looking round as if looking for someone. 'I didn't know chairs could do that.' I had to try and stop laughing as he continued this for a few more moments before turning round. 'Oh, hello. Was this seat taken?'

I looked at him from beneath him and said, 'Nah, I just decided to sit here for no reason. So … what's it going to take to get you to get off me?'

'Um, how about one of your kisses?'

'Well, if that was all you wanted,' I said. I pulled myself up as best I could from underneath Noah and leaned up to him. 'You don't even need to ask.' and I kissed Noah gently on the lips. Pulling back, I saw him grinning. 'Better?'

'Not quite.'

Noah got off me and switched our positions so I was sat on him. Then, brushing back my hair Noah kissed me again, our lips moving slowly against one another. His arms were wrapped loosely round my waist as I sat on him, my hands resting in my lap. It was only when I heard wolf whistling coming from the other side of the common room that we broke apart. Seamus and a few others from Noah's year were watching us. I just shook my head before pulling Noah to his feet, leading him out of the common room for some privacy.

I spent the whole night with Noah. Well, apart from when I went to bed of course. It was so much better than going to some party where there would be loads of wizards I didn't even know there. I felt much more comfortable sitting and talking (and occasionally kissing) with Noah than I would have done at any party. After half an hour or so, we swapped Christmas gifts and returned to the Tower in time for curfew. Another kiss and goodnight, I went to bed happily thinking of Noah.

'What are you planning to do over Christmas then?'

Noah and I had a compartment to ourselves on the train back to London for the holidays seeing as so few were returning home. Well, Hogwarts was one of the safest places to be. I sat leaning against Noah on the seat as the train rattled down the track, his arm round my waist as he leaned against the window, the countryside speeding past.

'Don't know really,' he shrugged. 'Just spend time with the family, I s'pose. My Granddad will be over again no doubt so I'll have him to entertain me. What about you?'

'I'm going to The Burrow,' I said casually. 'Ron's house,' I added when I saw Noah's confused look. 'I spend quite a few holidays there what with my Uncle being busy so often. Means I've got to put up with his older brother's fiancée, Fleur Delacour, if you remember her. Still,' I flicked my wand, practicing the Levitation Spell non-verbally on the end of my scarf, 'I don't think I'm going to stay there all holiday.'

'How come?' asked Noah.

'I haven't been home since the summer. And besides,' I turned round in Noah's arm and gently kissed him, 'you and I could always meet up in London or something.'

'I don't know about that, Jenna,' replied Noah. 'I live in Hampshire in the middle of nowhere. Don't know how I'd get there. And I don't think you'd be able to come over because I don't know whether my Mum would want a witch turning up unexpectedly.'

'What do you mean by that?' I asked, curious.

'Mum … she's not too keen on this magic business. I mean, I'm the first wizard in the family and she knows a few things about Voldemort from the _Prophet_ … I just don't think she'll be too keen on me meeting up with a real witch, even if she is my girlfriend.'

We spent the rest of the time laughing at funny stories Noah had from being a child during Christmas. I obviously didn't have any funny stories to tell seeing as I grew up in an orphanage. The food trolley stopped around one o'clock and soon the station was coming into sight. We changed out of our school robes, once Noah had stopped tickling me, and got into some Muggle clothes ready for the platform. There was a lot of snow in London.

'Well, I guess I'll see you in January,' I said to Noah, giving him a quick kiss. 'Don't go falling for prettier girls than me while I'm gone.'

'Same goes for you,' laughed Noah. 'Come on, we better get going.'

As the platform came into view Noah and I gathered up our things and left the train together. Once on the platform we said goodbye and wished each other a happy Christmas before separating. Taking my trunk I headed up the platform looking for Mrs Weasley. I found her shortly afterwards. Neither Harry or Ron had known I was coming so were pretty surprised that I was standing there. I didn't say anything but kept my eyes down as I followed the others to the Ministry car waiting for us outside.

It was really nice to be back at The Burrow contrary to what I had originally thought. The atmosphere was happy and I spent the first day helping Ginny decorate. It was so much fun, more fun than I'd had in a while. Between us we managed to cover the sitting room in paper chains and decorate the tree while laughing our heads off, attracting the attention of Harry and Ron who had been peeling sprouts in the kitchen. Me and Ginny looked up when they entered. I smiled hesitantly when I noticed Harry was watching me, turning back to hanging the mistletoe Ginny wanted between the kitchen and sitting room.

Later that day I was sitting out in the garden thinking. I needed to talk to Harry. I couldn't go through the whole holiday avoiding him. But with Ron and Ginny about it just made it harder to catch him on his own. I didn't need to though because after sitting outside for about an hour, I heard a voice say to me, 'Are you OK?' Looking behind me I saw Harry standing there, scarf and gloves on, watching me.

'Er, yeah,' I said slowly, 'yeah, I'm – I'm fine.' I turned away again.

'You know I don't believe that,' said Harry. I heard his footsteps crunch on the snow-covered ground. 'Listen, Jen,' he began, 'I know I'm probably the last person you want to speak to. But I'm worried about you. I know you probably wouldn't believe me but I _do_ care about you and I just want to know you're all right without me.' I didn't answer. Inside me though I was desperately wanting to shout out how I felt, to talk to him. 'You know I'm always here if you need to talk. I just wished you'd let me in.'

I took in a deep breath and bit my lip, trying so hard to stop myself from crying. I ran my hands over my face to brush back any tears that might have fallen but I couldn't stop them. I cursed myself for being so stubborn and heartless at thinking Harry didn't care and now when I tried to talk to him I physically couldn't. I heard his footsteps start to walk away.

'Harry, wait!' I said before I could stop myself. His footsteps stopped. I didn't turn round, instead closing my eyes as a few tears fell down my cheek. 'I'm sorry. I am so sorry.'

'What?'

'I saw you confront Mundungus in Hogsmeade,' I breathed. 'You tried to get Dad's stuff back. I didn't think you cared about him. You'd expected me to get over it just like that. But I was wrong, you do care and I – I'm so sorry.'

'You don't need to apologise to me.' Harry stepped up to me. I looked up to see him sitting beside me on the wall. 'I understand what you went through and you have no reason to apologise.'

'But I do,' I said, shaking my head. 'Harry, I have treated you so badly because of blaming you for Dad's death and – and I am so sorry for thinking you were responsible. I was just so wrapped up in my own grief I didn't see how much you were hurting as well. Dad – he was your godfather, you had a right to him too. But I had been so jealous at the fact you always seemed closer to him than I was that the thought of him dying to save you was too much and I found it easier to blame you.'

'I never tried to take Sirius away from you,' said Harry softly. 'He loved you so much.'

'But it never seemed like that when you were around,' I muttered, looking away.

'Jenna, listen to me.' I felt something turn my face to look at Harry. I gasped inwardly as I felt Harry's cold hand on my cheek. 'Sirius was your father. He loved you more than anything. He would always put you before me no matter what. Sure, I was his godson and I thought of him as a father from time to time but nothing is stronger than the love a parent has for their child. You just have to look at what my Mum did for me to see that.'

'But – '

'No buts. You don't need to apologise to me. If it had been me in that position I probably would have done the same. Everyone looks for someone to blame as they grieve – I blamed Dumbledore for Sirius's death! – and I don't blame you for taking your anger out of me. I deserved it.'

'Harry, no one deserves that treatment,' I replied.

'Ssh, it's all right,' said Harry over me. He wrapped his arm round my shoulders and pulled me closer. 'You've apologised and I've accepted. Nothing more needs to be said about it.'

We sat in silence for a good while after that, my head on Harry's shoulder and his arm round my waist. It felt so nice just to know he was there for me when it had seemed everyone I loved had abandoned me. But then a thought occurred to me. Why did Harry try so hard to make me talk to him? Why did it seem so important to him to find out if I was all right. As I thought this I pulled away from Harry, standing up and walking away.

'Jenna?'

'I don't understand something.' I didn't face him but kept me eyes lowered. I knew he was watching me. 'Why did you fight so hard to win back my friendship after I treated you so badly? I don't deserve it.'

'Jenna, we just talked about this – ' Harry began.

'No we didn't,' I said over him, turning round. 'I apologised to you, that's what we talked about. We didn't talk about why you tried so hard to get me to speak to you when I came back. And I need to know. I need to know why you fought so hard to get me back.

Harry looked uncomfortable.

'I, sort of, promised Sirius that I'd look out for you.' What? 'It was last year, after the whole snake incident. He pulled me aside before we left to return to Hogwarts to tell me if he ever needed me use the mirror, which he gave me, and to look out for you. He didn't want anything to happen to you. I mean,' Harry shrugged, 'I've known you as long as I can remember, Jen. Life wouldn't be the same without you.'

I couldn't help but smile slightly. Harry smiled back. Even at the worst of times, Harry was still there for me. Soon we heard our names being called by Mrs Weasley for us to come in for dinner and we returned inside. That night I went to bed feeling much better than I had done in a while. I had my best friend back, what more could I want?

Over the next few days before Christmas Harry and I spent virtually all the time together. We had a lot of catching up to do. We spent most of the time sitting in the garden as the snow fell, talking to each other in a much more comfortable atmosphere than had been between us in a long while. If anything though, it felt like our friendship was stronger than ever because we'd managed to overcome something that could have torn us apart forever.

'Bellatrix and Narcissa captured me, and next thing I know, I was in a cellar in the middle of nowhere.' Harry and I were walking around the field where the Weasleys usually played Quidditch. It was Christmas Eve. We were talking about what had happened to me during the summer. 'I was kept there for over a month and every so often Voldemort would turn up to question me.'

'What did he want to know?' asked Harry.

'Something about a necklace,' I muttered, trying to remember. 'He thought I knew something about a necklace but I hadn't a clue what he was on about, even when he read my mind he could see that I was telling the truth. He eventually stopped questioning me about it but made me do something else instead.'

'What did he make you do?'

'He forced me to get a premonition. It was about the war, showing what happened.' I stopped walking. 'It was so scary, watching people fighting in my head. I don't know whether it was true or not but none of my premonitions have been wrong before, not that I've had any for ages.' I noticed Harry staring at me. I shook my head. 'It didn't show very much …' I shrugged and kept walking. 'Voldemort wasn't pleased with what I told him because I hadn't seen much. I'd defended myself because it was really painful, him touching me. Next, Dark Mark on my arm and,' I pulled down my sleeve, 'still there.'

Beside me Harry stopped walking. I did so too and turned back to him. He wasn't looking at me. Instead he was facing the fields. His hands were clenched by his sides and his eyes had darkened as he looked away. He'd suddenly gone rigid. Worried if I'd said something, I walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm. He glanced at me.

'I'm fine,' I said quietly. 'Voldemort didn't do anything to me which could have permanently harmed me. You know I'm not a Death Eater and I can get the Mark removed eventually.'

'It's not that,' replied Harry stiffly. 'It's just … you were lucky. You know the prophecy.' oh yeah, I'd forgotten I did. I hadn't really been focused when Dumbledore had shown Harry in his office. 'If Voldemort had known that … you could have been killed if he tried to get if from you.'

'Harry, look at me.' I raised my hand and turned his face so he would. 'I got away. I'm standing here in front of you alive. Voldemort may have read my mind but he didn't find anything of use. If he'd found out I knew the prophecy I wouldn't be here so stop worrying. He probably thinks I'm dead anyway because Bellatrix almost killed me when she tried to stop me escaping. I'm fine,' I repeated. 'I'm back with you so stop worrying about me.'

Harry looked up at me, right into my eyes, and smiled. I hastily withdrew my hand as I felt my pulse begin to race though I couldn't draw my eyes away from his. They were so deep, full of so many feelings all mixed together.

'So, what's all this about Malfoy?' I asked quickly, walking off again.

I'd heard from Hermione that Harry had been positive that Malfoy was a Death Eater and was up to something at school. He told me about how he'd pulled his arm away in Madam Malkin's; been gloating about something in the Slytherin compartment on the way up to school; how he thought Malfoy was responsible for Katie being given that cursed necklace; and now that he and Snape had had a major disagreement. Apparently neither Ron or Hermione had taken it too seriously. To me, however, it reminded me of something.

'Malfoy, he and his mother came to the house while I was in the cellar,' I said. Harry looked at me, stunned.

'Why were they there?'

'I don't know. I couldn't hear much down there but I heard Malfoy shouting at one point, not words but in pain, then Voldemort telling him to do something. Like he was giving him a task to do.'

'Are you sure?' asked Harry. 'Are you absolutely sure?'

'I wish I could be, Harry,' I said. 'But I don't know how much that was said is true or not. As for the Dark Mark … when you saw Malfoy and me talking at his compartment, I told him to watch his back because I knew he was up to something. It was only a bluff but when he said I had nothing to prove, I replied his left arm would be revealing enough. It actually seemed to scare him.'

'So he is a Death Eater!' said Harry.

'I'm not saying he is,' I said quickly. I knew what Harry was like when he had an idea in his head. 'But I'm not saying it isn't a possibility now.'

That night I spent with Lupin seeing as he was staying for Christmas as well. As much as I'd have liked to spend Christmas with him at home it was nice that he was here with me. After dinner all of us were sat in the sitting room listening to the Celestina Warbeck on the wireless. I'd decided now I needed to explain to Lupin why I ran away and he listened, telling me he was just glad when I turned up alive. I ended up falling asleep on Lupin's lap, breathing in his comforting scent. I was so happy to be back with him.

On Christmas day I woke up to find a pile of presents crammed into a stocking at the foot of my bed. Ginny was already opening hers when I woke. I sat opening them and talking with her before we heard a shout come from above us. We both looked up at the ceiling. It was Ron. There was only one reason I could think of why he would have done that. He must have opened Lavender's Christmas present to him; she had shown me a thick gold necklace she'd brought him which had "My Sweetheart" hanging from it. It looked horrendous in my opinion. I explained this to Ginny and the pair of us burst into laughter.

I was pretty surprised by two of my presents this year. One of them just because I didn't think Harry would have got me anything seeing as I'd treated him so badly. When I opened it I had to stop myself from gasping at what it was. It was another necklace but it was the pendants I didn't understand. Why would Harry get me something like that? I didn't deserve it. Placing it back in its box, I put it aside to return to him. The other present which I hadn't expected was one from a certain house-elf I never wanted to see again. Kreacher had sent me a rather mouldy package which had contained cockroaches inside it, causing me to scream slightly as they fell out. It had been in Dad's will that he was still to obey me though he rightfully belonged to Harry. I guess this was his present to one of his masters. I have to say I wondered what Harry had got if I'd received cockroaches.

Christmas lunch was amazing. There was not an inch of the table in view as the food piled up. Ginny and I were in charge of helping Mrs Weasley cook it seeing as she didn't want to put up with Fleur in the kitchen by herself. Mrs Weasley really didn't like her future daughter-in-law and to be honest, when she told me I needed a haircut, I wasn't too fond of her either. Ginny was still calling her Phlegm behind her back. Good way to deal with her frustration I guess. At just after twelve, the rest of those gathered there came into the dining room and we sat down to Christmas lunch. It was a relaxed meal although it did have it's high points, like when Ron nearly spilled gravy all over Fleur.

'You are as bad as zat Tonks,' she said indignantly which made me glare at her. There was nothing wrong with Tonks, she was just clumsy.

'I invited _dear_ Tonks to come along today,' said Mrs Weasley, adding emphasis as she placed down a dish of carrots. 'But she wouldn't come. Have you spoken to her lately, Remus?'

I looked at Lupin as he replied, 'No, I haven't been in contact with anybody very much. But Tonks has got her own family to go to, hasn't she?' It was strange. As he'd answered Lupin had looked almost uncomfortable to talk about it. And as he spoke to Harry afterwards he seemed even more so, whatever they were talking about. Weird.

The biggest shock for the Weasleys though was when Mrs Weasley let out a scream of, 'Arthur – it's Percy!' He was walking up the driveway towards the house with the Minister for Magic by the looks of it. Neither Fred, George or Ron looked happy to see him while Ginny seemed of mixed opinions. Mrs Weasley was almost in tears that he'd finally come home. Me and Harry kept quiet from the sidelines until Scrimgeour asked for someone to show him round the grounds so as not to intrude upon the Weasleys. Unsurprisingly in my opinion he picked Harry. Mr Weasley and Lupin had both risen out of the chairs but Harry insisted it was fine and left the house with Scrimgeour.

While Mrs Weasley caught up with Percy in the kitchen, I was in the sitting room so as not to intrude. I was looking out of the window, watching Harry. In my hand I had his Christmas present that he'd given me. I watched as Scrimgeour and Harry spoke, my arms crossed in thought. What did Scrimgeour want with Harry? He hadn't exactly made it unobvious when he arrived that he didn't have an ulterior motive. After about fifteen minutes, I saw Harry walk away. Quickly I headed for the front door seeing as the Weasleys were in the kitchen. Grabbing my scarf and coat from the hook, I checked no one was looking before slipping into the garden.

Harry was heading for the back field. Tying my scarf round my neck, I hurried after him. I caught up with him in no time besides the deep snow and walked beside him for a few minutes. Eventually I got the courage and asked him, 'So what did Scrimgeour want?'

'For me to become a mascot for the Ministry,' replied Harry bitterly. 'I said I wouldn't do it, not while they got innocent people locked up in Azkaban.'

'Don't really blame you for that. You should of heard me when I had a go at Fudge when Dad's will was being read out. And seeing as the Ministry is run by a bunch of idiots anyway, how about we stop this conversation?'

Harry smirked at that and let out a short laugh. I smiled to. I could still make him laugh. Guessing he could still do with a bit of cheering up, I stopped walking and bent down, scooping up in my hands a small ball of snow. I held it behind me when he looked round.

'What have you got behind you?' he asked slowly. I grinned.

'What makes you ask that?' I replied, trying to be innocent.

'Jenna, I know you better than anyone. What have you got behind your back?'

'I haven't got anything! Honest!'

'You're lying.'

'No I'm not!' I was trying my hardest not to laugh. He stepped up to me to look behind my back but I stepped away to keep the snowball hidden. 'Harry, you're paranoid. I haven't got anything!'

Harry didn't believe me and tried to get whatever it was from behind me. We continued this for a few minutes. Harry kept on chasing me while I backed away. My hands were getting really cold seeing as I didn't have any gloves on. As Harry tried for a fifth time to see what I had in my hand, I gave up and threw the snowball, resulting in him getting a face full of snow. I burst into laughter as he fell backwards, landing flat in the snow.

'You wanted to know what was behind me,' I laughed. Harry sat up and glared at me but he was smiling too. I bit my lip to stop laughing but I couldn't. 'Curiosity can be a sin, you know.'

'Right, you asked for it!'

Harry quickly stood up, taking some snow in his hands and threw it at me. It just missed me as I ducked. A massive snowball fight then ensued between us. We were acting like we were nine years old. I'd always beat Harry at any game we played when we were younger and weren't being bothered by Dudley. Harry kept chasing me around the field chucking as many snowballs at me as possible while I was running backwards to be able to dodge them, also throwing the occasional one at him. Harry may be good at avoiding Bludgers but throw a snowball at him, it'll hit him every time. We were outside for so long that snow was starting to fall around us until Harry caught me round the waist and we fell to the ground. He ended the game by pressing a snowball right on my head and rubbing it into my hair.

'I give! I give!' I shouted in defeat. I was getting wet and very cold from being underneath Harry in the snow. 'I'm freezing here!'

'Say I win,' said Harry, smirking. He moved into a better position to hold me down, straddling my waist. I tried to push him off but he was too strong and I was laughing to much. 'Come on, Jenna, admit defeat and say I win.'

'I win!' Harry pressed another piled of snow into my hair, making me squeal at how cold it was. Well he told me to say "I win". 'OK! You win! You win, Potter! I surrender! You win!'

'That's better.'

Harry finally got off me and pulled me up a little too enthusiastically. I fell forwards. I grabbed on to Harry as he caught me in his arms. I looked up to see him looking down on me, smiling. Shivers raced up my spine but not because of the cold. I looked into his eyes, my mouth slightly open as I regained my breath from the snowball fight. I stood straight and turned to brush myself down.

'Jen, you've dropped something.' Looking round, Harry picked something up from the snow. It was a small red box. Harry's present to me! I must have dropped it during the snowball fight! 'It's your Christmas present,' said Harry, right on cue. 'Don't want it getting damaged.'

He handed it to me. I took it but didn't place it back in my pocket. Instead, I looked up at Harry and said, 'Yeah, it was there for a reason. You should have it back.'

I held it out for him to take. Harry merely looked at it.

'But I gave it to you,' he said, confused. 'It was a present.'

'Harry, I can't accept this. It looks like it cost you so much and I don't deserve anything from you. Not after the way I treated you.'

'Jenna, that's for me to decide,' said Harry. 'And I accepted your apology. I bought this for you and I want you to have it.'

'Harry, I – ' I honestly didn't know what to say. I opened the box and took out the necklace. The chain lengthened as I held it up, a small key and heart hanging at the bottom, glinting in the sunlight. But I knew Harry wasn't going to be swayed so I just accepted it. 'Thank you. Sorry I didn't get you anything. It's so beautiful.'

'The shop assistant said it was called the Key to a Heart.'

'I think I got that. I just can't see why you'd buy me something like this.' I placed the necklace back in its box and put it in my coat pocket. 'It looks like something a guy would get his girlfriend.'

'My money,' shrugged Harry. 'I just saw it and instantly thought of you. Think it was something you said to me last year when I asked you about your parents. Eyes being a key to hearts or something like that.'

'You remembered something I said?' I glanced at him sceptically.

'Don't sound so surprised,' said Harry indignantly.

'Whatever, Potter,' I joked. 'But I still can't see why you'd get me something like this.'

'Jen, I care about you,' said Harry simply. 'I've said it so many times you'd think it would sink in to that intelligent head of yours.' Harry pulled me in and messed my wet hair. I squealed and shouted for him to let go. Luckily he did so. 'Besides, I know what you're like. No guy would be good enough for you unless he can win the key to your heart.'

I blushed slightly at that and looked down, biting my lip. I did that a lot now and it was out of sheer nerves. I lifted my eyes to see Harry smiling too. His eyes … they were so deep and contained a warmth in them I'd never seen before. I felt a smile slowly creep on to my face.

'You've, er, got snow in your hair,' I said quietly.

I reached up and let my fingers trail over his hair, brushing off the snow. It was so soft running my fingers through it. As I pulled back my hand I felt it get taken but my eyes were still gazing into his. Though my heart felt like it was pounding in my chest I could barely feel myself breathe. He was so close to me. He was looking down at me, his face so near to mine that I could feel his breath on my neck. I felt something raise my face. Slowly I closed my eyes and I felt the familiar touch of his lips against mine.

Those butterflies I knew oh so well whenever Harry kissed me started in my stomach and my pulse increase. It was so wrong but at the same time it felt so right. He was so gentle but I could feel the passion behind it. I didn't want it to end. I kept it going as long as I dared, matching the rhythm Harry set. I felt his hand rest on my waist while the other lifted my chin a little higher, one of mine resting on his chest and the other on his shoulder. It was only when I heard someone calling our names that I pulled back and broke the kiss.

'Harry? Jenna?'

I didn't need to look around to know it was Mrs Weasley looking for us. I merely lowered my eyes, not wanting to look at Harry. I didn't pull away from him though. I physically couldn't even though I'd just cheated on my boyfriend with my best friend. The feelings I got when we kissed … they made me feel so happy … What was worse though was Harry didn't know about Noah. I didn't even have the heart to tell him.

'We better go inside,' I breathed. I could feel my heart still racing. 'They must be wondering where we are.'

'Yeah,' replied Harry. 'Come on.'

We turned and walked down the hill back to The Burrow. Nothing was said about the kiss.

I went to bed that night with my mind racing. I'd cheated on Noah. Twice in fact though the last kiss Harry and I shared wasn't really a kiss. Actually I don't know what you'd call it. It felt like a kiss to me but to Harry it might have been something completely different. But the fact was Harry and I had kissed twice since school started, three times in total, and all three times I'd felt so happy regardless of what was happening around me. I don't know what it was but kissing Harry made me feel like I was dreaming though I knew it was real. All I knew was I had to stop. I couldn't do that to Noah, I couldn't cheat on him.

Whatever I was feeling for Harry was ridiculous. He was my best friend, I couldn't possibly feel anything more than friendship for him. It was just the Christmas atmosphere. Yes, that's what it was. I was just caught up in the Christmas atmosphere. I felt nothing for Harry, nothing but friendship. It was just a temporary thing. As soon as we get back to Hogwarts it would go away. I was sure of it …

* * *

**AN: wow, actually got it done before school tomorrow. this chapter caused me a lot of grief because it was so confusing trying to work out which conversation should go where and how it should be linked together. it was definitely the hardest chapter to date. and don't worry, Harry and Jenna will still be friends when they're back at Hogwarts. well, plz leave a review and thank you to all the people who reviewed the lasp chapter. 11 reviews is a record! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	32. A Series of Unfortunate Events

Chapter 31

A Series of Unfortunate Events

A few days after New Year, Harry, Ron, Ginny and I returned to Hogwarts via Floo Powder, appearing sooty in Professor McGonagall's office. Hermione was there to greet us when we got back to the Tower (although she didn't seem to happy to see Ron) and let us through the portrait seeing as the password had been changed over the holiday. As soon as we got into the common room, Ron was immediately enveloped by Lavender and the rest of us headed for some peace in the corner.

After handing Harry a scroll from Dumbledore (he'd told me about the private lessons he'd been having with him) Ginny disappeared and Hermione asked us how Christmas was a "Won-Won's". She was still tetchy about the subject it seemed and was not willing to discuss it, instead saying, 'So you two seem on good terms. Something happen over Christmas?'

'We made up,' I shrugged. 'I told Harry I'd seen him in Hogsmeade when he confronted Mundungus and I apologised. I'd been wrong.'

'But she still had the right to feel hurt,' Harry added. I looked across at him and shook my head. We were not going to start this conversation again.

Instead Harry told Hermione about what he'd seen between Malfoy and Snape on the night of Slughorn's party. Harry was right when he said Hermione couldn't deny he wasn't planning something. I added to this by telling her about what I'd heard down in that cellar during the holiday. But the thought about Malfoy's master was still unclear. Hermione sat in thought for a few moments, Lavender tickling Ron apparently unnoticeable to her, before asking about Lupin. Harry explained he wasn't good and brought up someone he'd never heard of. Fenrir Greyback. This sparked something in Hermione's memory when Harry asked if she'd heard of him.

'Yes, I have! And so have you, Harry!' Harry found that doubtful seeing as he never listened in History of Magic. 'No, no, not History of Magic – Malfoy threatened Borgin with him! Back in Knockturn Alley, don't you remember? He told Borgin that Greyback was an old family friend and that he'd be checking up on Borgin's progress.'

'I forgot!' gasped Harry. 'But this _proves_ Malfoy's a Death Eater, along with what Jenna heard in that cellar, how else could he be in contact with Greyback and telling him what to do?'

'It is pretty suspicious,' breathed Hermione. 'Unless …'

'Oh, come on, ' said Harry, exasperated, 'you can't get round this one!'

'Well … there is the possibility it was an empty threat.'

'Malfoy wouldn't threaten someone with this unless he meant it,' I said. 'Fenrir Greyback is the most vicious werewolf known in the wizarding world.' I knew this because Lupin had told me about him when I found out he was a werewolf. It was Greyback who bit him. 'If he's not biting children to infect them, he's up for killing people with little reason.'

'But still '

'You're unbelievable, you are,' groaned Harry. 'We'll see who's right … you'll be eating your words, Hermione, just like the Ministry. Oh yeah, I had a row with Rufus Scrimgeour …'

At that point I tuned out as Harry and Hermione started abusing the Ministry. I was looking round the common room for Noah. He didn't seem to be back yet. I couldn't wait to see him and thank him for my Christmas present. Still, he'd be back tomorrow for school. I'd be able to see him at breakfast.

The next morning I went down to breakfast with Hermione and saw Noah sitting further down the table. It was so good to see him again. He was so pleased to see me and gave me what he called a long overdue Christmas kiss. Oh, it was good to be back in his arms. I'd missed him so much over the holiday. This proved my feelings for Harry were long gone.

Through breakfast we briefly asked each other about our holidays before heading back to the common room together. While he disappeared off for Transfiguration I went to find Ron and Harry because we had a free period. I found them gathered with the other sixth years at the notice board. We were getting Apparition lessons this term. Cool. The guys all seemed very excited about it. Seamus certainly was, proved later that day in Charms when instead of producing a fountain of water, he produced a jet that hit Professor Flitwick in the face.

'You're to write "_I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing a stick_",' he squeaked angrily to him, waving his wand.

Me and Harry were both trying hard not to snicker as Flitwick gave him a right telling off. Well it was really funny. The rest of the day passed and I was just glad to get back to the common room to be with Noah so we could catch up. After having dinner with Harry, Ron and Hermione, Harry disappeared off to another lesson with Dumbledore while we proceeded to the Tower. Noah was there to greet me when I got through the portrait hole.

'Hey, been missing you all day,' he said, wrapping his arms round my waist. I smiled as he did so though I blushed slightly seeing as Ron and Hermione were just behind me.

'So … this is the mystery Noah?' asked Hermione, raising an eyebrow at me.

'I'm just going to – I have – ' I mumbled incoherently before Noah took my hand and led me away. I swear I heard Ron snickering behind me before I heard a loud 'Ow!'. I smirked and followed Noah into the corner. 'Sorry about them,' I said as Noah pulled me on to his lap. 'They can be a bit embarrassing. They're in the middle of a personal war at the moment.'

'No worse than my friends,' muttered Noah. He indicated someone near us with a nod of his head. I followed his gaze and saw McLaggen watching and sniggering with one of his buddies at us. 'Just ignore him. He's no more than a player.'

'Trying it on with Hermione at the moment. And I bet he doesn't win any of his games.'

Once off the subject of McLaggen and his non-existent sex life according to Noah, we asked each other about our Christmas's. Noah had had a fun Christmas as all his family came over and so they had a big party. His older sister had recently had a baby and so he was now an uncle which I found pretty cool. When he asked me about my Christmas I paused for a moment before giving him an answer.

'It was kind of fun actually,' I said. 'More than I thought it would be considering I wasn't talking to Harry and he was staying over too.'

'You're not still arguing with him, are you?' asked Noah. My stomach gave an uncomfortable squirm. 'Jen, you can't keep on ignoring him.'

'I'm not ignoring him anymore,' I replied. 'I took your advice. I talk to him and we sorted it all out. He understood how I felt and I apologised for treating him so badly. We ended up spending the rest of the holiday talking seeing as we hadn't spoken for almost six months. Couldn't believe how much I'd missed him in that sort amount of time.'

I stopped. It was because of spending so much time with him that that kiss had happened in the snow. I was not going to let Noah know about that kiss.

'See.' Noah brushed my hair back and kissed my temple. I turned and looked at him, thankful he hadn't noticed my phasing out of the conversation. 'I told you if you just spoke to him things would be better. You and Harry have been friends for how long?'

'Eight years or so.'

'Whoa. Point is, no friendship that strong is worth risking for anything.'

I sighed. Noah was so good to me and he was so caring and understanding. I smiled and raised my eyes to his. They were a deep hazel. _Brown eyes … _I thought absently. _They hide his feelings_. I gently ran my hand over his cheek, my fingers gliding through his hair. _His hair's so neat … too neat_. Leaning up to him, I pressed my lips to his. _He's so gentle … but where's the passion?_ Instantly, I broke the kiss. What the hell? Why was I thinking that?

'Jenna? Is something wrong?'

'No,' I said quickly, looking back at him. 'No, I'm – I'm just a bit tired. I think I'm just going to go to bed.' I leaned into him and gave him another quick kiss on the lips before getting up. 'I'll see you tomorrow, maybe?'

'Yeah. Night, Jenna.'

'Night.'

I turned and headed for the girl's dormitories. Once on the stairs and out of sight of the common room, I ran up the last few and dashed into my dormitory. What the hell was wrong with me? Why was I picking fault with Noah? He was the nicest bloke I'd ever met. It was like I was comparing him to someone. But who could I possibly be comparing him with? He's the only boy I've had a relationship with and – he wasn't the only boy I'd kissed though.

'I'm comparing Noah to Harry?' I asked myself. Why would I do that? Noah was my _boyfriend_, Harry was a _friend_ who was a _boy_ … a friend who I'd kissed three times … and found myself gazing into his eyes … and running my fingers through his hair … I groaned and walked over to my bed, flopping back on it. What the hell was wrong with me? 'OK, let's get one thing straight, Jenna,' I said to myself, sitting up. 'You're with Noah. He's your boyfriend. You have feelings for him, nobody else. You do not have feelings for Harry. He's just a friend. Nothing more.'

But it wasn't true. I'd felt what I felt for Noah for Harry occasionally, maybe even stronger. And the more I denied it the worse I saw it got.

The next morning, Hermione and I met up with Harry and Ron in the common room though Hermione was still ignoring Ron, maybe even more so. I shrugged and smiled as Harry gave me a questioning look and we headed down for breakfast. I didn't have feelings for Harry. I was worrying over nothing. Ron sat with us, Hermione sat with Parvati further down. Harry told us about his lesson with Dumbledore the previous night. He'd set him a task.

'Who'd have thought Dumbledore would be giving you extra homework, Harry,' I joked, stirring my cereal. 'Hope you don't fall behind in that as well.'

Harry sent me a look.

'It's not that kind of homework, Jen,' he said bluntly. 'He wants me to get the rest of that memory from Slughorn. He'd altered it, badly at that, and Dumbledore believes its important that I learn what Horcruxes are. All part of understanding Voldemort better.'

'It'll be easy for you, Harry,' said Ron casually. 'He loves you. Won't refuse you anything, will he? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him.'

Seeing as Hermione was still refusing to be anywhere near Ron, he repeated the story later during class.

'He must be determined to hide what really happened if Dumbledore couldn't get it out of him,' said Hermione, less convinced. 'Horcruxes … _Horcruxes_ … I've never even heard of them before …'

'You haven't?' asked Harry, surprised. We all were.

'That's a first, Herm,' I added. 'Never known you not to know something.'

'They must be really advanced Dark magic,' continued Hermione, 'or why would Voldemort have wanted to know about them? I think its going to be difficult to get the information, Harry, you'll have to be very careful about how you approach Slughorn, think out a strategy …'

Harry told him what Ron had said to us at breakfast to which Hermione's reaction was as biting as ever. We glanced at each other before Harry tried again to try and make her talk to him but it seemed unlikely they would. Something major would have to happen to either of them before they spoke again in my opinion.

I saw the extent of the uncomfortable atmosphere between Ron and Hermione that Harry had to so far suffered during Potions. I joined them on the table they'd been working on since the start of term to find the pair of us sat between the two of them, Hermione moving so she was sitting nearer Ernie than us. Once Slughorn had told us to 'Settle down, please!' he set us about using Golpalott's Third Law about poisons.

'Who can tell me – ? But Miss Granger can, of course?'

'Golpalott's-Third-Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-potion-will-be-equal-to-more-than-the-sum-of-the-antidote-for-each-of-the-separate-components.'

'… which means, of course,' continued Professor Slughorn, 'that assuming we have achieved correct identification of the potion's ingredients by Scarpin's Revelaspell, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find that added component which will by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements and so I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves.'

I merely stared at Slughorn for a few moments before muttering to myself, 'And in English?' turning to the right page in my textbook. Beside me I heard Harry snicker. He must have heard me. Still, I got up and collected a phial of an acid pink substance and took it back to my desk. Gloves on, I uncorked it and tipped it into my cauldron, setting to work.

By the end of the lesson I'd managed to gain about twenty-five ingredients from my poison, pouring them into separate phials. Across from me Hermione had at least fifty. Once he'd told us to stop, Slughorn walked round the class to see all our work. After checking Hermione's, he nodded approvingly at mine before moving to Ron's, then Harry's. I glanced across at him to see he hadn't done anything whatsoever. But when Slughorn asked him what he had, he showed him a bezoar. I looked at him incredulously. Why the little cheat.

'And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?' asked Hermione. Sweaty faced, she looked livid at Harry's quick-solve answer to poisons.

'That's the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs!' laughed Slughorn. 'Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it …'

I let out a sigh and shook my head in despair and started to clean up my ingredients. Hermione was muttering furiously about Harry still managing to beat her while Ron seemed annoyed that Harry hadn't got him a bezoar too. Well, least they were agreeing on something. Still, it wasn't much fun going off to lunch with them both seething about the Potions lesson. Harry told us to go ahead seeing as he was going to try to find out what Horcruxes were from Slughorn. He joined us at lunch about ten minutes later, unsuccessful.

'Well, it was worth a go,' I said, seeing as Ron and Hermione were both unsympathetic about his try. 'Maybe you just have to be a little more creative with how you ask him. And not ask him the same way Voldemort did those years ago,' I added as an afterthought. 'You asked him straight out, right?'

'Yeah,' shrugged Harry. 'I wasn't going to beat around the bush with it.'

'Yeah, maybe not the best method.' I took a sip of pumpkin juice. 'Well, next time you try, why don't you try to appeal to his better nature. Slughorn likes reminiscing so play to that angle. Bring up your mum or something.'

'I doubt I'm going to get much of a chance,' said Harry. 'Judging by how he reacted earlier, I reckon he's going to be on guard in case I try to ask him again. I've just got to hope he forgets that I did.'

By the weekend, Harry had almost stopped seething about the fact that Slughorn was not as forgetful as he admittedly looked and Ron and Hermione had almost stopped muttering about the bezoar incident. Meanwhile, I entertained myself by having some fun with Noah while the snow remained around Hogwarts. Before dinner on Saturday night I returned to the Tower rather wet after a rather fierce snowball fight between Noah and me (enchantments allowed) in order to dry off. I was giving Noah a bit of "cold shoulder" treatment seeing as he left me wearing a see-through t-shirt which any guy who saw me definitely enjoyed. This was only because I'd taken my jacket off because I was freezing wearing it. It obviously wasn't going to last though.

In my dormitory, I dried myself off and changed into some dry jeans and top, tying my hair in a loose ponytail. Applying a Hot Air Charm, I warmed myself up before heading back down for dinner. I was famished. Wand tucked in the back of my jeans, I left the dormitory and headed down the stairs. But when I was halfway down the siren signalling a guy trying to get into the girls' dormitories sounded and the steps turned flat. I screamed slightly as I fell down and slid to the bottom of the stairs. I then proceeded to trip on the carpet when I reached the bottom and I collided with the person who'd tried to get upstairs. It was Harry.

'Hi,' he said. He was breathlessly having just been winded by me landing on top of him.

'Hey,' I replied, equally as breathless. 'You forgot about the siren and the stairs then?'

'Sort of.'

'Why were you trying to get up there anyway?'

'Ron's already gone down to dinner with Lavender and I was wondering if either you or Hermione were up there.'

'Hermione was with McLaggen last time I looked,' I said nonchalantly, resting my chin on my hands. 'Though I don't think she was all too keen on the idea but she's still trying to annoy Ron. As for me,' I looked down at him, 'I was up there but now seemed to be down here.'

Harry smiled and laughed. I did so too. But then when I looked back at him I stopped but my smile remained. He had a really nice smile. I couldn't believe I'd never noticed it before. I felt my pulse begin to race suddenly and I realised what position we were in. Harry was lying on the floor on his back with me lying on top of him. Instantly I sat up, Harry doing so as well but we remained on the floor, me kneeling beside him. I was still looking into his eyes.

As we sat there Harry reached forward and said, 'You've got a loose strand.' before brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I held in a gasp as his fingers trailed over my cheek afterwards.

'Well, that was fun,' I said, standing up instantly. I straightened my top before turning back round and offering Harry my hand, pulling him to his feet. 'We should definitely do it again sometime.' I was trying to cover up my sudden increased heartbeat by making a joke; it was thumping so hard in my chest, I swear he could hear it.

'Yeah,' laughed Harry. 'Pretty glad no one was in the room as that happened. Imagine what they'd say if they saw us.'

'They'd certainly get talking. So, er, we going down to dinner?' I asked, pointing behind me to the portrait hole.

Harry nodded and walked over to the portrait hole. _Just calm down_, I thought to myself as I followed him, _no one saw us. It meant nothing. _Taking a breath, I caught up with Harry and walked alongside him down to the Great Hall. We walked in silence. Every so often I glanced across at him, observing him. He'd certainly changed from the rather small boy I'd met those years ago. He had a tall build with broad shoulders and he didn't look as thin as he used to; his hair was as messy as always, falling above his eyes to the nape of his neck, covering his ears; his eyes though, I always thought they were his best feature because they were so bright, so deep …

_He's changed so much_, I thought absently to myself as we walked. _He's actually quite attractive if I _–

I stopped dead in my tracks. I did not just think that! I did not just call Harry as attractive! Looking up, Harry luckily hadn't noticed me stopping suddenly. Quickly I followed after him, repeatedly telling myself to get a grip. Harry wasn't attractive. He was my best friend. You don't think of them as attractive. He's not attractive. Well, not that attractive …

During dinner I didn't join in the conversation that much. I was thinking about mine and Harry's unfortunate incident before we came down here. I came to the conclusion it was just a little accident. That's all it was and I shouldn't take it so seriously. My pulse had increased because I'd been shocked by the stairs changing, not because I was staring into Harry's eyes or anything. It was a bit of fun. A funny moment. I smiled and took another bite of my pudding. I was blowing things all out of proportion.

February drifted in bringing slightly warmer weather and melting the last of the snow. Homework was as hard as usual but now we had the added study of Apparition. All the sixth years had signed up and paid and on the first Saturday of February, we gathered together outside the Great Hall for our first lesson. Everyone was excited about it from the amount of noise they were making when Hermione, Harry and I got there. The house tables had been cleared against the sides and the Heads of Houses were all gathered at the front along with a rather tired-looking Ministry wizard.

'Good morning,' he called once we were quiet. 'My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Apparition Instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition test in this time – '

'Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!' barked Professor McGonagall suddenly.

I glanced across at where he was standing. He flushed slightly as everyone looked at him. He'd been talking to Crabbe by the looks of it. Ignoring this, I looked back at Twycross as he continued.

'– by which time many of you may be ready to take your test.'

Even if I managed to Apparate within these lessons, it wouldn't make much difference to me. I didn't turn seventeen till the fifth of August. I was the youngest in the year so I'd probably be the last to take the test even if I aced the practice.

After a quick warning of not to try to Apparate outside the Great Hall, Twycross asked us to space ourselves out in the Hall so we had five feet in front of us. In the scramble, I spaced myself next to Hermione. Across from her I saw Harry making his way through the crowd over to where Malfoy was. I hoped he wasn't going to try and start something with him. A hoop then appeared on the ground in front of us.

'The important things to remember when Apparating at the three D's!' called Twycross. 'Destination, Determination and Deliberation!

'Step one: fix your mind firmly upon the desired _destination_. In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now.' I focused my eyes on the inside of my hoop. There was a beetle or something crawling through it. 'Step two: focus your _determination_ to occupy the visualised space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!' I glanced briefly at Twycross. Was he a hippy in another life or something? Still, I cleared my thoughts and concentrated on wanting to get into the hoop.

'Step three: and only when I give the command … turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with _deliberation_! On my command, now … one … two … THREE!'

Slightly stunned at the pace we were doing this, I closed my eyes and span on the spot. Next moment, I was on the ground with a sore bum. I'd stepped on the end of my robes and got tangled up in them, landing hard on the floor. Beside me Hermione hadn't had much more luck than me along with the rest of the Hall.

Twycross told us to get back up dismissively and we were to try again. It wasn't until our fourth go when anything happened. Susan had screamed and was standing in her hoop with her leg standing five feet back. So that was splinching? Ouch. She was soon put back together in a puff of purple smoke but was still crying from the shock.

'Splinching, or the separation of random body parts,' said Twycross casually, 'occurs when the mind is insufficiently _determined_. You must concentrate continually upon your _destination_, and move, without haste, but with _deliberation_ … thus.'

With a swish of his robes he vanished and reappeared at the back of the Hall. I merely folded my arms, muttering, 'Show off.'

Nothing much happened over the rest of our lesson. Susan was the only one who'd even remotely managed to perform some sort of Apparition and by the end of it, virtually all of us looked dizzy. Twycross wasn't discouraged though and told us to keep remembering the three D's until our next lesson.

'How did you find it?' asked Hermione, pulling me to my feet after my last try. 'Pretty exciting that we get to learn this sort of magic.'

'Painful,' I replied bluntly. 'I think if I want to get from one place to another, I'll stick with my old method by fire and phoenix. It hurts less.'

'But I thought you said you couldn't transform anymore,' said Hermione, concerned. 'Do you think it'll ever come back?'

'I dunno,' I shrugged. 'I sort of miss not being able to change into animals but it's also a kind of relief lifted off me. It could have come back without me even noticing but I haven't tried transforming recently.'

Across from us, we heard Ron ask Harry about his tries and tell him about his own.

'I felt something the last time I tried – a kind of tingling in my feet.'

'I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,' said Hermione scathingly. Ron looked slightly stunned as we walked past but Hermione had a smirk on her face. She was finding every available moment to jibe Ron, wasn't she?

'You know you'll have to speak to him eventually,' I said casually to her as we headed up the marble staircase. 'You can't keep denying how you feel about him. If you do you'll end up hating yourself when it's too late.'

'I'm not denying anything,' said Hermione sharply. 'I know perfectly well what my feelings for Ronald Weasley are and they're _not _like that. And you know nothing,' she added warningly to me, pointing her finger at me. I have to say I wasn't really intimidate. 'You are not to say anything to him. It is none of Won-Won's business.'

I decided it was best not to argue. Hermione had a mean cursing ability when she was annoyed about something. We walked up to the Tower together and went into the common room, taking our favourite chairs in the corner to set about doing some homework. I had a Charms essay to finish while Hermione had Ancient Runes to do. We worked in silence until Hermione spoke.

'So, how's things with you and Noah?' she asked, looking something up in her Runes textbook.

'They're OK,' I shrugged. 'He's really caring. The most caring guy I've ever met actually.'

'You say that as if it's a bad thing,' said Hermione, raising an eyebrow at me.

'It's not a bad thing. If anything it's really nice having someone who cares about me so much. Noah's really kind and,' I sighed, 'he makes me feel so happy when I'm with him. He makes me laugh when we talk and is so gentle when he kisses me.'

'And he's pretty cute too,' Hermione added, grinning. She nodded her head behind me. Glancing round, I saw him sitting across the common room. He was reading a book with his feet over the arm of the chair. I smiled.

'Yeah, he is cute.' I turned back round and picked up my quill. But Hermione was giving me a strange look. 'What?'

'Just cute?' She looked expectantly at me.

'Yes cute,' I repeated. I went back to my work but I could feel Hermione's eyes on me. 'What do you want me to say?' I laughed. 'That he's the most gorgeous guy I've ever met and I'm head over heals for him?'

'Aren't you?' asked Hermione.

I thought for a moment before answering.

'He's cute and kind and funny … but no, not yet. I'm not head over heals for him. He's a great and I like him a lot but I'm not in that place yet with him. Maybe soon I will but everything takes time.'

Hermione and I went back to working in silence. A few minutes later though, Hermione said, 'Then if Noah's cute, what do you deem to be as your perfect bloke then?' I looked at her, surprised. 'Come on, Jen, if you think Noah's cute then who's your ideal man?'

'Apart from being surprised you're the one asking me this,' I said, 'when all you're ever interested in is books … I have no idea.' I honestly didn't.

'Come on, Jenna, you must have some ideas. Take me. I'd want a guy who has a sense of humour but knows when to be serious, is tall with blue eyes, and in some ways slightly opposite to me.'

_Sounds like Ron if you ask me_, I thought as she said, 'I've told you mine, now tell me your perfect guy.'

She wasn't going to let up until I said something so I just sighed and put my quill back down. I leant back in my chair and thought for a moment.

'Well,' I mused, 'I guess I'd want him taller than me but not so much that I'd have to stand on a book to kiss him.' Hermione giggled. I smirked. 'I'd also want him to be older than me, a year or so. He'd have really deep eyes seeing as that's the first I notice about guys and they tell you what they're feeling and not short spiky hair. I'd want to run my fingers through it occasionally. And they'd have to be passionate. Kind and gentle at times but passionate as well. That's my ideal guy.'

Hermione watched me for a few moments before saying, 'If you say so, Jen. Let's just hope for Noah that no guy matching your description comes along and steals you away.'

I glanced back at Noah, briefly thinking about how I'd cheated on him slightly with Harry. I still hadn't told him about the kisses but there was no harm in that. What the mind doesn't know, the heart doesn't grieve about, right? So long as I didn't get in a fluster or anything and kept my cool, Noah need never know about what had happened between me and Harry. That was in the past, it meant nothing, and Noah was the guy I wanted to be with.

'I can assure you, I wouldn't want to do anything that would jeopardise my relationship with him.'

The next few weeks passed without much notice. It was mostly work, practicing non-verbal spells or spending time with Noah for me. Pretty much routine. And I was pleased to say anything I'd felt impulsively about Harry had completely gone. I could now spend time with him without my mind straying at all and we spent many nights having conversations about the most random things. Besides that, I actually rarely saw Harry because he'd had a spark of inspiration about Malfoy and was staring at the Marauder's Map every ten minutes. However, that wasn't to last.

Sunday morning on the penultimate week of February I found myself sitting in the common feeling very bored. Hermione was in the library looking up Illusion Charms "to befuddle your enemy" as Flitwick put it; Ron was off doing who knows what with Lavender who knows where in the castle; and Noah was with Leanne, Katie's friend, seeing as there had been some news about Katie's health. I didn't mind. Sighing at my boredom and thumping my book shut, I headed up the staircase to the boys' dormitories to look for Harry.

'I hope he's not searching for Malfoy again,' I said to myself on the way. 'It's bordering on obsession.'

I knocked on the door to Harry's dormitory. No reply so I opened the door and poked my head round. He wasn't in there. However, as I was about to leave, I heard cursing coming from across the room. It sounded like Harry was in the bathroom. Intrigued, I walked across the dormitory and peered round the opened bathroom door. Harry was standing in front of the mirror.

'Why, Mr Potter, I've never heard such strong language,' I joked, leaning against the doorframe. He turned round and gave me a glare. 'What's got your wand in a knot then?'

'Firstly, you shouldn't even be in here,' Harry replied. I shrugged and walked over to him.

'But last time I checked, girls were more trustworthy than boys and so we're able to get anywhere in your dorm,' I teased. I smiled innocently at him. 'Who could doubt our innocent little souls?'

'You are anything but innocent, Jennifer May Black,' said Harry. He turned back to the mirror. 'Putting salt in Dudley's drinks bottle when we were nine proved that.'

'He deserved it. And you found it funny.'

'Not the point. And for your information, nosey, I was trying to do something with my hair.' He ran his fingers through it, pushing it back. It flopped straight back into place afterwards. 'Even Dad's hair wasn't as messy as mine.'

'Yeah, but the mess suits you,' I said. I stepped up behind him, putting my arms round his waist and resting my chin on his shoulder. He was the perfect height to do so. Harry glanced at me. 'You shouldn't change it.'

'I want to try and make it look a bit neater,' grumbled Harry. He tried pulling the strands into different positions. I rolled my eyes and stood straight.

'Sit down,' I said, pushing him over to the laundry basket. Harry wasn't that willing but I insisted. 'Sit! I'm not going to cut your hair or anything so you can stop panicking.' Harry sat on the laundry basket, watching me carefully. I drew out my wand and pointed it at his hair, muttering a spell I'd seen in a copy of Hermione's _Witch Weekly_.

'What are you doing?' asked Harry as a small spray of blue liquid came from my wand tip. 'What is that stuff?'

'It's called hair gel,' I replied sarcastically. 'I believe you Muggles own it.'

'Oh ha, ha,' said Harry dryly. 'But what are you _doing_ with it.'

'What do you usually do with hair gel?' Placing my wand back in my trouser pocket, I ran my fingers through Harry's hair. 'I'm trying to make your hair look neater for you.' I bit my bottom lip as I attempted to style Harry's wild hair into something that looked slightly more neater than usual but it was certainly a hard job. His hair was so wild and untameable.

_Sort of like Harry then_, I thought slyly. As I did so, I was completely oblivious to the fact Harry was staring up at me from his seat.

Once done, I turned away and wiped my hands on a towel, saying, 'It was worth a shot but I think you're at a lost. But you could always try – '

I stopped talking as I felt hands turn my face and something take my mouth. I couldn't help but let out an audible gasp as I realised what was happening. I stumbled slightly but I moved my body so I was in a better position, quickly regaining my composure as I stepped closer to Harry as we kissed. I could feel my heart racing as I reached up to kiss him better. I felt my hands touch his chest and run up it so my arms were round his neck as his hand went through my hair. It felt so nice, feeling him beside me.

A few seconds later something else happened. As we continued to kiss, I felt Harry pull back slightly and his teeth graze gently along my bottom lip before he kissed me again. Shivers raced up my spine. It felt so nice. His hand was on my waist, gripping it. The space between our bodies was almost non-existent. It didn't stop. Braving it, I deepened the kiss, allowing my tongue to hesitantly touch his lips. Next moment, I felt Harry's tongue go over my own asking for entry. I granted it, feeling his tongue run over the roof of my mouth.

_Oh my God_, my mind wandered, _this feels amazing_.

It was a few more minutes before we broke apart as the need to breathe stopped us. We slowly let our lips part and I opened my eyes, looking straight into his emerald ones. They were gazing down on me. I felt like I could barely breathe. My heart was racing as if I'd just done ten laps round the Quidditch pitch, without a broom. What just happened? I'd turned away and next moment was sharing the most passionate kiss ever. Harry's hand was still resting on my hip while his other was fiddling with a few strands of my hair; my own were loosely round his neck.

I swallowed and stepped back, my arms falling to my sides, mumbling, 'Um, we um – ' I looked away as I couldn't put a coherent sentence together. 'I think I'm just gonna – ' I looked back at him and stepped backwards, walking straight into the towel rail. 'I'll see you later.'

I quickly turned and walked out of the bathroom, out of his dormitory, down the stairs, and up to my own dormitory. As soon as I was in there, I slammed the door and put my back against it. My heart was still thumping and I was panting. I hoped beyond all hope Harry hadn't attempted to follow.

'OK, take deep slow breaths,' I told myself. I did so, eventually calming down. 'For Merlin's sake, Jenna!' I walked forwards and slumped face down on my bed. 'What the fuck is wrong with you?' Yes, I know I just swore (picked it up from Dad) but at a moment like this, I needed to. I sat up, frustrated. 'Argh! Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep kissing him!' I fell back on my bed. I ran my hands over my face and pushed my hair back. 'Why do you enjoy it so much?'

The next few days I kept myself at a fair distance from Harry which he noticed. During lessons I always sat next to Hermione on the opposite side to Harry; at meals I kept my eyes firmly away from him; and I made sure I was always doing something so he couldn't speak to me. I just needed some time away from him but I couldn't completely ignore him or he'd think he'd done something. By the end of the week I was almost over the kiss but then Harry managed to corner me after lessons ended on Friday.

'What's the deal? You've been ignoring me all week.'

'I haven't been ignoring you,' I said, trying to sound genuine. 'I've just had lots of work and stuff. Whatever gave you that idea?'

'The fact that you don't sit next to me in lessons anymore,' began Harry, listing things, 'you never join in conversations any longer at dinner and whenever I so much as glance at you, you seem to cower away.' I looked down uncomfortably. Harry was more observant than I thought. 'Have I done something?'

'No,' I said instantly. 'No, it's not you at all. I've just – it's something I've done, OK? It's nothing to do with you.'

'Then why are you acting like this? Is it something because of what happened the other week?'

My heart stopped. He'd brought up the kiss. Now what do I say?

'The thing is, Harry … since I saw you confront Mundungus I started to have these feelings for you and it didn't help that we kept ending up in situations which led to us kissing. And I really don't know what these feelings for you are but I do know that I can't control them and every time you're near me, you make my heart race and … each we kissed I felt like I was dreaming. I guess what I'm saying is, I think I'm having feelings for you.'

In a perfect world and if I'd drunken a bottle of Veritaserum this is what I'm sure I would have said. Of course, this isn't a perfect world and that was the last thing I would ever say.

'No,' I said, forcing a laugh. 'No, why would you think that? Come on, that kiss didn't mean anything. We – we were just messing about, you know? Couple of friends having a laugh. Just … joking around.'

Harry watched me for a few moments. I looked back, hoping I didn't look worried or anything, hoping he dropped the subject.

'Yeah, sure, Jen,' he said finally. I silently let out the breath I'd been holding. However, his voice sounded odd. 'We were just messing about. I'll see you later.'

As he walked off I felt a weird stab in my chest. He sounded so hurt. He couldn't possibly – there wasn't the remotest chance that he – it wasn't feasible that he – that he was having feelings for me … was it? At that moment I felt my heart sink. This could not be happening. Harry could not be having feelings for me. I was with Noah, I had a boyfriend … who he didn't know about … What have I done?

That Saturday was Ron's birthday but the Hogsmeade trip had been cancelled due to bad weather so we were stuck in the castle. I, on the other hand, had better things to do. I was pretty certain now that I was having feelings for Harry and they weren't going to go away overnight so I decided the only way to get over Harry was to spend a day with a clear head and not think about him at all. However, that didn't happen.

I'd woken up early after having very worrying dreams of which I won't mention who the subject was and gone down for an early breakfast. I was joined by Dean, Seamus and Ginny at the table and we had a disappointed conversation about the fact we couldn't go to Hogsmeade. Finishing my breakfast first, I headed back to the Tower to get some homework so I could hide in the library. But on my way up I was forced to put all other ideas on hold.

'Ron!' I'd just passed the corridor that led to Slughorn's office when I saw Harry coming out of it, trying to hold Ron up. Slughorn was ushering them towards where I was by the changing staircase. I ran over to them. 'Harry, what happened?' I gasped. Ron was pale and his body was limp. 'Is he all right? What happened?'

'He drank some poisoned mead,' replied Harry. I grabbed Ron as he began to fall off his shoulders and helped position him better on Harry in a piggyback. 'We need to find Ginny and Hermione and get a letter to Mr and Mrs Weasley.'

'I'll find them,' I said straight away. 'You get Ron to the hospital wing. I'll go find them and come back and help.'

I ran off ahead of Harry and turned into the fourth floor corridor to take a shortcut to the seventh floor. As I ran all I could think of was whether Ron was going to be all right and that I needed to get to the common room as quickly as possible. Surely Ginny would be back from breakfast by now.

_The one time I really would like to move immediately_, I thought to myself

Suddenly the corridor disappeared to be replaced by my dormitory. Startled, I skidded to a halt and tripped over my slippers, landing flat on my bed. I sat up groaning. OK, I could disappear into fire again.

'Jenna!' I looked up to see Hermione standing dressed by her bed. 'You can disappear again,' she said, surprised.

'Not important right now,' I said, breathless. 'Ron's been poisoned.' The look on Hermione's face suddenly changed from one of surprise to one of horror. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands and dropping her hairbrush. 'But he's all right now. Harry's getting him to the hospital wing. I need you to find Ginny and get a message to their parents while I go back and help him. Get to the hospital wing as soon as they're here.'

Hermione nodded and dashed out of the dormitory. Getting up I focused my mind on the phoenix and the hospital wing. It worked again. I felt my body heat up and the dormitory disappeared to be replaced by the corridor of the hospital wing. Whether it kept on working was a different matter. Still, I ran down the corridor and pushed open the doors. Harry was standing by a curtain covering a bed. I ran over to him. He looked up.

'Where're the others?'

'Hermione's finding Ginny and they're going to get a letter to their parents.' Harry nodded. I glanced at the curtains. 'Is he all right?' I asked. I wasn't going to hide the fear in my voice. 'Is Ron going to be OK?'

'He'll be fine, Jenna,' said Harry reassuringly. However, I couldn't stop the tears starting in my eyes. It was just such a shock. Harry instantly pulled me into a hug and I buried my head in his shoulder, trying to hold back my tears. 'Hey, it's OK. I gave him a bezoar when it happened. Madam Pomfrey's just making sure all the poison's out of him and that he's stable. He's going to be all right.'

I pulled back and wiped my eyes, nodding.

'I know he will. It's just … such a shock … First Katie, now Ron … It just makes everything about this war seem so real.'

Harry pulled me into another hug. I wrapped my arms round him, resting my cheek on his shoulder. I felt the last odd tear fall down my cheek on to it. He gave me a gentle reassuring squeeze and I calmed down. Ron was going to be fine. Taking a breath, I pulled back.

'Hermione and Ginny are sure taking a long time,' I muttered, wiping my eyes again. 'I hope they manage to get a hold of Mr and Mrs Weasley, or at least Fred and George at the shop.'

'Yeah, hope so too,' agreed Harry. I looked up at him, noticing something on his right cheek.

'What happened to your face?' I reached up and ran my finger over it. He had a bruise near his ear. 'You've got a bruise.'

'Oh, that, it's nothing,' he shrugged. He subconsciously covered it, putting his hand over mine. 'Ron punched me earlier when he was under a love potion from some cauldron cakes Romilda Vane had given me. He'd eaten some thinking they were his present and was under the spell. It's fine.'

I took my hand away, letting it fall to my side so as to not let on the sudden increase in heart rate I'd just felt when his hand touched mine. I was falling for Harry … and I was falling for him hard.

Hermione and Ginny got to the hospital wing as soon as they could. They'd sent a letter to both Fred and George and Mr and Mrs Weasley and had waited till they'd got a reply for Ginny's parents before coming to see Ron. They told me and Harry that Mr and Mrs Weasley were going to get here as soon as possible but they didn't know when Fred and George would be able to get away. By now, the curtain around Ron's bed had been pulled back. Ginny gasped when she saw him lying there and went to sit beside him, gripping his hand. Harry went and joined her when she asked what happened. I hung back with Hermione. She looked devastated.

'Are you all right?' I asked her quietly. We were sitting on the bed next to Ron's while Harry spoke to Ginny. Hermione was white as a sheet. She didn't reply straight away. She just stared helplessly at Ron's pale visage. 'He's going to be OK, you know?'

'H-he almost died,' said Hermione shakily. 'W-why would someone try t-to poison him?'

'I don't think it was meant for him.' Because I was calm now I was able to comfort Hermione. She seemed to need it. 'It was unfortunate accident, like Kate's. Whoever it was meant for, the person who sent it failed.'

Hermione didn't speak afterwards and remained with Ginny by Ron's bedside.

Around twelve o'clock, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and I were shooed out of the room by Madam Pomfrey so she could perform some tests on Ron and we were left waiting outside the hospital wing. None of us spoke. Harry paced impatiently outside the door, back and forth; Hermione and Ginny were sitting next to each other on the floor, Hermione's arm round Ginny's shoulders. I took refuge leaning against the wall. As I'm sure you don't need telling, I was thinking. Who was behind all these attacks? And who were they after anyway?

I let out a sigh and leant my head back against the wall, closing my eyes. I opened them a few minutes later. Out the corner of my eye I saw someone looking down the corridor at us. It was Noah. Merlin, I forgot! I was meant to meet him for lunch. Glancing at the others, I saw none of them had seen him.

'I'll be back in a few minutes, guys,' I said to them. They gave me a mumbled OK and I walked down the corridor to where Noah was.

'Hey, what's going on up there?' he asked me when I turned the corner. He stepped forwards and gave me a hug. 'Jen, have you been crying?'

'Ron got poisoned,' I said quietly. I rested my head on his chest as he held me. He was at least half a foot taller than me. 'I had to help Harry get him to the hospital wing. I'm so sorry I forgot about our date but it was – I – I just had to be there for him. For the others.'

'Jenna, you don't need to apologise,' said Noah, sounding slightly surprised. He curled his finger under my chin and raised it. I looked up at him. 'I understand if you need to put your friends before me.'

'But I've barely paid any attention to you,' I said. I pulled away, stepping back from him. 'You're my boyfriend and I – ' _I've cheated on you_. '– I just keep brushing you off for other things. I barely spend any time with you. You must be getting sick and tired of me putting you in second place.'

Noah didn't reply straight away. He just observed me. I let out a sigh. Even if he didn't know about Harry, he was going to dump me now for ignoring him.

'I'm not going to say I'm completely happy with the situation,' he said eventually. My heart sank. _Here it comes_, I thought. 'Because I'd be lying if I did and I don't lie.' _Crap_. 'I won't say I haven't felt jealous at times when I've seen you with Harry but I know you two have known each other for years.' _Oh shit_. 'But I'm not going to make you choose between me and your friends. I'm not like that and you know that, Jenna.'

I gasped slightly as he said that. He – he wasn't dumping me?

'You're – you're not mad at me?'

'No,' said Noah. He moved closer to me and ran his hand over my cheek, then kissing my forehead. 'Why would I ever be mad at you?'

'I don't know,' I shrugged.

_For cheating on him!_ screamed my mind. I buried that thought.

'You silly little thing.' Noah wrapped his arms round my waist and brought me closer. He then tilted my head, leaning down, and kissed me. 'Sometimes your too caring for your own good. But that's one of the reasons why I love you.'

I sighed and snuggled closer to him.

'Love you too, Noah.'

Little did I know what exactly he meant when he said that.

After my conversation with Noah, I returned to see Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall speaking with Harry. Ginny and Hermione were watching him. I did so as well, letting out a sigh. Poor Harry. He deals with so much. He certainly didn't have the cares he carries now when we were eight. It wasn't fair on him. He never asked for all of this to happened. No one understands him, what he feels when everyone expects him to deal with the prospect of being the entire wizarding world's saviour. It just wasn't fair.

It was hours before we were allowed back into the hospital wing. Mr and Mrs Weasley Mr and Mrs Weasley arrived around six. They would have been quicker but Mr Weasley had had trouble getting out of work. The moment Mrs Weasley saw Ron, she burst into tears. We could hear her through the door. A while later they came out and were walking with Dumbledore to his office. Fred and George turned up just after eight. As the others sat round him and talked, I sat back on the bed next to his, watching. I felt out of place. Everyone seemed to have a reason why they were there apart from me. Ginny, Fred and George were family; Harry, he was like another brother to Ron (not that he needed anymore); and Hermione … well, maybe now they might admit how they feel for each other. Me? I was just a friend.

They soon started discussing the poisoning and who it was meant for. They thought it was for Ron, for Harry, for Slughorn, but each time couldn't think of a reason why they would want to kill them.

'Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side,' said Harry. 'Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And … and maybe Voldemort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore.'

'Slughorn maybe a talented wizard but I hardly think he'd be a danger to Voldemort,' I said. The others looked at me. 'Think about it. He's an old man who likes the pleasures in life. Could he really be that much of a danger to Voldemort to make him worth eliminating?'

'You said Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas,' said Ginny. 'So the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore.'

'Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well,' said Hermione. 'Like Jenna said, anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself.'

'Er-my-nee.'

All of us looked at Ron. Was he waking up? A few seconds later he let out a loud snore. No. But still, he said Hermione's name … what did that mean?

Hagrid turned up a moment later, drawing our attention away from Ron. He'd been in the Forest. Apparently Aragog was getting worse. Then Madam Pomfrey had to come out and snap at us that only six of us were allowed to visit at a time. There were seven of us. One of us had to leave.

'You know what,' I said, sliding off the bed, 'I've got some work to do so …' I started walking backwards for the door, 'I'll go. I'll see you guys later. Good luck with the shop.'

I turned and walked out of the hospital wing. I took my time getting back to the Tower. I would be glad just to go to bed. Of course, as soon as I climbed through the portrait hall, Lavender saw me. She instantly demanded to know where Ron was seeing as he'd missed meeting her after breakfast. The reply she got wasn't a very polite one.

'You know what, Lav,' I said sarcastically, 'if you couldn't have been bothered to go and find him before now and waited till now to ask someone where he was then I really don't see why I should tell you.'

I stalked off towards the girls' dormitory staircase, Lavender saying afterwards, 'So where's Won-Won?' I shivered and walked off.

Like with all news that happens in Hogwarts the news of Ron's poisoning spread pretty quickly over the next day but it didn't cause as much of a stir as what had happened to Katie seeing as there was no permanent harm done because he was given the antidote straight away. As with most things, Quidditch was on top of everyone's list as the upcoming match of Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff was a week away and everyone wanted to Smith get what's coming to him after what he said about the team in the last match.

Over the next week or so I spent most of my time with Noah seeing as Ron was in the hospital wing, Hermione was doing homework, and Harry was stressing about Quidditch. We spent a lot of time together in the library doing work together. Every so often he'd smile at me or give me a kiss on the cheek to which I'd playfully bat him away before pulling him close by his tie and kissing his lips. It was quite fun messing about in the library, so long as Madam Pince didn't catch us.

On Wednesday evening I was heading back to the Tower from the Great Hall on my own seeing as Noah had to go to a detention he'd got with Professor Vector for not doing some homework on Goblin innumeracy or something like that. I walked with my head down, arms crossed and completely in my own world until I heard a familiar voice up ahead.

'So I reckon if you put the two Beaters into more defensive positions on either side of the goalposts, then they'll be able to knock the opposition off their brooms without them getting nearer the goal.'

Oh, the unmistakeable voice of Cormack always-in-your-face-thinks-he's-sexy-but-is-really-a-big-jerk McLaggen. And by the sounds of it, he was talking to Harry. He'd been on Harry's case about Quidditch ever since Ron was hospitalised. Thinking Harry could probably do with a break, I changed direction and slipped through a not-so solid wall. Heading down the couple of steps, I put my ear against the opposite wall. I was standing in a small hidden alcove. I could hear footsteps and McLaggen's voice shouting.

_Right, two bricks up_ … I placed my finger against the brick beside the edge of the alcove, _three to the right, one down _… I followed the pattern and pressed the brick indicated. My hand sunk through the wall. Something hit it. I grabbed it, pulling it through the wall.

'And you're out of sight.'

'Jenna – !' I placed my hand over Harry's mouth to quieten him. Listening carefully, I heard McLaggen ask himself where Potter had gone before his footsteps disappeared down the corridor. When I was sure he was gone I removed my hand from Harry's mouth. He took a breath, looking round where we were. 'I didn't know about this passage,' was the first thing he said.

'It's a really small one so you wouldn't have seen it on the map,' I shrugged. 'I found it by accident in the second year. Took me half an hour to work out how to get out of here.'

Silence followed for a few moments before, 'So … how do we get out of here?'

'Oh, right! You just have to – you'll have to move.' Harry and I shifted positions, moving from standing facing each other so that I faced the wall I'd just pulled him through and he was behind me. 'You've just got to reach up and pull that candle bracket.'

I did so but like those years ago, I still couldn't reach though I'd grown three feet since I was in the second year. I stood on my tiptoes and reached up, my fingers just touching the small point on the base of the bracket.

'Here, shorty,' laughed Harry.

I literally froze as I felt Harry's front press against my back as he reached up to help me. I looked back at him over my shoulder as he did so. He took my hand and raised it a little higher. We took hold of the point and pulled it downwards. The wall began to hum as it stopped being solid but I was still staring at Harry, once again into those deep eyes. Harry looked down on me. His hand was still gripping mine.

_Not again, Jenna. Get a grip._

I stepped away from Harry and through the wall into an empty corridor. I didn't hang about and started back to the Tower. Harry soon followed.

'You found that in the second year then?' he said, catching up to me.

'Yeah,' I said. I was so thankful he didn't say anything about just now. 'I'd got chased into the corridor by a couple of seventh year Slytherins and was desperate for a place to hide. I'd run into that corridor and fell through the wall as I made sure they weren't behind me and voila, a new passage.'

'I'll have to check that on the Map. Talking of which, I wonder if Malfoy's reappeared yet.'

And off he went on his whole spiel about finding out where Malfoy was. I was actually pretty glad. It meant I didn't have to say anything and Harry forgot about my strange behaviour just now.

Saturday morning and breakfast was the usual commotion as the Quidditch team came down to breakfast. Everyone was dressed with red and gold Gryffindor accessories and cheered as the team entered. Harry, however, was not looking too enthusiastic. I think that was partly to do with McLaggen's bragging about being a better Keeper than Ron to some of the girls in the fifth year. Ginny too was giving him evils. After breakfast, I headed down to the pitch hand-in-hand with Noah.

'Ready for this?' he asked. We climbed into the stands and took our seats on the end of the top row. 'Should be a good match. We'll show Smith what we're made of.'

'Oh yeah. He is so going to get what's coming to him after what he said.'

Soon the teams marched out on to the pitch. Harry and the Hufflepuff Captain shook hands and the game began. It was nice to be finally enjoying Quidditch again, even if I wasn't to be flying in it. It was even more enjoyable as Luna, as barmy as she is, was doing the commentary.

'… but now that big Hufflepuff player's got the Quaffle from her, I can't remember his name, its something like Bibble – no Buggins – '

'It's Cadwallader!' shouted Professor McGonagall's voice over the microphone. The whole stadium roared with laughter. However, Hufflepuff then scored. The whole of Gryffindor booed. McLaggen had been completely unaware of it.

There was a constant changing between cheering and booing from the Gryffindors as Demelza Robbins and Ginny scored but then Cadwallader scored again. After fifteen minutes of play the score was Seventy-forty to Hufflepuff according to McGonagall.

'Is it, already?' said Luna's dreamy voice. 'Oh, look! The Gryffindor Keeper's got hold of one of the Beater's bats.'

I looked across at McLaggen. He did have a Beater's bat and had just swung at a Bludger. And it was heading straight for Harry!

'Harry, watch out!' I shouted, jumping up from my seat.

There was a collective gasp in the Gryffindor stands as the Bludger hit Harry's head. He swung off his broom, his hand just holding on to it. Peakes and Coote flew straight over and caught him before he lost his grip. Without a seconds more thought, I ran out of the stands to the pitch. Jumping off the last few steps, I ran through the Gryffindor changing rooms out on to the pitch where Harry was now lying on the ground with Coote and Peakes beside him, the rest of the team flying down to him. I heard a whistle blow somewhere and Madam Hooch's voice shout, 'Time out!!' as I reached him, pushing past Coote.

'Harry!' I fell to my knees beside him and turned him carefully over. The whole of his left side of his face was covered in blood and he was shaking slightly. My heart stopped. 'Harry! Harry, can you hear me?' I shouted.

'Everyone, move back!' shouted Madam Hooch. She pushed past me before crouching beside him. After checking him over, she took out her wand and muttered several spells. I watched terrified. Harry slowly stopped moving and the blood stopped. Then he floated off the grass. 'Miss Black, take him to the hospital wing. We've got a match to continue.'

I did as I was told and took out my wand as she transferred the spell to my control. Carefully I directed Harry towards the exit of the stadium where Professor McGonagall was now standing. Together we took him to the hospital wing. However, as I'd walked out the stadium I could feel everyone's eyes on me, one pair in particular … Noah's.

-o-

The whole of Gryffindor gasped as McLaggen hit a Bludger right towards Harry. It hit him right on the head and there was a defining crack in the stadium. Beside him, Noah saw Jenna instantly turn and run down the steps of the stand.

'Jenna!' he shouted after her, getting to his feet. He ran to the top of the steps. 'Jenna, wait!' but she was gone.

Noah returned to his seat, standing up so he could see what was happening. He saw Jenna run on to the pitch and straight over to Potter. The rest of the team had also flown down to check on him. He narrowed his eyes as she fell to her knees beside him. He felt his anger burn inside him.

_Great_, he thought annoyed. _Now McLaggen's going to accuse her again of cheating on me. Jenna wouldn't do that though. She's not that kind of girl. But still …_ Noah watched as Jenna led Potter off the pitch with Professor McGonagall, _she's really close with that Potter … could she have …? No, no, she wouldn't._

-o-

I slumped down on my bed. I'd just come back from the hospital wing after Madam Pomfrey had told me to get some food. I wasn't hungry though so had returned to the Tower instead of going to lunch. I'd been by Harry's bedside since the accident. I explained to Ron what had happened as I waited for Madam Pomfrey to finish checking Harry over. When the curtain was pulled back I saw him lying unconscious on the bed, his head wrapped in bandages.

'A cracked skull,' said Madam Pomfrey shortly. 'It's a good thing you got him here so quickly, Miss Black, otherwise he could have had some serious brain damage.'

I let out a heavy sigh and rolled over on to my side. I couldn't stop thinking about him, about the moment that Bludger had hit him. It kept replaying itself in my head. Downstairs I could hear the rest of the house slowly filling the common room. Moments later there was silence followed by a bunch of shouting. Sounded like McLaggen might be getting an earful.

'Serves him right,' I mumbled bitterly.

I didn't go back to see Harry over the rest of the weekend. When I'd got up on Sunday morning I got a lot of stares and whispers as I passed. All were about the fact I'd run down to Harry's side after he'd been hit. I tried to ignore it but it only brought that moment back to my mind when it happened. And just to make things worse, McLaggen decided to blackmail me.

'What's McGonagall even playing at?' he sneered at me. I tried to walk away after he cornered me in the fifth floor corridor. 'Putting Potter as Quidditch Captain when he wouldn't even be able to captain a team of Flobberworms! And he's meant to be the Chosen One, is he? He wouldn't last ten minutes against You-Know-Who!'

That was what ticked me off.

'How dare you!' I shouted, turning to face him. 'How dare you bring up Voldemort and compare his captaincy skills to that! You have know idea what he's been through because of that man! You have no right to assume anything about his skills as a captain or as a fighter!'

'So … I was right,' smirked McLaggen. He stepped up to me. I backed away. His breath wreaked. He followed. I ended up against the wall, McLaggen standing over me with his hands either side of me on the wall. 'Oakley's little girlfriend has been doing the dirty on him.'

My stomach sunk. Please let that be a bluff.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' I replied strongly. I pushed him away from me and started to walk away. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. 'Get your hands off me,' I growled quietly, 'or you'll get what's coming to you.'

'If you don't want Oakley knowing your little secret I think you'll do as I say.'

'You're bluffing.'

'I'd say your reaction when he got hit by that Bludger shows pretty clearly you have feelings for Potter.' He forced me back round against the wall. He took my free wrist in his other hand and put both of them up by my head. 'Now, listen and listen good.'

I glared at him. Least he didn't know I'd kissed Harry. He was only presuming I had feelings for Harry. Unfortunately he did presume right but Noah wouldn't believe him even if he did tell him. I tried to pull my wrists free but he didn't let go.

'You're going to force Potter to hand his captaincy over to me. I don't care what you do, I don't care if you have sleep with him, but you are going to get him to give me his captaincy.'

I spat in his face, growling, 'I'll never do what you tell me to do.'

'Why you little – !'

'Hey! Get your hands off my girlfriend!' I looked down the corridor. It was Noah! He strode up to us and pushed McLaggen away from me, standing between us. 'What the fuck do you think you're playing at? Don't you dare touch my girlfriend again!'

McLaggen pulled his shirt back on to his shoulder, glaring at us as he wiped the spit off his face. I watched cautiously over Noah's shoulder.

'I wouldn't want to touch that little slut,' he sneered. 'But I know someone who she'd want to feel her up.'

'What are you on about, McLaggen?' growled Noah. 'Just because that girl you were with wasn't interested in being snogged by a troll, you go and attack someone else's girlfriend.'

'Oh no, I'm completely serious. Your _girlfriend's_ got the hots for Potter.' Noah didn't say anything. He merely glared at McLaggen. 'Surprised, huh? Don't believe me? Perhaps you better ask her.' McLaggen stalked off and out of the corridor.

Once he'd gone Noah faced me. My heart sank.

'Do you?' I took a moment before answering so that I didn't seem to be denying it outright but also not to long so that it didn't seem false.

'No,' I said, looking away from him.

'Jenna,' Noah put his hands on my arms and turned my face to his, 'look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for Harry Potter.'

Again I paused. Then, looking him in the eyes, I said, 'I do not have feelings for Harry Potter.'

Noah let out a relieved sigh and hugged me. He was just glad McLaggen hadn't hurt me. I hugged him back but inwardly I was wanting to cry. I just couldn't stop lying to him even when someone tells him the blatant truth. Letting me go we started back to the Tower. What am I going to do when the truth finally does come out? The words my grandmother had said to me came back to my head. _You're more Black than you think_. Now I knew what she meant.

The next day Harry and Ron were released from the hospital wing. Determined not to prove McLaggen's statement true to Noah, I once again resorted to keeping my distance from Harry. Like I'd told Hermione, I didn't want to risk my relationship with Noah. So as Harry didn't get the idea I was avoiding him I continued to sit next to him in lessons but remained distant to him and got on with my work but outside of lessons I went back to meeting Noah in the library. We always got back to the Tower when it closed and we were never noticed coming in together seeing as the common room was always still full at that time and the portrait wasn't completely visible from Harry, Ron, Hermione and mine's favourite chairs. In a matter of days the staring stopped and the whispering died down and so McLaggen's accusation was forgotten.

But then it completely blew up in my face.

As April got closer, students began to venture out into the grounds as the weather got brighter and drier. It was nice to get out in the grounds and just lie in the grass lazily at the weekend. It certainly put my mind at rest from all the confusing feelings I'd been having. Turning on to my stomach I reached into my bag and pulled out my book intent on just having some me time.

After dinner Sunday night I returned with Noah to the Tower. He had his arm round my waist and I walked happily beside him, my head just resting on his shoulder. We walked in a comfortable silence up the changing staircase then taking the secret passageway between the fourth and seventh floor corridors. Noah pulled back the tapestry and allowed me through first, following afterwards. We walked up the stairs, jumping over the trick step, and turned the corner towards the seventh floor corridor. However before Noah pulled back the tapestry, I took hold of his tie and pulled him away behind a pillar. 

'What's up?' he asked, surprised. He took it in his stride though and leaned against the wall.

'I just want to thank you,' I said. I ran my hand over his cheek. 'You – you're the most amazing guy I've ever met. You're open, you're honest, you're caring and I honestly can't imagine not being with you. And I'm just so thankful that you stopped McLaggen.'

'Hey, no one's going to hurt my girlfriend.'

Noah brushed my hair behind my ear before leaning down, touching his lips to mine. I loved it when he kissed me. He was so gentle and subtle, his lips just brushing mine and his hands on my waist. My arms slowly made their way up around his neck in order to pull myself closer to him. Nothing could be better, standing in a secret passageway kissing my boyfriend. I was his, no one else's and no one could do anything about it.

I pulled away from Noah and snuggled into his grip while he leaned against the wall.

'You're so warm …' I said dreamily. 'I wish we could just stay like this … no fighting, no danger, no one to get in between us …'

'Who says we can't?' I heard Noah whisper back. I pulled back and raised my blue eyes to his brown ones. But for a second, only a second, it felt wrong, like his eyes weren't the ones I should be gazing into. What was worse though was that I'd felt it before. I continued to stare at him as he said, 'This war is nothing to do with either of us.'

'I wish it was true,' I said. 'But knowing my family, they'll be after me eventually.'

'Hey, don't worry about that. All that counts is now.'

I smiled up at him. He was so sweet and caring. Leaning up, I gently pressed my lips to his. But that feeling I'd had at the beginning of term of it being wrong came back. I tried to ignore it and continue to kiss Noah but it kept nagging at my senses. It was like I was betraying someone and that someone knew and was watching as I played with his emotions. I felt like I was being watched right now and so I pulled back and looked behind me.

And I saw him. There, standing at the opening of the secret passageway between the seventh and fourth floor, was Harry. He was looking at me with a sort of mixture of shock and dejection; his mouth was ever so slightly open in shock and his eyes had a sadness deep within them I'd never seen before. His eyes were staring right into mine as if they were trying to read my soul. And as I was about to say something, he turned and walked away.

-o-

On his way back from dinner thoughts were going through Harry's head. Thoughts about Jenna and Ginny. He couldn't deny it any longer. He liked both of them. They each had their attractive qualities. But unlike with Ginny, Jenna was unattached. Ginny was still with Dean, much to Harry's chagrin. Jenna, however, she still was single … and they'd kissed. Quite a few times in fact. Maybe he could … no, who was he kidding? This was Jenna. She'd been his best friend for eight years. Would he really? Did she even feel anything for him? There was only one way he was able to find out. He'd just have to ask her.

Harry carried on up the stairs and turned into the four floor corridor. The stairs were too crowded to go all the way so he headed for the tapestry which hid a passageway straight to the seventh floor, just around the corner from the portrait of the Fat Lady. Taking two steps at a time, Harry turned the corner into the passage which led to the other tapestry only to stop in his tracks. Standing with her back to him, kissing another boy, was Jenna. The creature in his stomach squirmed uncomfortably as he watched. Jenna … was with someone else. He was too late. A moment later Jenna turned round. Their eyes met briefly but he didn't hang around, heading straight for the tapestry, ripping it back and walking away.

Who was he kidding? Jenna wasn't going to hang around forever even if she did like him the same way he liked her. It was a false hope. None of those kisses had ever meant anything to her. She wasn't going to wait for him to ask her. She'd moved on.

'Harry! Harry, wait!'

-o-

'Harry!'

I instantly ran off leaving Noah in the corridor. I pulled back the tapestry to see Harry heading for the portrait of the Fat Lady. I started after him. He was certainly fast on his feet. Least he was going to the common room. I'd be able to catch him in there. I kept calling his name but he didn't seem to want to listen to me.

'Harry!' I shouted. 'Harry, wait! Abstinence.'

The Fat Lady swung forwards and admitted me into the common room. I climbed through the portrait hole in time to see Harry heading up the stairs to the boys dormitory.

'Harry, please!' I didn't care that several pairs of eyes turned on me as I chased him. 'Harry, please, I can explain!' I ran up the stairs to his dormitory, the door slamming shut before I got there. I stopped outside it, raising my hand to knock but I didn't. I took a moment to think about what I was going to say. I had to tell him about Noah. Hesitantly, I knocked on the door. 'Harry?' I called through it. 'Harry, please talk to me.'

He didn't reply. I let out a sigh, resting my forehead against the door. I knew this was coming. I couldn't control the feelings I had for him and now I was in trouble because of it. I'd continued my relationship with Noah when I knew perfectly well that I was starting to feel things for Harry, feelings I tried so hard to ignore but just couldn't, always resulting in us kissing. I jumped slightly when the door opened and I stepped back. Harry was standing there, eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

'What is there to explain?' he asked. 'I think you made it perfectly clear in that corridor.'

'You don't know the whole story,' I said. 'What you saw, it's just that – '

'You know what, Jenna,' said Harry over me, 'I don't care.'

'Harry, you know that's not true. You wouldn't be doing this if you didn't care.'

'Just do what you want, Jenna. You will anyway.' Those words stung me so badly.

'Harry, that's not fair!' I objected. 'If you'd just listen – '

'I don't want to hear it, Jenna!'

Harry went to shut the door but I placed my foot against it to stop him. I tried to make him listen but he wouldn't have it. He forced the door closed and I had to remove my foot. He told me to leave him alone, closing the door in my face. I remained outside his room for a few more minutes, wishing so deeply that that moment had not happened. But the true reality was that it did happen and now I had to deal with the consequences of playing with Harry's emotions.

Eventually, I walked away, mumbling through the door, 'I'm sorry.'

* * *

**AN: present for all my readers just before the summer. enjoy and thx to those who reviewed the last chapter. please leave me a review and tell me what you think, especially all those people who have this on their favs list. you guys rock! ;) BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**P.S. i've written the next chapter so if you want it posted, better leave a review ...**


	33. Hate to Love

Chapter 32

Hate to Love

Do you ever get that feeling that everyone's against you? That your world's crumbling around you? That you think you're just a moment away from breaking down? Well after the last couple of months I'd had … that's exactly how I felt. What happened moments ago was just the icing on the cake.

I walked back downstairs to the common room to a bunch of stares. Everyone sitting in the room looked up from what they were doing when I appeared. I looked round at them as they looked at me. All those eyes, they wouldn't look away. They just kept staring at me. And to make matters worse Noah was standing by the portrait hole. I felt like I was going to cry so I went straight over to the girls' dormitory staircase and ran up it. I heard Noah shout my name but I couldn't face him. I ran up to my dormitory, slamming the door shut after me, and collapsed on my bed. I yanked the drapes shut and started to cry.

'I didn't mean for this to happen,' I cried into my pillow, gripping on to it. 'I didn't mean to hurt him. Everything's just gone so wrong. I don't know what to do … I've ruined everything …'

I turned my face as the need to breathe arose and turned on to my side, staring at the drapes. I blinked, tears falling from my eyes. I needed my Dad. He'd make everything right again. But it was because of him dying that this all started. I'd never have kissed Harry the first time if he hadn't died. But then I would have never got together with Noah because Harry and I wouldn't have fallen out.

'Dad …' I blinked again, another few tears rolling down my cheeks. 'I can't do this … I wish I'd never met Harry. I wish I'd never found out I was a witch! I wish I'd never come to Hogwarts!' I let out a shuddered breath. 'I wish I'd never fallen for him …'

I stopped crying about an hour later but remained on my bed. I lay there with my head on my pillow staring up at the top of the drapes. I'd happily remain in on my bed for the rest of the year. I had a toy dragon in my hands over my stomach. I always used him when I was very upset about something. As I lay there I couldn't help but think about how stupid I'd been. My lies were going to catch up with me eventually. It was only a matter of time. I was a right bitch for cheating on Noah and Harry … well, any feelings he might have had for me are probably long gone. I guess that was probably better. It meant my feelings weren't returned and I could get over him and maybe start again with Noah. That's if I still had a boyfriend.

I sighed and sat up, pulling back the drapes on my bed. Getting up, I went over to the window. I sat down on the sill, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms round them. My hair fell over my shoulder, hiding my face. I hugged my dragon to my chest as I stared out the window. It was slowly getting dark.

This wasn't going to blow over just because I wanted it to. I had to sort out the mess I'd made. I had a lot of explaining to do and I had to face whatever comes my way for what I'd done. I was not going to hide from this. I was not going to let my grandmother's portrait be right about me any longer. If I wanted this to be sorted out I had to take the first move and speak to Noah and tell him the truth. Then it was just a matter of speaking to Harry. I sighed and rested my chin on my knees. Harry wasn't likely to want to talk to me but I had to give it a go.

Unable to stay in one place for too long, I got up moments later, only to trip over my school bag on the floor and bang my head. I groaned. I think I deserved that. Right now though, I was going back to bed.

Around half past eight the dormitory door opened and someone walked in. I didn't do anything, merely remaining still on my bed. There was a knock on my bedpost and then Hermione's head was poking through the drapes. I looked up at her.

'Hey,' she said, pulling them back. 'You all right, Jenna?'

I sighed and sat up against the headboard, crossing my legs.

'Apart from completely screwing up everything,' I mumbled quietly, 'and the fact I've probably blown my relationship with Noah … yeah, I'm fine.'

'You're obviously not.' Hermione sat down beside me on my bed. 'What happened?'

'You remember what we said about our perfect guys?' I said. I pulled my hair nervously over my shoulder and began fiddling with some strands of it. 'I think I found mine.' If I thought about it, Harry did match the description of my perfect guy. I shivered at the thought. 'And all he did was cause trouble between me and Noah. I was having feelings for both of them. And your ex didn't help things,' I added bitterly.

'Talking of my ex,' said Hermione angrily, 'he's started a rumour about you. That you've been having feelings for Harry and have cheated on Noah with him. Everyone down in the common room's whispering about it but Harry doesn't seem to know yet. They say he's only doing it to get back at Harry for the Quidditch catastrophe. I mean, you two have been friends for ages. Why would you start having feelings for him now when you've got a boyfriend?'

I didn't say anything. I just let my hair cover my face, hiding. McLaggen was really out to get me.

'Least they think he's lying. That's a bonus.'

'Jen, no.' I glanced at Hermione. She was staring at me, shocked. I looked away. 'Harry's your perfect guy? Does he know?'

'Trust me, I'm not proud of it,' I muttered sadly. 'I never intended to fall for Harry. I never intended to cheat on Noah with him. But every time we kissed, it made me forget about him. It felt so right though I knew it was wrong and I didn't have the heart to stop Harry or tell him I had a boyfriend after just making up with him. And he doesn't know I have feelings for him. I can't tell him, not after what's just happened.'

'So this has been going on since Christmas?' I nodded. 'Jenna, you've got to tell him,' insisted Hermione. 'If you don't tell Harry how you feel and continue your relationship with Noah, you'll be lying to them as well as yourself. You could lose him.'

'And you're one to talk? Denying your feelings for Ron?'

'That's different, I don't have a relationship on the line. Hearts are usually broken by words left unspoken.' Great, now Hermione's a philosopher! 'Jenna, you've got to tell him. For all you know he might be having feelings for you too after what's happened.'

'I'm not going to act on it, Hermione, it's too late anyway. I highly doubt that any feelings Harry had for me are still there.' Hermione looked at me curiously. 'Harry saw me and Noah kissing. He stormed off and I chased after him. I tried to explain but he wouldn't listen.'

'Oh, Jenna,' sighed Hermione, rubbing my arm. 'You really screwed up, huh?'

'Oh, yeah. All I want to do is forget about Harry and try and repair what's left of my relationship with Noah.'

Though Hermione didn't think this was a good idea, it's what I decided to do.

The next morning I got up early and headed straight for the bathroom, taking my robes with me. Looking in the mirror I saw I looked a mess. Ignoring my reflection I went and had a shower and cleaned myself up. When I went back I looked slightly better. A touch up here, a brush through my hair and after tying it in a plait, I got dressed. Making sure everything was in place and I looked relatively human, I walked out the bathroom and headed down for breakfast.

I was one of very few students who had got to breakfast as soon as Great Hall had opened at half past seven. There were a couple of Hufflepuffs, a few Ravenclaw dotted about here and there, and unsurprisingly no Slytherins. There was only one Gryffindor there besides me. I let out a sigh as I saw who it was. I knew I had to talk to him but I didn't think it would be this quickly. Taking a dive, I walked over to where Noah sat. He didn't notice me.

'Can I join you?' I asked hesitantly. Noah looked up.

'Jenna,' he said surprised. 'I thought you'd be with Potter.' I flinched at the bitterness in his voice.

'Let's just say I finally had some sense knocked into me … and I've got the bump to prove it.' I subconsciously rubbed the back of my head. 'So … can I join you?'

Noah nodded. I sat on the bench opposite him. I didn't say anything. I helped myself to some cereal and a glass of orange juice. I wasn't that hungry though, knowing I had to speak to him about the other day. I took a couple of mouthfuls of cereal until nerves got the better of me and I couldn't eat anymore. I looked at it then pushed it away.

'Jenna, you've got to eat something,' said Noah. I looked up at him, surprised. He wasn't looking at me.

'I'm surprised you still care after what I did to you. I've hardly been much of a girlfriend.'

'Of course, I care about you. But I just want to know where I stand. I've got people telling me that you've been having feelings for Potter or he's been having feelings for you and has been trying to seduce you or God knows because I sure as hell don't.' I could tell he was angry but he didn't raise his voice. 'I just want to know the truth.'

More people were filing into the Hall. I didn't reply straight away, looking down at my hands in my lap. I bowed my head, my hair falling over my face. Noah had never liked that. I clenched my fists. Time for all that Gryffindor bravery I'm supposed to have.

'I'm not going to lie to you,' I said quietly from behind my hair. 'I've lied so much in the last couple of months, I don't know what to do anymore. But I just want you to know I never intended you to get hurt. That was the last thing I ever wanted. You mean so much to me, more than people may believe, and I am so sorry for messing you about.'

'Fine,' replied Noah. 'Now tell me what's going on between you and Potter.'

I didn't reply again, trying to think about what to say. I glanced around to see most of the students were now coming into the Hall.

'Can we talk somewhere else?' I asked.

Noah nodded and got up. I did so too. We walked out the Great Hall in silence and up the marble staircase. Turning into the first floor corridor, Noah walked ahead and tried one of the classroom doors. The third one was unlocked. Opening it, he walked in with me just behind. I shut the door after me. Noah went and sat on one of the desks while I remained by the door.

'So?' Noah asked me, waiting. 'Is there anything between you and Potter?'

I took a deep breath and said it.

'Yes … Lately, I've been having feelings for him. I never acted on them because I thought it was a temporary thing and that I'd get over him and because I didn't want to mess things up with you. But moments came when Harry and I got into a situation where my feelings got out of control and it resulted in us kissing. It was always because of me that it happened but I was always the one to pull away. Harry had nothing to do with it and I never meant it to get this far.'

I leant back on the wall and slid to the floor. Now I just had to wait for the consequences and I was going to deal with them like I should have done months ago. Watching Noah I could see he was thinking everything through. If he dumped me, he dumped me. I deserved it.

'I guess I saw this coming,' said Noah eventually. He had? 'You and Potter have one of the strongest friendships I've ever seen. I knew it would only be a matter of time before one of you started feeling things for the other. Does he have feelings for you?'

'No,' I said shortly. 'I'm pretty sure I made sure he doesn't with what happened yesterday. If he did, they're long gone.'

'Are you going to go after him?'

'No.' I was sure of this. 'I just want to try and get over him. I know my feelings aren't returned so … But more importantly because I still have feelings for you. You accepted me as who I am and have never cared what people said about me. You're the first guy who ever looked at me for my personality, not because I look good in a skirt or something and I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose you. If you decide to end it, that's your choice, but just know I didn't mean for this to happen or for you to get hurt.'

Silence followed. I just sighed and pulled my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms round them. I'd told Noah the truth. The Quaffle was in his hands now. I didn't look at him not wanting to see his face. Instead I rested my face on my knees staring at the cupboard on the other side of the classroom. A moment later, footsteps approached me. I felt a hand on my cheek and my face was raised.

'I don't want to lose you either,' he said softly to me. He was kneeling in front of me. 'You're the only girl I met who didn't follow stereotypes and didn't care what people thought about you. You're unique and not afraid to break the mould.' I sighed and placed my hand over Noah's on my cheek, holding it. 'But I can't be with you if you're having feelings for someone else. It's not fair on either of us.'

I let out a sigh. It was my fault. I wasn't surprised but it still didn't stop me being upset.

'I know. But I'm still sorry I put you through this.'

'It's OK, Jenna. I forgive you.'

The bell rang signalling ten minutes before lessons. Noah had to get to Transfiguration. Taking my hand, Noah pulled me to my feet before wrapping his arms round my waist. I returned the hug.

'We can still be friends though,' said Noah. I nodded into his chest. 'I'll always be here for you if you need me.' I felt Noah kiss the top of my hair. 'We better get to the Tower. I've got to get my Transfiguration text book then run back down here or McGonagall will kill me for being late again.'

We left the classroom together and walked back to the Tower. People were flooding down the stairs to lessons. Back at the common room, Noah went up to his dormitory to get his books. He came back down and said he'd see me when he'd see me, giving my hand a squeeze before walking out the common room. I watched after him as he left. I guess it was for the best that we ended it. And in all honesty, I wasn't looking for another relationship anytime soon. They were way too complicated. Looking round the common room I saw Ron in the corner. Harry wasn't there. For now that was probably a good thing.

'Hey, where's Harry?' I asked. I took the seat opposite his.

'Trying to find Malfoy,' said Ron. He then let out a growl as he made another mistake in his essay. 'Dobby told us he's been using the Room of Requirement so Harry's trying to get inside it to see what he's been doing.'

'That won't work though,' I said. 'Unless he knows what Malfoy asks for when using the Room, Harry won't be able to get in.'

'That's what me and Hermione told him but you know Harry.'

Yeah, didn't I just.

Ron and I left the common room in plenty of time to get down to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Hermione was already there when we got there but Harry wasn't. She gave me a pointed look but I shook my head. Moments later Snape appeared and ordered us into the classroom. I took a seat next to Hermione to be on the safe side when Harry showed up. He did so a few minutes later.

'Late again, Potter,' sneered Snape. 'Ten points from Gryffindor.'

I watched as Harry came and sat down. Our eyes briefly met but he looked away. This was going to be harder than I thought. I sighed and looked away, resting my head on my arms over my textbook. With a flick of his wand, Snape collected in our essays on Dementors from the other week hoping they were better than our work on the Imperious Curse. With his high standards I highly doubted it.

Snape was about to give us orders on what we doing in today's lesson when Seamus interrupted him, asking, 'How do you tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? Because there was something in the _Prophet_ about an Inferius – '

'No, there wasn't,' said Snape shortly.

'But sir, I heard people talking – '

'If you had actually read the article in question, Mr Finnigan, you would have known that the so-called Inferius was nothing but a smelly sneak-thief by the name of Mundungus Fletcher. But Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject.' Snape turned his eyes on Harry. Hermione and I looked across at him. 'Let us ask Potter how we would tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost.'

After a minute or so, Harry replied, 'Er – well – ghosts are transparent.' Snape smirked.

'Oh, very good. Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. _Ghosts are transparent._' That wasn't fair at all.

'Yeah, ghost are transparent, but Inferi are dead bodies, aren't they? So they'd be solid – '

'A five-year-old could have told us as much,' sneered Snape. 'The Inferius is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark wizard's spell. It is not alive, it is merely used like a puppet to do the wizard's bidding. A ghost, as I trust that you are all aware of by now, is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the earth … and of course, as Potter so wisely tells us, _transparent_.'

'Well, what Harry said is the most useful if we're trying to tell them apart!' objected Ron. 'When we come face to face with one down a dark alley we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we, we're not going to be asking, "Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?"'

A small wave of laughter went across the classroom. Ron did have a point. Inferi don't speak so they wouldn't reply if we asked them a question. Snape swiftly crushed this by belittling Ron and his Apparition ability and took away another ten points from Gryffindor. Beside me, Hermione hastily stopped Harry from retaliating, telling him he'd only get another detention.

'Now open your books at page two hundred and thirteen,' finished Snape, more than satisfied, 'and read the first two paragraphs on the Cruciatus Curse.'

Thinking it would be a bad time to try and speak to Harry, I thought it better to just get on with the work Snape set us. I worked in silence, reading the stuff on the Cruciatus Curse before doing the summary Snape wanted. When the bell rang, I gathered my stuff and made a move to speak to Harry only to see him walk off with Ron, Lavender close behind. I followed him with Hermione, hoping to catch him.

'I saw you walk off with Noah at breakfast,' she said quietly to me. 'Did you speak to him?'

'Yeah,' I replied. I didn't take my eyes of Harry ahead of me.

'What did he say?'

I didn't reply straight away as I saw Harry and Ron divert into a boys bathroom to escape Lavender. I guess Ron was trying to ditch her now. Hardly blamed him. Seeing as I couldn't catch him now, I answered Hermione's question.

'I told him I had feelings for Harry.' We turned into the corridor towards the changing staircases. 'And he accepted it. But I also told him I wanted to forget them because I still had feelings for him.'

'And what did he say to that?' asked Hermione.

'We agreed it was better to break up,' I replied. 'It wasn't fair on either us to continue but we're going to remain friends.'

Hermione gave me a sympathetic one arm hug and said, 'It's for the best, Jenna. It wouldn't be fair on either of you if you carried on as you were. But what are you going to do about your feelings for Harry?'

'I'm just going to forget about them. It's too late to tell him anyway.'

Though concerned, she dropped it and headed off for Arithmancy. In the meantime, I headed for the library to start Snape's next essay on trying to fight the Cruciatus Curse, something which was near impossible to do.

The rest of the day passed for me with icy looks from Harry every time he saw me. I guess speaking to him today wouldn't be a wise idea. He needed time to cool off. Least he didn't attempt to shut himself away like I almost had. That proved he didn't have feelings for me because he didn't try to avoid me. I was just Jenna, a friend from primary school … nothing more …

This treatment continued for the rest of the week. Every free moment I tried to speak to him he'd just walk away. Seeing I wasn't likely to catch him on his own for a while, I resorted to concentrating on my studies. On the plus side, the less time I spent thinking of him the more likely my feelings were going to disappear. But that wouldn't happen.

I skipped lunch on Saturday (I really didn't feel hungry). Sitting in the library alone that afternoon (Hermione, Ron and those who also turned seventeen before the first test date were taken down to Hogsmeade to try Apparating further distances) I constantly found my mind drifting away from my Herbology homework. I'd sit there idly staring at my parchment and doodling on the corner of it or staring out the window. And it was always the same thing I was thinking of. Would Harry ever forgive me?

Seeing I wasn't getting any work done, I packed up my things and left the library. I took the long way back to the common room, walking with my arms crossed and head down. I turned the corner into the corridor with the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. I got half way down it when I suddenly felt myself collide with something and I fell over. Sitting up, I saw Harry in front of me on the floor, his legs hidden by his Invisibility Cloak. I swallowed and stood up.

'Sorry about that,' I said quietly. 'I didn't see you.' I offered Harry my hand to help him up. He didn't take it.

'Nothing unusual then,' shrugged Harry, removing the Cloak and picking himself up.

Before I had a chance to say anything else, Harry swung the Cloak around his shoulders and vanished back into the corridor. Why wouldn't he give me a chance to explain?

'You're going to have to talk to me eventually,' I said loud enough so he could hear me. I wasn't even sure he was still there. He'd obviously got walking without a sound down to a knack so Malfoy wouldn't know he was there. I looked around for any sign of movement. 'Pretending it didn't happen won't make it go away. Believe me, I've tried.'

I waited for a reply. It didn't come.

'Harry, I know I've hurt you but you could still give me a chance to explain.'

In some ways, though I wasn't sure he was even still there, talking to Harry while he was hidden under his Cloak actually made it easier.

'I just want you to know I didn't mean this to happen. I should've told you I had a boyfriend after the first time we kissed at Christmas. If I gave you the wrong signals, I'm so sorry.' I wasn't going to tell him about my feelings. 'I didn't mean to hurt you. After almost losing your friendship after Dad's death …' I paused. As I blinked, a tear fell down my cheek. '… I didn't want to risk losing it again because, believe it or not, you do mean something to me.'

Still no reply. I was talking to air. I sighed, brushing away the tears. It just wasn't worth it anymore.

'But I think I just did.'

Not wanting to look like a complete idiot any longer, I ran back to the Tower holding back my tears.

-o-

'Sorry about that,' Jenna mumbled, getting up. 'I didn't see you.' Jenna offered Harry her hand. He didn't take it.

'Nothing unusual then,' shrugged Harry.

He pulled the Cloak out from round his legs and stood up. Harry wasn't going to give her a chance to explain. He was still mad at her. She'd had a boyfriend and she obviously didn't think it important to tell him. So Harry turned away and swung the Cloak around his shoulders. She wouldn't be able to talk to him if she didn't know where he was.

'You're going to have to talk to me eventually,' said Jenna behind him. 'Pretending it didn't happen won't make it go away. Believe me, I've tried.'

Harry glanced through the Cloak behind him. Jenna was still there, looking around for him. If he was quiet enough, he'd be able to leave and come back when she'd gone. Quietly, Harry started for the end of the corridor. He needed to check the Map anyway for Malfoy's whereabouts. His bag was just around the corner hidden behind a statue.

'Harry, I know I've hurt you but you could still give me a chance to explain.'

_Why?_ thought Harry bitterly. _What is there to say? You have a boyfriend and I was a complete idiot for thinking there was even the slightest chance you liked me as anything but a friend._ Harry made a move to walk away again but Jenna continued.

'I just want you to know I didn't mean this to happen. I should've told you I had a boyfriend after the first time we kissed at Christmas. If I gave you the wrong signals, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. After almost losing your friendship after Dad's death … I didn't want to risk losing it again because, believe it or not, you do mean something to me.'

Harry stopped. Careful not to make a sound, Harry turned round to see Jenna running her hands over her face. She was crying.

'But I think I just did.'

Jenna ran past him down the corridor. Once she was out of sight, Harry pulled the Cloak off him. He ran his hand through his hair, letting out a sigh. Ever since Sirius's death his relationship with Jenna had gotten so complicated. At times it felt like they were really close, at others they were sharing moments where Harry found himself unable to stop looking into Jenna's eyes as they stood in close proximity to each other. Now he didn't know where they stood with each other at all.

-o-

I only stopped running once I reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Breathing heavily, I gathered myself together. Harry wasn't worth crying over. Taking a few deep breaths, I wiped my eyes so as not to show my weakness. I then said the password and climbed into the common room. Once inside I went over to the corner and pulled out my Charms textbook. I was not going to let that argument get the better of me so I started on my homework again.

Sunday brought warm weather to the castle and so, as Hermione happily stated when we got up, there were perfect conditions for Apparition. They disappeared as soon as breakfast was over. After they were gone I saw Harry leave straight away. I sighed and shook my head of any thoughts of him. Instead I headed out of the castle and into the grounds. The breeze blew over me as soon as I stepped on to the grass. It was so refreshing. I guess now would be a good time to see if I could transform again.

I walked further out into the grounds. It was such a lovely day. Hagrid was humming merrily over by his pumpkin patch; the first and second years were running about chasing each other across the flat grass; and the sun rippled gently on the surface of the lake. I came to a stop beside it, standing beneath the beech tree. As the breeze blew over me again I had a feeling that I'd be able to do it. I was sure I could transform again. I walked back from the tree. Then I turned and ran at the lake, diving into the water.

However, it didn't go according to plan. I managed to transform into an otter but in a matter of moments I changed back leaving me quite deep underwater. I was just lucky I didn't get tangled in the reeds and managed to swim to the surface. Not easy if you didn't know the principles of swimming. I'd never been taught; only knew how to swim as an animal. I swam back to shore. It was a relief when I felt my feet touch the ground and I stumbled on to the grass. I fell down on it and lay on my back, panting. That brought back painful memories. When I was six, we had swimming lessons with The Refuge and Mandy pushed me into the pool. I had to be saved by the lifeguard and I was left slightly wary of swimming until Lupin taught me.

Sitting up again I took off my robes, shirt and tie so I was left in a strappy top and my skirt and socks. I also took off my shoes and poured the water out of them. I laid them on the grass so they could dry off. Taking my wand I performed the Hot Air Charm on the bandage on my arm first. It was still there hiding the Dark Mark. I really didn't see why Voldemort branded me or anything. He must have called his Death Eaters dozens of times but never once had I felt it burn on my arm. All it did was writhe about. Still, I didn't want anyone to see it so I dried the bandage first and wrapped it back round my arm.

While my robes were drying in the sun I laid back on the grass under the beech tree. Things had changed so much in such a short space of time. We'd all changed, Harry especially. As weird as it sounds, sometimes … it's like I don't even know him anymore. I never know what he's feeling anymore or whether he's hiding something from me when we promised we'd never keep secrets from each other. Well, I was hardly one to talk. I never told him I was an Animagus, I didn't tell him who my Dad was, I didn't tell him about my visions (haven't had one of those in a while), and now … I wasn't telling him how I feel.

'Oh, don't start that again!' I groaned. I closed my eyes and ran my hands over my face. 'You're meant to be getting over him, not falling for him more!'

Frustrated, I grabbed my robes, pulled them on and headed up to the castle for an early lunch seeing as that was usually the quietest time. I needed some time to myself. I was soon joined by Ron and Hermione back from Hogsmeade. Both looked flushed from the warm weather and work they'd been doing. Ron was definitely looking more cheerful about his attempts at Apparition than he had done earlier. I was just about to ask them how it was going when Harry appeared. Least this time when he looked at me he didn't give me the usual icy glare. That was a slight improvement I guess.

'I did it – well, kind of!' said Ron happily. 'I was supposed to be Apparating to outside Madam Puddifoot's teashop and I overshot it a bit, ended up near Scrivenshaft's but at least I moved.'

'Good one,' said Harry. OK, still ignoring me. I was sort of getting used to it by now. That didn't stop it hurting though. 'How'd you do, Hermione?'

'Oh, she was perfect, obviously,' Ron answered for her. I looked at him, surprised. 'Perfect deliberation, divination and desperation, or whatever the hell it is – we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should've heard Twycross going on about her – I'll be surprised if he doesn't pop the question soon – '

Hermione, who had been blushing slightly as Ron praised her, glanced at me and shrugged. I merely raised my eyebrows at her and she shot me a warning look.

'And what about you?' she asked, looking at Harry.

He'd spent all morning up at the Room of Requirement trying to get in. It wasn't going to work. But apparently while he was up there, he ran into Tonks. She had appeared having come to speak to Dumbledore. I wonder why she was here then? Wasn't she meant to be protecting the school?

'If you ask me,' said Ron, 'she's cracking up a bit. Losing her nerve after what happened at the Ministry.'

'Ron, that's not fair,' I said. The three of them looked at me. 'She lost her cousin, of course she's going to be affected by it but she hasn't lost her nerve. If she had, she wouldn't be protecting the school, would she?'

'It is a bit odd though,' said Hermione. 'She's supposed to be guarding the school, why's she suddenly abandoning her post to come and see Dumbledore when he's not even here?'

'I had a thought,' said Harry. 'You don't think she could have been … you know … in love with Sirius?'

What? Tonks in love with my Dad? That was impossible, wasn't it?

'What on earth makes you say that?' asked Hermione.

'I dunno,' shrugged Harry, 'but she was nearly crying when I mentioned his name … and her Patronus is a big four-legged thing now … I wondered whether it hadn't become … you know … him.'

'From what I know about their relationship,' I started, 'Tonks was the only person Dad got on with in the family around his age, besides her mum, Andromeda. I don't think she would have been in love with him considering he was with Mum and at least ten years older than her. If so, then she probably decided not to act on her feelings.'

Hermione looked at me pointedly as I said that. I ignored her.

'It's a thought though,' she then said. 'But I still don't know why she'd be bursting into the castle to see Dumbledore, if that's really why she was here …'

'Goes back to what I said, doesn't it?' said Ron in between shovelling his food. 'She's gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women, they're easily upset.' Hermione and I glared at him.

'And yet, I doubt you'd find a _woman_ who sulked for half an hour because Madam Rosmerta didn't laugh at their joke about the hag, the Healer and the _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_.'

That shut him up.

Another week passed since that confrontation. I'd actually given up trying to make Harry speak to me without the other two. As for Noah, we remained friends. It felt nice to just meet up with him casually with no relationship on the line. He was just someone to talk to about things I couldn't talk to the others about. Of course, each time Harry saw the two of us together I still received the dirty looks which didn't make me feel better.

'Just ignore him, Jen,' Noah told me. He was sitting with me in the common room one evening helping me with some Charms homework. 'If he's not mature enough to accept it, then that's his problem, not yours.'

'Problem is, I can't,' I muttered. 'It's like he's accusing me of betraying him.'

'Oh, Jen.' Noah put his arm round my shoulders and hugged me, kissing my temple. I smiled as he did so. 'Life's a bitch, isn't it?'

I laughed slightly. Noah really knew how to hit the nail on the head. As we continued on my essay, I watched him out the corner of my eye. If anything, I was happier with him like this. He was like a brother to me. He looked out for me when I was in trouble and helped me when I needed it. I still had the same feelings for him but no, it was better we were just friends.

On Saturday I hit a real low. All I did was return to Harry a book of his I'd found lying about in the common room and asked if he wanted some help with his DADA essay when he let rip with a really biting remark. I didn't know if he was frustrated with the Malfoy thing or if he was still mad at me but what he said really hurt.

'All I asked is if you wanted help with your essay for Snape,' I said, shocked that he suddenly snapped at me. 'I wasn't suggesting you were dumb or anything. I never would!'

'You're just a fake, Jenna!' he spat at me. 'You put on this big act of being kind and concerned but in reality you're just as nasty as one of Hagrid's Skrewts! Just get out of my face!'

Harry slammed the door to his dormitory. I knew he didn't mean it but … it just hurt so much those words coming from his mouth. It made me think maybe he did mean it. I turned down the stairs. After packing up my things I headed out of the portrait hole. I needed to get away. Go somewhere where no one could find me. I needed a place to hide. As I walked down the corridor, Harry's words repeated themselves in my head, causing the tears to start at my eyes.

I turned into the corridor which had the Room of Requirement in. I stood opposite the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and paced back and forth three times up and down the corridor.

_I need a place to hide. Just a place I can be alone. I just want a place to hide._

A door appeared in the wall. Opening the door I saw the room had created a room the size of a cathedral. I couldn't help breathe, 'Whoa!' when I saw it. The room was huge. It was hard to believe it could exist in this small corridor. Light reflected on the stone floor from huge windows between towers of objects from books to broken furniture to potion bottles. This must be where Filch hid all the forbidden items in the school which he couldn't hide in his office.

My footsteps echoed as I walked through the room even though it was brimming with objects. It was lovely and quiet, a great place to hide. I saw there were dozens of banned things in there from Fanged Frisbees to the old Vanishing Cabinet Fred and George had forced Montague through last year, and something that really intrigued me.

'Lupin, you little rule-breaker,' I smirked, looking at it. It was a ripped piece of tapestry, the rest rolled up beside it, saying "The Marauders were here, signed Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, 1970-77." and there was a picture of them pulling faces superimposed on to the back of the material. 'You're not as innocent as you make out you are.'

But as I looked at it, I felt sad again. Seeing the four of them all looking so happy together as they pulled faces at the camera. It just reminded me of how broken my friendship with Harry was. I was never going to get that back.

Suddenly, I stood straight. I'd heard something move near me. I looked around cautiously. There was nothing there. I turned away from the tapestry and looked round more of the room. I stopped again when I heard something move again. It was starting to creep me out. I decided maybe it was time to leave. Looking round for the door I headed back the way I came. But when I walked past the Vanishing Cabinet I felt something grab me.

'What are you doing here?' It was Malfoy. He put his arm round my neck. He pressed his wand into my face. 'How did you get in here?' he demanded.

'I'm not here to fight, Malfoy,' I said. I pulled his arm from my neck and stepped away. 'I'm leaving right now so you don't need to worry.' I started to walk away when I felt something hit my legs. He'd used a Trip Jinx on me. I sat up, looking at him incredulously. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

'You're not going anywhere,' sneered Malfoy. 'Not until I get even with you.' He shot a spell at me, non-verbally. Quickly, I pushed myself out of the way as it hit the ground. I hid behind a nearby stack of books. 'Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did on the train! No one insults a Malfoy and gets away with it.' The books suddenly burst into flame next to me as Malfoy threw another hex. 'I want to make you suffer!'

I jumped out of the way as Malfoy sent three more curses at me, none of which I recognised, all non-verbally. He was more powerful than I thought. I only just avoided each of them but in doing so was getting forced further away from the door.

'I'm not going to fight you,' I shouted at him. 'Why do you even follow him? What has he got to offer you? A life in prison if you get caught?'

'Shut up!' bellowed Malfoy. He threw another curse at me. I ducked to dodge it, falling to the floor. I felt it just graze me, slicing across my temple. I let out a gasp of pain, placing my hand over it. I blinked as blood dripped into my eye. 'The Dark Lord has more power than you can imagine,' sneered Malfoy. 'He has taught me things the Mudblood-lover would never allow.' I felt another hex hit my face as I couldn't see it, throwing me back. 'I'm stronger than I ever was.' He pointed his wand at me and waved it in front of him. I felt my body get picked up and I was thrown against a stone pillar. I screamed as my back hit against it and I fell to the floor. 'He offers me power and revenge. Revenge for my father!'

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Ever since the summer, any injury I got hurt a lot more than it used to. I managed to get to my feet and leaned against the pillar.

'It's not worth it,' I said. 'What about your family? Your mum wouldn't want you to do this. Getting revenge for Lucius isn't the way to go. Even if he does escape he'll be killed for failing. Voldemort won't show him mercy.'

'SHUT UP!' Malfoy threw another curse at me. It sped towards me with immense force, pushing back anything in its path. I ran forwards from the pillar. It smashed into it, stone flying everywhere as it collided. I shielded my face with my arm and ran. I'd seen the door just in front of me. Just a little closer and I could escape …

I screamed as I suddenly felt a burning on my arm. I fell to my knees trying to ignore the pain. It was excruciating. I grabbed my arm and pulled the bandage off it. The Dark Mark was burning black on my arm, the snake's head wrapping itself round my arm. It wouldn't stop. I screamed again as the pain spiked, the Mark seeming to get a tighter grip.

'Just as I thought.' I looked up. Malfoy was approaching me. He had the tip of his wand pressed on to his left arm. He did have the Dark Mark. 'The Dark Lord branded you. I always wondered why you kept a bandage on your arm.'

He drove the tip of his wand into his arm. The pain in mine increased.

'Stop it!' I screamed. 'Please! Stop it! Let me go, please!'

Malfoy laughed but removed his wand. The pain ceased in my arm and I fell forwards to my hands. He stepped up to me, taking my face in his pale hand. He was so close our faces were barely centimetres apart.

'You're not going anywhere,' he said in such a quiet voice, it sounded deadly. I admit, I was scared at the thought of what he could do to me. 'You see … you know where I've been working.'

Malfoy let go of my face, shoving me back slightly. Next I saw him draw back his hand. He swung it at me and hit me across the face. I gasped at the pain as I fell back to the floor. Looking up I saw Malfoy approaching me.

'And don't think I don't know Potter's been having me followed by those ratty – ' I gasped harshly as I felt Malfoy kick me hard in the stomach. I rolled on to my front grasping it in pain. '– filthy – ' My body was lifted off the floor. Next moment I lay crumpled on the floor surrounded by broken wood having been thrown into a bookcase. '– stinking house-elves.'

I forced myself up on my hands and knees. I had to start defending myself but I refused to hurt Malfoy. But again I felt him hit me hard across the face and I fell to the ground, my face hitting the stone. I wished it would stop but Malfoy was never one to quit. He took a handful of my ripped shirt and pulled me to my knees to face him.

'And we can't have you blabbing to him, now can we?'

Malfoy threw me roughly to the ground in a small clear space amongst the debris of his curses. I dreaded what he'd do to me next. I just lay crouched there, shaking. I was in so much pain. I watched as Malfoy paced around me. I let out another scream as I felt something hit my back. Tears were leaking from my eyes from the pain.

'Draco, please,' I pleaded to him. 'Whatever Voldemort wants you to do … it's not worth it. If you fail, he'll kill you as well.'

'_IMPERIO!_'

I closed my eyes and curled up further. I could feel Malfoy trying to take control of me. I could hear his voice in my head.

_No_. _Don't forget ... don't listen to him ..._

_You WILL forget this room! You WON'T remember what happened!_

I gripped my head as his voice continued. He wouldn't stop! He wouldn't leave me alone! I shouted at myself to not listen to him. I wasn't going to forget! I had to tell someone what he was up to in here! How to get in here! I had to tell Harry! I had to remember!

'I WON'T!'

The Imperious Curse was lifted. I was left panting on the ground from the strain it had taken to force Malfoy out of my head. But then … my eyes went sort of … fuzzy …

_The room blurred in front of me to be replaced by darkness. Looking around I saw I was on my feet uninjured. What was going on?_

-o-

Malfoy watched with a twisted smile as Black writhed on the floor, recalling her worst nightmares. The Nightmare Illusion Curse certainly had its advantages like Aunt Bellatrix had said. He watched with a satisfaction as Black screamed, choked and tried to pull away from imaginary binds. This should weaken her enough for the Imperious Curse to work. Then he could deal with her once and for all.

After several minutes, Black took in a shuddered breath, collapsing afterwards. She fell back on the floor, her arm falling limply beside her. Malfoy approached her and turned her face over. She was breathing but only just. Good, he hadn't pushed it too far. Standing straight, Malfoy pointed his wand at her and said, '_Imperio_.' Flicking his wand, he made Black sit up. She did so obediently. 'Follow me,' said Malfoy callously and he led the way out of the Room.

Checking the coast was clear, Malfoy turned back to Black and ordered her to go to the changing staircase and wait on the seventh floor level. As she walked slowly off in one direction, Malfoy headed in the other. Even if he failed in his other task, he'd succeed in eliminating the last "good" Black. She'd managed to evade Bellatrix and his mother. She wasn't going to evade him.

Malfoy headed down a few staircases until he came to an opening in the wall looking out into the changing staircases. He was a few floors down from the seventh floor. He hid behind the stone window and watched the platform. After a few minutes Black appeared. Below there were footsteps. Cautiously Malfoy glanced down to see who it was. _Perfect_, he thought, _Potter. Who better to watch her die._

Malfoy looked back up at Black, and said quietly, 'I want you to lean on the banister. Casually lean on it.' Black did so.

Below, Harry was returning from a walk round the grounds. Everyone else was at lunch but he didn't feel hungry. He'd shouted earlier at Jenna and he felt really bad for doing so. She'd made an effort to talk to and apologise to him but once again he'd been too stubborn to listen. All she did was return a book to him today and offer some help with his homework and he snapped at her for completely no reason. Harry had to talk to her. He had to sort things out. They couldn't go on like this forever. He had to go find her. However, Harry didn't have far to look. Jenna was standing at the top of the seventh floor staircase, four floors above him.

'Jenna!' called Harry up to her. She looked down at him. 'Can we talk?'

She didn't reply. All she did was stare at him. Vaguely at that. Her eyes seemed to be … empty or something. It was strange, like Jenna wasn't completely there. She turned away from him, looking forwards as she rested on her hands on the banister. And to his horror, Harry had seen it before. That was the look someone got when they were under the Imperious Curse.

'Jenna?' called Harry again, worriedly. 'Jen, can you hear me?'

A few floors up, a smirk graced Malfoy's pale features. With a simple upwards flick of his wand, the Imperious Curse was lifted.

'JENNA!' She'd suddenly collapsed. The curse must have been lifted. Her arms gave way and she slumped down unconscious on the banister. Harry's heart stopped as she collapsed, her body falling over the banister. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could as she fell. Drawing out his wand, Harry bellowed, 'WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!'

It took a few moments to reach her but when he saw Jenna's body jerk to a stop in mid-air, Harry let out a relieved breath. Carefully, he guided her down to where he stood. He released the spell when she was just above him. Harry caught her as she fell limply into his arms. She just lay there unconscious in his grip. Harry took in a sharp breath. Jenna was covered in cuts and bruises were appearing on her pale skin. She'd been beaten up. Harry looked up to find any source for who had done this to her. However, before he could locate it, the sounds of people returning from lunch started. Quickly, Harry ducked into the nearest corridor.

Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map to find the closest secret passageway to where he was. There was one just down the corridor from here behind a statue. Keeping a firm grip on Jenna, Harry walked down the corridor and put his hand on the wall. It wasn't solid so he stepped through it into a small square room. Carefully Harry knelt on the ground and held Jenna up to check her over.

'Jen?' He brushed back her hair to see a cut on her temple, blood dripping down her cheek. 'Shit,' breathed Harry, 'what did they do to you?' Her clothes were ripped, she had bruises and cuts on her face and arms, and the Dark Mark was uncovered. It must have been Malfoy. He was the only person who could've known about the Dark Mark. 'Jen, come on,' said Harry softly, 'come on, wake up. It's over.'

Jenna didn't stir for several minutes. She just lay limply in Harry's arms, her head resting on his chest. Her breathing then started to get deeper and more ragged. She seemed to be dreaming or something. She began to thrash about slightly in his arms.

'Don't …' she panted. 'Don't kill him … No … Harry!'

Instantly Harry took Jenna's hand as she reached out, linking his fingers in hers.

'Jenna, I'm here.' he told her. She gripped his hand in her own and, to his relief, opened her eyes.

-o-

__

I could hear voices. The voices of kids. They were teasing me, calling me a freak. They surrounded me. They were all laughing and pointing and jeering. I shouted at them to stop. It wasn't my fault I was weird! I never meant to blow up the TV! They suddenly disappeared. The floor seemed to vanish from beneath my feet and I was falling. I landed in a deep pool of water. I tried to swim upwards but something was pulling me down. I shouted for help but only bubbles came from my mouth. I was drowning. I felt myself lose consciousness and I began to sink. My back hit the bottom of the pool and the water vanished …

Mum, I was standing beside her in the street. She was holding me in her arms. Malfoy, Pettigrew and my Uncle were holding her at wand point. I wanted to help her but I didn't have my wand. I tried to use my magic without it but it wouldn't work. Malfoy pronounced the Death Curse. The green light sped towards us. I closed my eyes, turning into my mother's arms as she held me. When I opened my eyes again I was in the Ministry. Dad was falling through the veil. I ran at him. I had to stop him. I couldn't lose him again! But something was pulling me back. I shouted at him but he couldn't hear me. I broke free from what was holding me back and ran to him. Something tripped me and I fell to the ground ...

I sat up and looked around. I was in the middle of a destroyed street. There were house and trees burning around me; dead bodies were lying on the ground; shouts and the sounds of spells were firing all around me. I stood up, panic rushing through me. I shouted if anyone was there. Only an evil laugh replied. I looked at the direction it came from. A shadow was standing over one of the bodies. My fears increased as I saw who it was.

No! I shouted. Don't kill him!

I ran over to Voldemort, drawing my wand. He saw me coming and I was thrown to the ground by a curse. I gasped in pain as the spell hit me. Looking up, Voldemort pointed his wand at the body on the floor. I tried to crawl over to him. I was almost there. I reached out for him …

_Don't ... Don't kill him ... Harry!_

_My hand could almost touch him but the green light burst from Voldemort's wand as his fingers linked with mine._

I flinched and opened my eyes. I was shaking, my breathing jagged. I felt something grip my hand; I was leaning against something or someone. A voice said, 'Jenna, I'm here.' I looked up. A blurry face came into view …

'Harry …' I let out a sigh of relief when I realised it was him. Malfoy was gone. 'Malfoy, he – '

'Ssh, it's all right,' said Harry. 'It's all right, you're safe.'

I sat up as best I could and wrapped my arms round Harry. He did the same, hugging me back. I was just so relieved to see him.

'I thought Malfoy was going to kill me,' I breathed. 'He wouldn't let me go.'

Harry didn't reply to that, instead saying that I needed to go the hospital wing. I refused. I didn't want Madam Pomfrey asking me who did this. Harry insisted I had to be healed but I wouldn't let him. I even tried to walk back to the Tower but I couldn't stand and Harry caught me just before I fell.

Much against my will, Harry lifted me up before throwing his Invisibility Cloak over us. He told me if I wasn't going to get help, he wasn't going to force me but heal me himself. I felt so uncomfortable in his arms as he carried me upstairs to the seventh floor knowing what I was feeling inside. What was even worse was he took me back to the Room of Requirement. Stopping to check the Marauder's Map, Harry put me down and paced the corridor. A door appeared and he helped me inside. Malfoy wasn't there. It wasn't the same room I'd been in earlier. It was a small room with a small sofa, and a potion box and medical spells book on a table. Harry helped me on to the sofa.

'Harry, I'm fine,' I insisted but he wouldn't have it.

'Jenna, you're not fine,' he said. 'Your face is covered in blood, you've got bruises all over you, your clothes are torn and you can barely walk.' He picked up the book and sat beside me. 'Now stop being so stubborn and let me heal you.'

I didn't argue. I just sat there with my eyes closed so I didn't have to look at him as he healed me. Every so often I flinched at the potion he used or when he placed his wand against me. All I could think of was what was to happen once he'd healed me. He'd probably go back to ignoring me again.

'So what happened?' asked Harry eventually. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was cleaning the blood from my face, dabbing an antiseptic potion on my temple. 'What did Malfoy do to you?'

'I managed to get in here,' I said shakily. 'The Room he was using. I can't remember how though.' I guess the Imperious Curse had slightly wiped my memory. 'I just remember him hitting me and – and not letting me leave. I saw my worst fears, my nightmares … It didn't seem to stop.'

The odd thing was though, I wasn't afraid of Malfoy even after what he did to me.

'That son of a bitch,' growled Harry. 'If I ever – '

'No,' I said quickly. 'If you go after him, he'll know I told you. If you don't he'll think I forgot it all and you can continue following him.' Harry was about to object but I stopped him. 'Please, Harry, promise me you won't.'

Harry didn't like it but agreed, 'I promise.' We returned to silence as Harry began to remove the bruises from my arms. Once he'd done those, he wrapped another bandage round my arm to hide the Dark Mark. But then something that made me feel really uncomfortable had to be done. 'I need to heal the rest of them,' he said when he saw I had more bruises on my chest and back. 'Jenna, people will talk if they see you with them.'

Reluctantly, I allowed Harry to help me removed my top. I felt so exposed in front of him in just my bra and jeans but Harry didn't say anything, merely healing the bruises. He worked quickly so the embarrassment was limited. When he finished, he repaired my top and jeans and handed it back to me silently. I put it on, glad to be able to move without so much pain.

'Thank you,' I said quietly, wanting to leave.

'No problem,' said Harry.

I looked up at him still sitting beside me on the sofa. He needn't have done any of this. He could have just left me … Maybe he did still care. As we sat there, I felt the urge within me just to move closer, brush my lips against his to remember how they felt. But when the opportunity came I pulled away. We'd been sitting near to each other so Harry could heal me and he hadn't move. When I'd looked up to him, our faces had been centimetres apart. I almost leaned into him to close the gap but instead, I looked away.

'I've gotta go.' Picking up my jacket, I left the Room.

The rest of the day I spent in the dormitory. I just couldn't help myself. I couldn't help feeling the butterflies in my stomach when Harry was near me or the urge to kiss him. And those feelings weren't likely to go away. My only options were to either ignore them as they drove me crazy or tell him how I feel, neither of which I liked the idea of.

On Monday morning I was surprised to find Harry waiting for me in the common room. He even sat with me during Defence Against the Dark Arts. I guess he'd forgiven me since he was willing to be near and speak to me. In our free period before Potions, the four of us were out in the courtyard as Ron and Hermione did some extra cramming for the Apparition test later on. Ron kept hiding each time a girl walked past in case it was Lavender while Harry sulked that he still didn't know what Malfoy was up to. I merely kept silent. Only Harry and I knew what Malfoy had done. Then Harry was given a note from Hagrid.

'Look at this,' he said. He gave the note to Hermione. I read it over her shoulder.

Aragog had died and he wanted us to go to the funeral. That was fair enough, he wanted some company, but was he completely barking mad? We would get in serious trouble if we were caught out of bed nowadays with the new security measures, even if we were wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Mine and Hermione's reactions were pretty much the same as Harry's and when we showed Ron, he too thought Hagrid was mental.

'That thing told its mates to eat Harry and me! Told them to help themselves! And now Hagrid expects us to go down there and cry over its horrible hairy body!'

'It's not just that,' Hermione pointed out. 'He's asking us to leave the castle at night, and he knows security's a million times tighter and how much trouble we'd be in if we were caught.'

'We've been down to see him by night before,' said Harry.

'That was different,' I said. 'We were younger, there wasn't a war going on and there wasn't an evil wizard and Dark things creeping about everywhere trying to kill us.'

'And for something like this?' added Hermione. 'We've risked a lot to help Hagrid out, but after all – Aragog's dead. If it were a question of saving him – '

'– I'd want to go even less,' said Ron bluntly.

The only one of us who was willing to go was Harry but as Hermione pointed out it wasn't worth getting a detention for. Even Hagrid knew that. But that was Harry for you. He always helps his friends. Reluctantly, Harry admitted Hagrid would have to do it without us and he relented, muttering bitterly about trying to get the memory from Slughorn again.

'Fifty-seventh time lucky, you think?' He'd been counting?

'Lucky?' said Ron suddenly. 'Harry, that's it – get lucky!'

We looked at him, bemused.

'What d'you mean?'

'Use your lucky potion!'

'Ron, that's – that's it!' gasped Hermione. 'Of course! Why didn't I think of it?'

'Felix Felicis?' Harry didn't sound all too confident. 'I dunno … I was sort of saving it …'

What he was saving it for Harry didn't tell us, instead phasing out of the conversation slightly. But he needed that memory. Surely it was more important than anything he'd wanted to use Felix Felicis originally for? He did agree though and said he'd try this evening.

'That's decided then,' said Hermione firmly and she went back to muttering the three D's, much to Ron's annoyance. He quickly hid again as the Montgomery sisters passed us. He really should grow a backbone and end it with her. As they passed I felt a rush of sympathy for them. Their little brother had just died from a werewolf attack. My only relief was that it hadn't been Lupin. There was a rumour saying it was Greyback who did it.

'I knew it,' said Harry darkly. 'The maniac who likes attacking kids, the one Lupin told me about!'

'There's nothing we can do about him,' I said. 'It's Voldemort we've got to stop first.'

'Jenna's right,' agreed Hermione. 'Harry, you've got to get that memory. It's all about stopping, Voldemort, isn't it? These dreadful things that are happening are all down to him.'

The bell rang. Hermione and Ron jumped. It was time for their Apparition test. With good luck from me and Harry, they headed for the Entrance Hall while we walked to the dungeons for Potions. I kept my head down and remained silent as we walked. When we got into the classroom, I saw Malfoy was already there. His eyes were glaring deadly at me though his face was pale. Come to think of it he'd looked ill when he attacked me.

'Come on, Jen.' I felt Harry's arm go round my waist and move me towards the table. I followed, looking away from Malfoy.

In Potions today Professor Slughorn wanted us to surprise him with an amusing potion since there were so few of us there. Only Ernie seemed enthusiastic about it and set straight to work. Still, I was just glad I could now sit with Harry and not worry about him avoiding me anymore. But deep down I knew I was thinking about him in ways I didn't want to. In the lesson I attempted to make an Acrobat potion, something that made the drinker do somersaults until it wore off. Beside me, Harry was using the Prince's book to make a Euphoria potion.

'Why chose that?' I asked. I looked at the instructions. 'It's really complicated.'

'I figured if I made Slughorn really happy, I wouldn't have to use Felix,' said Harry. He picked up some tiger bark and added it to the mixture.

'Wouldn't it just be easier to use Felix? I mean, you've got to get Slughorn to drink that first before it works.' Harry just shrugged as he stirred it. 'What were you saving it for anyway?'

'Nothing in particular,' said Harry quickly.

At the end of the lesson Slughorn came round and checked our potions. Ernie did very badly on the curdled potion he'd created while Malfoy got a mere 'passable'. Slughorn was pleased with my Acrobat potion and as usual was ecstatic with Harry's. When the bell went though, Slughorn disappeared before Harry could get him to taste his potion so we left and returned to the common room.

'Jen!' I looked up when I'd climbed through the portrait hole to see Noah calling over to me. 'Come see what my Mum sent me!'

Next to me Harry stiffened. I was about to say something but he stopped me.

'You should go to him. I'll see you later.' He walked off. I sighed. Not everything was all right.

The rest of the day I spent with Noah seeing as Harry had told me to go to him. Going over to him, Noah showed me a set of Muggle comic books depicting people with powers. He thought they were a joke considering magic did exist. I wasn't interested though.

After dinner, we sat together in the common room doing homework. But once again, I was daydreaming. I just sat there, head on my arms, watching as Harry, Ron and Hermione talked and went up the boy's staircase.

'So, how's the, er, burying the feelings thing going?' I looked up surprised when I heard Noah say that. He was watching me. 'That bad, huh?'

'Is it that obvious?' I asked.

'Well, you've been drawing a lighting bolt on your parchment for about ten minutes so … I think that's a clue to who you're thinking about.'

I looked at my parchment. There was a lightning bolt in the top corner. I scratched it out.

'I can't stop thinking about him,' I said heavily. 'He's there every minute and … it's so hard trying to forget about him when I know the feelings will be back the next time I see him. I don't know what to do. I can't keep denying that I'm feeling these things for him but I don't know what else to do.' Noah got up and moved next to me, wrapping his arm round my shoulders. 'I know you don't need to hear about my problems when I brought this on myself.' I saw Ron and Hermione come back down the stairs alone. I was somewhat glad Harry wasn't there. 'But I can't talk to my friends. They wouldn't understand.'

Shouts suddenly filled the common room on both sides. Lavender was shouting at Ron, wanting to know why he'd been upstairs with Hermione, while Ginny was having a go at Dean near the portrait hole.

'You need to follow your heart,' said Noah simply. I looked at him strangely. 'Follow your heart. It'll tell you what to do, better than I can at any rate. Instead of letting your mind tell you what to do and what it thinks is right, listen to your heart. It knows what you want and will show you what to do.'

Following my heart. How was that going to tell me what to do? I didn't even know what my feelings for Harry were let alone what they meant. But Noah's advice had never failed me before. Maybe he was right about this as well.

'That's it, Won-Won!' screamed Lavender. 'It's over!' I watched as she stormed upstairs to the girls' dormitory. Parvati followed, actually smiling at Hermione as she passed.

'Fine!' shouted Dean on the other side of the room. 'If that's what you want, fine! We're done, Ginny. I'm sick of having Ron glaring at me anyway!' He stormed off and sat with Seamus while Ginny joined some girls in her year.

'Looks like tonight sucks for relationships,' muttered Noah.

'Yeah,' I agreed. 'Totally.'

The next day Harry told us about what he'd managed to achieve last night having taken some Felix Felicis. He'd gone down to Hagrid's for Aragog's funeral when he'd run into Slughorn. He somehow managed to convince him to come as well. Of course, getting Slughorn and Hagrid drunk wasn't a method Hermione or I would have recommended. Nevertheless, Harry got the memory from him and went to Dumbledore's office after the Fat Lady wouldn't let him in. The full memory explained what Horcruxes were and apparently there Voldemort would have made at least seven as that's the most powerfully magic number.

'Wow,' breathed Ron once Harry had finished. Not like he was paying attention to what he was doing. We were slowly being covered in snow. 'Wow. You're actually going to go with Dumbledore … and try and destroy … wow.'

'Ron, you're making it snow,' said Hermione. She took his wrist to stop him. Across the room, Lavender was glaring at her. Hermione instantly let go.

'Oh yeah,' said Ron vaguely. 'Sorry … looks like we've all go terrible dandruff now …' Brushing the snow off Hermione's shoulder was one step to far for Lavender and she burst into tears. 'We split up,' said Ron to me and Harry. 'Last night. When she saw me coming out of the dormitory with Hermione. Obviously she couldn't see you, so she thought it had just been the two of us.'

Those two weren't the only ones who'd broken up. Ginny and Dean too had split up after their argument in the common room. Something about helping her through the portrait hole all the time when she didn't need it, according to Hermione. This left Harry in a bad situation. Dean and Ginny were both on the Quidditch team seeing as Katie was not back from hospital yet. We had to stop though when Flitwick came over to us. Luckily I'd managed to change my vinegar into wine.

'Now, now, boys,' squeaked Professor Flitwick. 'A little less talk, a little more action … let me see you try …'

Harry and Ron both pointed their wands at their flasks. Harry's turned to ice and Ron's exploded. Both got extra homework.

As we walked back to the common room, both Hermione and Ron seemed happier than they had done in a while. I guess they were both happy that Ron's relationship with Lavender had ended (for different reasons, of course). Beside me Harry had a very vague smile on his face.

'What's got you in such a good mood?' I asked him.

'Oh, nothing,' said Harry quickly. I raised an eyebrow at him. 'I was just thinking about things, you know … It's a pity Ginny and Dean broke up …'

Contrary to how he said it, Harry did not seem sorry that they had broken up. He certainly didn't look it. He … wasn't having feelings for Ginny or something, was he? I wouldn't put her past it though. Ginny was very pretty and she certainly knew how to use her charms on people. Plus she used to have a crush on Harry. What's to say … he doesn't not like her now. I mean, what if he does … like her? A knot in my stomach formed.

_You need to tell him how you feel ... You can't keep denying how you feel ... If you do you'll end up hating yourself when it's too late ..._

I blocked those thoughts from my mind. I'd said those exact words to Hermione about Ron. Trust me not to be able to take my own advice. Except they weren't from my mind. It was my heart telling me. I had to start listening to it. I had to tell Harry how I felt. But when?

We reached the common room to find a bunch of seventh years in a large group. Katie was back from hospital. She was much better after being healed and spending a couple days at home. She'd been released on Monday. She instantly asked Harry about the last Quidditch match which meant speaking to Harry about … you know what, was put off. Instead, I went to find Noah. He was lying on the sofa watching the group.

'I'm going to tell Harry how I feel,' I said, standing beside him. He sat up.

'Really?' he asked. I nodded sitting beside him. 'What made you change your mind.'

'Something I told a friend about leaving things to late,' I replied. I glanced at Harry. 'If I don't tell him how I feel then I could really regret doing so.' I turned back to Noah. 'I need to tell him.'

'When are you going to do so?' asked Noah.

'I don't know. I have to find the right moment. I have to get him on his own – hopefully when he's in a good mood – and I'll tell him. I just need the right moment.' Noah smiled at me.

'Then I wish you luck. Good luck, Jen.' I smiled back and hugged Noah tightly. Even after what I did to him, he's still supportive and cares.

Over the coming fortnight though I didn't get a single chance seeing as all the free time he had was taken up with Quidditch now thanks to Katie being back and the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match being so close. Each night I waited for him to get back but every time he was with Ginny, laughing and talking. Who was I kidding? He did have feelings for her, it was so obvious. My only hope was to tell him as soon as possible.

May soon came and I still hadn't told Harry how I felt. By now I was getting desperate. Every time I saw him sitting with Ginny and the others I sat away from them, not wanting to speak to him in front of them. My eyes would flick on to him every five minutes, watching him until he looked like he'd seen me doing so and I'd look away. It was getting tiresome, this game of cat and mouse. If he wasn't spending time with Ginny or training the team, he was discussing tactics with Ron. Several times I'd seen them with their heads together talking about various ways the Chasers could score or what the best method of hitting the Bludger was for Coote and Peakes. I even went up to him on the Wednesday night before the match and said, 'Can I talk to you? It's kind of important.'

To which the reply was, 'Can it wait, Jen? I just need to work out what the best defence could be against Ravenclaw.'

'Yeah,' I said. I knew how much winning was to Harry. 'Yeah, sure.'

'Tell me later,' said Harry. 'I should be free after dinner unless I discover unfinished homework or get a detention or something.'

'Yeah,' I repeated. It was obvious I felt disheartened at Quidditch being put ahead of this. But of course Harry, being the typical sodding boy, didn't notice. 'I'll talk to you later.'

On the subject of being a typical sodding boy detention was exactly what Harry got. I'd returned from dinner that night to find Harry in the seventh floor corridor on his own, his robes soaked in water and blood. He was crouched on the floor with his head in his hands.

'Harry!' I gasped, running over to him. All thoughts of telling how I felt were pushed from my head. I knelt beside him and lifted his face to look at him. He looked like he'd been in a fight. 'What happened? Are you hurt? What have you – '

'Malfoy …' said Harry monotonously. 'I – the Prince … Sectumsempra …'

'Harry, start from the beginning and tell me what happened.'

'Heard Malfoy in the bathroom, he was crying. He saw me and we started to duel. I didn't mean to do it. It was the first spell that came to my head. The curse slashed him. There was blood everywhere. I almost killed him.' I couldn't help but gasp as he said that. 'Snape saved him just in time. Sent him to the hospital wing. When he came back he wanted to know where I got the curse from. I had to get my bag and show him my books. Now I've got detention every Saturday till the end of term. Gryffindor's got no chance of the Quidditch Cup now.'

'It's OK,' I told him gently. I took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 'It wasn't your fault. You didn't know what that spell would do.' Harry must have felt so guilty, he wouldn't even look at me. I placed my hand on his opposite cheek and turned it towards me. He just stared at me.

'I almost killed someone,' muttered Harry, closing his eyes.

'It's OK,' I told him again. I wrapped my arms round him. I felt his arms go round me and grip me. 'You're not a killer. It was a shock. It's OK. Whoever owned that book is responsible, not you. It's not your fault.'

The news of what happened spread quickly thanks to Moaning Myrtle, who'd been in the bathroom at the time, and Pansy Parkinson. The staff too had been informed by Snape. When Harry had returned from being reprimanded by McGonagall Hermione didn't take the hint that he didn't want to discuss it. She kept going on about the book saying she'd been right all along.

'How can you still stick up for that book when that spell – '

'Will you stop harping on about the book!' snapped Harry. 'The Prince only copied it out! It's not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!'

'Harry, no one could possibly come up with a spell that Dark and put it down in a book,' I said on Hermione's side. 'That spell would have to have come straight from the person who created it. All the spells in that book you found must have been written by the Prince, that's how he'd know them and no one else would have!'

'I can't believe you're taking her side!' Harry shouted at me. 'The Prince wouldn't have written that, not after all the helpful things he's done!'

'I don't believe this,' said Hermione incredulously. 'You're actually defending – '

'I'm not defending what I did!' said Harry. 'I wish I hadn't done it, and not just because I've got about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn't've used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can't blame the Prince, he hadn't written "Try this out, it's really good" – he was just making notes for himself, wasn't he, not for anyone else …'

I couldn't believe Harry was defending that book. OK, sure, he was right when he said it had helped him in Potions to win the Felix Felicis and the bezoar with Ron's poisoning but the point was no one but the creator of a spell like that would know it. It had to have been the Prince who'd written it.

'Give it a rest, Hermione!' said Ginny. 'By the sound of it Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve!'

'Good?' I repeated. 'That curse almost killed him!' Malfoy may be a right git but he was still my cousin, my family. 'I may not like Malfoy at the best of times but he doesn't deserve having that done to him!'

Ginny glared at me as Hermione said she agreed that there was no way that spell was good.

'Look where it's landed him! And I'd have thought, seeing what this has done to your chances in the match – '

'Oh, don't start acting as though you understand Quidditch,' snapped Ginny, 'you'll only embarrass yourself.' None of us had expected that.

'That's not fair, Ginny,' I said. 'Hermione's right. That spell could have killed – '

'Since when did you stand up for Malfoy?' Ginny said over me in a biting remark. 'Last time I checked, you were on Harry's side, not his.'

I didn't reply to that. I was too shocked. Instead I grabbed my bag and headed for the staircase, not before I said back at her, 'Least I don't go around flirting with anything that breathes.' and left before she could say anymore seething remarks.

The next day I sat with the others at breakfast but Ginny, Hermione and I were at a mutual silence after what happened last night. None of us were happy with the other. I was only there as support to Harry as he endured the taunts of many around the Hall from the other houses and the anger from Gryffindor. Personally, in some ways Harry brought it on himself but I think Snape was slightly unfair on making his detention during the Quidditch match. That's why when everyone started leaving for it, I remained in the common room.

'Why aren't you going down to the match?' Harry asked me when he saw me there as he left for his detention.

'Because I'm taking a stand,' I said. I turned the page in my book. 'I'm not going to watch the match because I think it's unfair Snape purposely made your first detention during it. Plus I refuse to let Ginny think I'm not on your side. You don't see her refusing to play because you can't.'

'Jen, you're not still bitter about that thing last night?' said Harry, coming over to me. I didn't answer. So he took the book out of my hands and held it up. I looked at him. 'She didn't mean it. We both know that spell wasn't good and I didn't mean to use it on Malfoy but there's no proof where the Prince got it or if he wrote himself.'

'Fine,' I said. 'Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my book.'

I stood up and took my book back. As I did so, I felt our bodies press together lightly. My heart skipped a beat. I took a deep breath in and I caught Harry's scent; it was the one I'd smelt but hadn't recognised at the beginning of the year from the Amortentia. As I thought this I saw Harry walk away.

'Harry!' I started quickly but I had nothing to follow up. He glanced back at me. 'I hope your detention's not too bad,' was all I could come up with. Harry said a blunt 'yeah' and left.

A couple of hours later I heard voices approaching the common room. _Here we go_, I thought. It was now or never. Harry had either got together a great team and we'd won or we'd lost and Harry would never hear the end of it. The portrait opened and cheers burst through the portrait hole. The first through were the team, led by Ron, who was holding a large silver cup in his hands, shouting, 'Gryffindor won!' Well, I'll be damned. We actually did it. A party started the moment everyone was in the common room. Everyone was celebrating. In my corner, I watched the celebrations until I felt a certain pair of hands cover my eyes.

'Noah, get away,' I said, batting his head gently. Noah laughed and sat in the seat next to mine.

'You missed a great match,' he said. Noah had two Butterbeers in his hands. He handed me one. 'Harry's got a good team together. Next year we'll be able to win no problems.'

'You're not even here next year,' I teased. 'You wouldn't even know if we won.'

'But you'll keep me up to date.' I raised an eyebrow at him then smiled.

'Course I will.'

We sat and watched the rest of the house party in silence with each other. I was looking at the portrait hole, waiting for Harry to come back so I could congratulate him. He'd worked so hard training the team and he deserved to share in the celebrations. Beside me, Noah must have noticed what I was looking for as he said, 'Told him how you feel yet?'

'No,' I replied. 'But I'm going to do it today as soon as he gets back from detention. We just won the Quidditch Cup. He'll be so happy when he finds out and then when I tell him … you never know.'

I liked the idea of me telling him now. I could see him hugging me, happy that we'd won. Then I'd pull him aside and tell him how I felt. He'd say he had feelings for me too and we'd kiss. I knew now was the best moment. Across the common room I saw Harry suddenly be pulled inside by Ron still holding the Cup.

'I'm going to do it, Noah,' I said, smiling as I saw Harry. My heart started to race slightly as I stood up. 'Wish me luck.'

'Good luck, Jen,' said Noah. 'Now get over there and tell him how you feel.'

I felt Noah's foot nudge me on my lower back and I was pushed forwards a bit. I glanced back and glared at him briefly before making my way through the crowd to Harry. I bit my lip as I got closer. He was being hugged by Ginny and –

Silence fell in the common room. I stopped and gasped as I saw it happen, a weird pain going right through my chest. Harry and Ginny were kissing. I just froze at the spot as people around me started whistling and giggling. The two broke apart but Harry's eyes remained on Ginny, holding her in his arms. The pain went through me again. I had to leave, I had to get out of here, now! Backing away, I headed through the crowd to the portrait hole. Once outside, I ran down the corridor and around the corner.

I put my back flat against the wall and stifled a gasp with my hand. I couldn't believe what happened. I could feel the tears starting at my eyes. I tried to hold them back but as I blinked they tumbled down my cheeks. I started as I heard footsteps approach me and I hid behind a statue. I watched as Harry and Ginny past me, Harry pulling her forwards and them laughing together. Again I felt that pain in my chest as I watched. Once they'd gone I came out from hiding and ran off. I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do but I ended up on a random tower platform. I slammed the door behind me and fell against it where I started to cry.

It was about an hour later when anyone found me. I was sitting curled up in the corner of the platform when I saw the door open. It was Noah. We silently looked at each other for a moment. Then Noah came over to me. He sat beside me and wrapped his arms round my waist. I laid my head on his chest and put my arms round him as well. My tears fell on to his shirt. We sat there in silence for a few minutes until I asked, 'How did you know I was here?'

'Well,' said Noah slowly. I felt him rest his chin on my head. 'I know you like to fly so I figured you would have been somewhere in the open; I know you like time alone so you'd be somewhere no one would think to look; and I know you like high places and the this tower is highest point of Hogwarts, higher than the Astronomy Tower. So I figured you'd be here.'

'You know me better than I know myself,' I muttered. I moved closer to him, holding him tightly. 'Then you can probably guess how I'm feeling.'

'I know it hurts, Jen,' said Noah comfortingly. He gave me a gentle squeeze. 'But these things happen. There's nothing we can do about it.' He tipped my chin upwards so we were looking at each other. 'Maybe he's just not right for you.'

I stared at him. Besides feeling completely betrayed by Harry, I couldn't help but feel my old feelings for Noah return. I'd always liked the fact he was so caring all the time. I reached up and ran my hand over his cheek. Next moment Noah and I were gently kissing, our eyes closed and our lips moving slowly against each other. I felt Noah's arms wrap round me tighter. I held on to him as well. When we broke apart though I felt guilty. I shouldn't have kissed him, not when he'd been helping me with my problems with Harry. I looked away from him, then getting up from his arms.

'I'm sorry,' I breathed. I walked away from him to the other side of the platform. 'I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm just so confused! I don't know what I feel for who and – it hurts so much seeing Harry with – but I still have feelings for you – '

'Jenna – '

'– I can't get either of you out of my head – '

'Jenna!' I felt hands on my face and it was raised. I found myself staring into Noah's eyes, looking helplessly at him. 'Just take a deep breath,' he told me. I swallowed and did so. 'Do you have feelings for Harry?'

'Yes,' I nodded. 'But I don't want to think about him let alone see him anymore! I felt like I'd been stabbed in the heart when he kissed her. I don't want to feel these things for him anymore! It just hurts too much!'

'Calm down,' Noah told me. He pulled me into a hug. I stood there crying on his chest. Once I'd calmed slightly, he made me look at him again. 'Now, do you still have feelings for me? Because I still have feelings for you. I can't stop thinking about you, Jen, and I want us to try again but only if you feel like you can.'

I swallowed again as I looked up at Noah, thinking things through. I did still like Noah like the way when I first got together with him. It was different to the what I felt for Harry but at least these feelings I knew were genuine because it had upset me when we broke up. My feelings for Harry were based on lies and I was not going to listen to them anymore.

'I do have feelings for you, Noah,' I said shakily. 'And I want so much to try again because I know what I feel for you is genuine. Harry was just a lie and a bad dream. I just want to forget about him … I want to be with you …'

'That's all I needed to hear,' said Noah softly. A couple tears fell down my cheeks as I blinked. He took my face in both his hands, leaning down to me and touching his lips on mine. 'That's all I wanted …'

Right now it's all I wanted too. Harry had just done to me what I did to him and I'd felt like my heart had broken. And Noah seemed like the only person who could fix it. I'd regretted so much what I'd done to him and for him to take me back made me see how much I didn't deserve his kindness.

Now I knew what it felt like to see someone you care about with someone else. And the moment I'd seen them kiss, it felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest and I realised something. Something which I continued to deny for the next year.

Voldemort had told me he felt something when I'd thrown him back, a hidden flame, a need for someone. Now, I think I know what that was …

* * *

**AN: well, thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter. there's only one chapter left of HBP then ... who knows shrugs oh well, please leave me a review and tell me what you think, BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	34. Fight, Flight and Fall

Chapter 33

Fight, Flight and Fall

That night Noah and I crept back to the Tower after curfew to find people lying about asleep in the common room. We quietly crept past them and up to his dormitory. I spent the night beside him with his arm holding me close round the waist, his curtains drawn around the bed so I didn't get found. I woke early the next morning and, though I still felt depressed about the previous night, I smiled when I saw Noah's hazel eyes looking back at me. Knowing I better get back to my own dormitory, I gave Noah a kiss and got up. Grabbing my trainers I left his room and crept downstairs.

In the common room I let out a slight sigh. This year had been so hectic what with attacks and relationships and whatnot. I was just glad soon it would be over and I could return to Moonlake Cottage, maybe even spend some time with Noah in the summer. I smiled at that thought and turned to the girls staircase.

'Jenna?' I stopped and looked round. In our favourite chairs in the corner was Harry. 'How come your up early?' he asked.

I stared at him for a moment then walked away up to the girls dormitory. Once inside my dormitory, I grabbed some clean clothes out of my trunk and went into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. I'd looked the same way since the third year. I decided it was time for a change. Admittedly I still kept my usual look, only adding a plat in the underneath of my hair and pinning back the left side behind my ear. Otherwise, still the same.

The next week or so was strange for me. It was sort of like the beginning of the year again but also not so. I spent time with Noah at meals and after class but I still sat with Harry and the others in lessons. Occasionally, Noah even walked me to class, giving me long kisses before heading for his own (and for some reason Harry still glared at him as he left). This certainly got Hermione badgering me about when I got back together with him.

The strange was though that I'd somehow just shut myself off to Harry. Now whenever we talked it was short conversations and always about homework and things like that. And if we weren't in class … it was like he didn't exist to me. I knew why. Having witnessed his kiss with Ginny made me shut him out. I'd closed away my feelings for him. Now it was like he meant nothing to me and was no more than a friend.

In the space of a week work seemed to start building up. Even McGonagall didn't let up and we'd just won the Quidditch Cup. Well, exams were approaching and it was the first half of our NEWT course we were being testing on so whatever grade we got counted. Because of this I spent most nights up late doing revision or extra research for my homework so I was prepared. On Saturday night I was up till ten looking up something on Leaping Lospots but I got as far as finding how to prune them before realising I was no further ahead then I was half an hour previously. I closed the book and put it on the table, groaning.

'Stupid Lospots,' I muttered. 'Don't stay still long enough _to_ prune them.'

'No, but certainly give you a run-around if you go near them with secateurs.' I looked up to see Harry walking over to me with his books. 'Didn't think plants could get scared.'

'Shows what you know,' I said rolling my eyes. I picked up my quill. If I was writing my essay, I didn't have to talk to him.

I'd managed to write another paragraph on Lospots before Harry spoke again. When I looked up I saw he hadn't taken out any of his books but was merely staring at me.

'Still ignoring me then?' he asked.

'Whatever gave you that idea?' I asked. I returned to my essay but Harry continued.

'For one you never hang around with me, Ron, Hermione and Ginny outside of class anymore,' he said.

'My life does not revolve around you lot,' I said simply in reply.

'And you always reply with sarcastic comments whenever I ask you something.'

'And you got that from what?' I looked up and folded my arms. 'Another observation made by Harry Potter which could be completely wrong?' I raised my eyebrow at him. 'Or him just imagining things?'

'You doing it right now,' said Harry. 'You just seem to say the first thing that comes into your head without thinking about the consequences could be.'

The reply I had to that was a really biting one so I chose not to say it. Instead I said, 'This essay is already late and I don't plan on spending all night on it so if you don't mind, I'm going to try and finish it within the next hour. Fine with you?'

I looked at Harry and waited for an answer. He didn't give one. So I carried on with my essay. I could hear Harry take out his things and the scratching of his quill start while I re-read what I'd written. He remained quiet which was a relief seeing as I wasn't in the mood for talking to him at the precise moment. But I knew that sometime or later he would ask me about his new "relationship"; he'd tried to do so at least three times this week already.

'So what do you think of me and Ginny?' Harry asked eventually like I knew he would, breaking the silence.

I held in a frustrated sigh. I wasn't going to get any work done with him questioning me every five minutes. I snapped my textbook shut and got up.

'If I gave you an answer you'd want to hear, I'd be lying,' I said as I put my parchment and ink into my bag. 'And if I gave you my honest answer you wouldn't like that either.' I swung my bag on to my back and headed for the stairs. 'So I'm not giving you an answer to that question at all.'

'And what's that supposed to mean?' asked Harry.

'You work it out.'

I started for the stairs again when I felt something grab my wrist. I spun round to see Harry standing behind me, his hand holding my wrist.

'Let go,' I said simply.

'Not until you tell me what's going on,' replied Harry, looking down on me. I glared at him. 'Why are you acting like this? Ever since we won the Quidditch Cup you've been treating me like I don't exist apart from in a classroom. And now you won't give me your opinion on my girlfriend when you're my best friend and I _want_ your opinion.'

'Why should I give it to you?' I countered. 'Ever since you found out that I had a boyfriend it's been nothing but icy glares whenever you saw us together. You never once said to me you were glad I had a boyfriend or anything like that. So why should you expect me to tell you I'm glad for you and Ginny when it might be as far away from the truth as Hogwarts is from London. Answer me that, Harry.'

Harry didn't reply, as I thought as much. But as I was about to turn away he said something I didn't expect.

'Because he's _not_ right for you,' he hissed in a low voice. He pulled me back so I would look at him. 'Anyone can tell you're not happy with him. And I'm not going to pretend I'm happy with it when I know you deserve someone better than him. Someone who'd protect you and make sure nothing happened to you. I didn't see him coming to your rescue after what Malfoy did.'

'And who fills that category, Harry?' I asked curiously. 'Who do you deem worthy to date me? Because last time I checked, I didn't need your approval on what I did.' Again, he didn't answer. 'Just as I thought. You can't stand to see me happy with someone if it's not one of our group. Well guess what. I've grown up since the little girl you met who needed help in fending off your cousin. I don't need protecting anymore so don't bother.'

I watched him carefully, waiting to see if he'd reply. He remained silent, looking down at me. I was half a foot shorter than him. I stared back straight into his eyes. Those green eyes, they were … full of hurt and anger … I could see it. Something was hurting Harry. Something I'd done. I felt my heart skip a beat and my expression changed from a glare to looking worriedly at him. Why was Harry hurting because of me …?

'Jenna, what are you hiding from me?' asked Harry. It took me a moment to realise he'd said anything. 'What is it you want to say? What is it that's making you keep this wall between us?'

'I …' I stared at him, lost for words. 'I have … I've …'

'What?'

'I …' I suddenly came to my senses, realising I'd almost said too much. 'I can't … I've got to go …'

I pulled my wrist from his grip and walked away.

'You've changed, Jenna,' continued Harry. I stopped and turned back to him. He was just staring at me. 'You were never like this before. You never shut me out like this, not even after Sirius died. Sometimes it's like … it's like I don't even know who you are anymore.'

I stared at him for a few seconds before turning away. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, my foot on the first step.

'I guess the feeling's mutual,' I mumbled. I pulled my bag on my shoulder and disappeared upstairs, leaving Harry alone in the common room.

The next couple of days went by at a mixture of rates for me. At moments time just seemed to stand still while others sped by within a blink of an eye. Professor Slughorn was particularly curious to why my grades were starting to slip in Potions. I wasn't able to give him a good enough reason what this was because of and so he set me some extra work to try and boost them up again.

'Just don't try to hard,' he told me, handing me some ingredients for the potion he wanted me to brew. 'Don't want to exhaust ourselves.'

Potions wasn't the only subject I was slipping in. By the start of June my grades in all my subjects were starting to fall. But with some hard work by the weekend and not going to Hogsmeade I managed to avoid having to be sent to Professor McGonagall about them. Plus I had Noah to help me so that hurdle was cleared.

Since the conversation I had with Harry a couple weeks back, Harry and I had reached a mutual silence with each other. And unsurprisingly only Hermione picked up on this. She followed me out of the common room after her, Ron, Ginny and Harry had been having a discussion about gossip and tattoos on Harry's chest.

'You'd think people had better things to gossip about,' said Ginny airily. I glanced at her from behind my book. She was leaning against Harry's reading the _Daily Prophet_. 'Three Dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest.'

While the others laughed, I didn't even smile. I tried to ignore it and return to my book. The last thing I wanted to think about was what was on Harry's chest. I'd been having a feeling for a long time now, since Malfoy's attack on me, that something bad was going to happen. I'd started seeing things in my dreams again; the Dark Mark over the school, someone falling and another fleeing. And each time there was an eerie song playing as well. That was the reason why my grades had been falling. Because I'd been concerned about what the dream meant.

'What did you tell her?' I heard Harry ask as I drifted in and out of my own thoughts.

'I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail. Much more macho.'

I groaned inwardly and snapped my book shut.

'Harry would never get anything tattooed across his chest,' I said as I got up. 'He's scared of needles so don't expect any "I heart Ginny" things on his arms either.'

I walked away from the group and out of the portrait hole. I had better things to do. I needed to speak to Professor Dumbledore. If anyone would have answers it would be him. I'd only been to his office twice in my school life but I had a vague idea where it was. Before I could head for it though, someone grabbed my arm. I looked round to see Hermione standing behind me.

'Jenna, that was really uncalled for,' she said. 'They were just having a laugh.'

'A laugh is something people deem funny, Hermione,' I said. 'I did not find that funny. Ginny knows barely anything about Harry. And spreading lies is the last thing he needs.'

I turned away to start looking for Dumbledore's office when Hermione spoke again.

'I did warn you.' I looked back at her. 'I warned you if you left it too late, you'd regret it. You may think you're hiding them because the others haven't realised but I know you still have feelings for him.'

'I do not have feelings for him!' I snapped. 'If he's not having a go at someone, he's thinking he's right about something or acting like a little boy who can't have his way. Why would I have feelings for an arrogant, self-pitying, judgemental boy like Harry?'

'Because you do,' shrugged Hermione simply. 'Because you do.' and she walked off.

I watched as she disappeared round the corner before walking off. She can believe what she will. I didn't have feelings for Harry bloody Potter any longer. I turned the corner into the corridor with the stone gargoyle hiding the staircase to Dumbledore's office. Then I came to a problem. I didn't know the password.

'Um.' Well, I had a feeling it would be a sweet seeing as all the passwords Harry had been given before had been. But what sweet could he use? He must have used all of them by now and there were tones. 'I don't know the password. Can't you just … open?' I asked it hopefully.

The gargoyle remained still. It just stared at me.

'Please?'

To my surprise, the gargoyle jumped aside and revealed a spiral staircase slowly rising from the floor to the ceiling. I stepped on to it and was carried up a long thing tower. At the top was a large wooden door. It was open and Professor Dumbledore was standing outside it.

'A little politeness goes a long way,' he said cheerfully. I got off the staircase and followed him into his office. 'Very few has that gargoyle let in without a password, even myself and Professor McGonagall. You should be flattered to be one of the lucky few.'

'Er, yeah,' I said slowly. This was one of those many times I had no idea what he was on about. I took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk as he sat back in his chair behind it, his long fingers together at the tips. One was still blackened badly. 'Er, Professor –'

'I know why you are here, Miss Black,' said Dumbledore, holding up a hand to stop me. I looked at him surprised, He did? 'You've been having visions through your dreams again, am I correct?'

I nodded, then asked, 'How do you –?'

'Miss Black, you wound me,' said Dumbledore lightly. 'I'm the Headmaster of the school, and was back when your parents and uncle were here. I was fully aware your mother used to receive these visions and that magical skills are usually passed on to children, not to mention other traits.' I think I knew what he meant by that (the getting into trouble thing). 'If you think I do not know what goes on around this school then I'm afraid I'm not living up to the expectations of a Headmaster.'

'Sorry, Professor,' I said quickly. 'I don't think that all. It's just, I didn't think anyone apart from Lupin knew I got these premonitions. They're not exactly very clear or helpful.'

'Understandable.' Dumbledore nodded his head then sat back in his chair. He placed his fingertips together again. 'Now, may I ask what you have seen that has got you so worried?'

'Well … I've been having these dreams for a while …'

'Since the young Mr Malfoy attempted to let you fall from the stairs?' I cringed inwardly as he said that. I should have known he'd know about that. 'No need to worry, Miss Black, none of the other teachers are aware of the attack.' He smiled at me, a soft glimmer in his blue eyes. 'Your secret is safe between you, me and Mr Potter. Please, go on with your thoughts.'

'This dream …' I continued, 'it keeps showing me the same things. I can see the Dark Mark floating above the school, over one of the towers. People were gathered there, some who flee the scene. But it's the person who falls from the tower that scares me.

'It makes me feel … I feel like something's going to happen. Something big. Like there's going to be an attack on the school, guessing from the Dark Mark. And that someone's going to die.'

I looked up at Dumbledore when I'd finished. His face had changed from being light and friendly to one that was grave. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes focused not on me but out the window. He slowly then stood and paced over to where Fawkes's stand was. I followed with my eyes. He stroked the bird. Fawkes let out a contented sound. The sound rang through me; a single note of a phoenix's song. It made me feel slightly more at ease.

'Amazing how calming a phoenix can be,' said Dumbledore, breaking the silence. 'And how loyal one can be to its master and friends.' Fawkes let out a small caw as Dumbledore proceeded to stroke his long red and gold plumage. 'It will do anything to keep them from harm. Your mother was very fond of Fawkes, as he was of her.'

'He was, Professor? I asked. He nodded. I stood up and went over to the magnificent bird. I gently ran my fingers over his chest. 'My Mum was always good with animals.'

'Indeed,' the Professor agreed. 'She was particularly good with Fawkes. He loved to have her stroke her, as he seems with you.' Fawkes did seem to be enjoying it. He was poking my hand with his head to make me continue. 'He even saved your mother's life once when she was gravely injured.'

I glanced at Professor Dumbledore then looked away, uncomfortable. My hand fell to my side. I'd never heard this about Mum. How much else did I not know?

'I've got to go, Professor,' I said finally. 'I've got a lot of homework to do.'

'Very well,' replied Dumbledore curtly. 'It was a pleasure to have you company for a few minutes, Miss Black. And thank you for informing me of your feelings. I will look into it.'

I nodded and left his office. I didn't wait for the staircase to descend properly but climbed down the stairs, jumping off the last two into the corridor. I guess I did feel slightly better having told Dumbledore about what I'd been dreaming. I still couldn't help but worry though. This was one of the few visions I'd got that I hoped whole heartedly was wrong.

The only comfort I received away from these dreams was when I was with Noah. As the sun of June continued and the weather got hotter, Noah and I spent most of our free time together outside in the grounds along with most of the rest of the school. It was nice to get out and about or as Noah frequently said "Oot and aboot". It always made me laugh when he said it. But of course, we weren't the only couples who were taking advantage of the sun.

That Wednesday I saw a rather unpleasant sight as Noah and I headed back to the castle from watching the younger students messing about with the giant squid. It was Harry and Ginny, snogging beneath the beech tree. Honestly, had they never heard of privacy? Or thinking that other people would like to hold in their lunch instead of watching them tongue wrestle? Least Noah and I had the sense to kiss in private. It certainly made me feel better when I heard someone from the fourth year shout, 'Get a room!' at them. Noah and I walked off sniggering silently with each other.

That night Noah and I spent our time in the library doing our homework until it was time for it to close. We headed back up to the Gryffindor Tower through the secret passageway between the fourth and seventh floors. I hadn't been down it since Harry had seen the two of us kissing so it brought back uncomfortable memories. We stepped out from behind the tapestry when I heard voices coming from the other end. The corridor with the Room of Requirement in. I looked down it.

'What is it?' Noah asked me. He looked down it as well.

I had a horrible feeling in my stomach.

'I don't know,' I said. I listened for a moment longer. 'Noah, go back to the Tower,' I told him next, handing him my bag. 'Get back to the Tower and make sure everyone stays there. If you hear noises or anything, just ignore them and make sure no one leaves the Tower.'

'OK, Jen, but where are you going?' asked Noah.

I swallowed. 'I'm going to find out what Malfoy's planned.'

I started to walk away when I felt Noah grab me.

'Jenna, no. I'm not letting you put yourself in danger.'

'Noah, I have to.'

'No you don't. You're not part of this fight.'

'Noah, you don't understand. I am part of this fight. I have been for years. I've got to do something. If Malfoy's managed to do what he's been trying all year, then I'm one of the few people who can stop him.' I looked into his eyes. I could see he was scared for me. 'There are some things people have to do, and this is one of them. I've got to do this and you've got to let me.'

Noah didn't look like he was going to let me risk my life. He sighed heavily as he held me. Next, he brought me closer and raised my face to kiss me.

'Just promise me you'll come back,' he said after breaking the kiss. I looked at him.

'I promise.'

With one last kiss, Noah and I separated. I watched as he ran down the corridor towards the Tower before I turned and ran in the opposite direction towards the Room of Requirement. I slowed as I reached the entrance of the corridor. I took out my wand as a precaution. This time if I had to fight Malfoy, I was going to fight him. I took one step into the corridor before everything in front of me suddenly went black. I shielded my eyes as a powder slowly settled. I knew what this stuff was.

'Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder,' I muttered. I put my hand through it. It vanished into the darkness. 'Fred and George.'

I had no chance of seeing my way through it. But I had no need to. I jumped back as I heard footsteps running through it, a scuffling noise underneath. I raised my wand, ready for anything. I could see a dim light slowly permeating through the Powder. My heart sank as I saw who was coming as they stepped out of the darkness. It was Malfoy and a whole bunch of Death Eaters.

The moment he saw me, Malfoy threw a curse at me. I threw my hands up in front of me and shielded myself with my force field. The curse rebounded and flew into the darkness. The distraction allowed Malfoy to get the Death Eaters moving and they ran past me. I dropped the shield and lunged forwards, grabbing Malfoy's robes to stop him.

'Get off me!' he shouted. He swung his hand at me as I pulled him back. I managed to avoid it but was left off balanced. My hand brushed against his face as I fell over.

_The Astronomy Tower ... Malfoy standing wand raised at Dumbledore ... more Death Eaters behind him ... Snape appearing ... a green light coming from his wand ..._

I felt my back hit the floor. I sat up in time to see Malfoy running away after the Death Eaters. I regained my breath quickly and got up. I was right. There was going to be an attack and someone was going to die. I grabbed my wand and was about to follow him when someone collided with me from behind. It was Ron, Ginny and Neville.

'Jenna!' gasped Ron. 'Where did Malfoy go? He's brought Death Eaters into the school!'

'I know,' I replied. 'And I know where they're heading. They're going to the Astronomy Tower. We've got to head them off.'

'But how are we going to do that?' asked Ginny.

I thought for a moment, then said, 'I know a quicker way to the Astronomy Tower than the way they're taking. If we go now we'll be able to head them off and alert the staff of an attack. Follow me.'

I was about to lead them down the corridor when Ron held me back.

'Wait a minute, Jenna,' he said, taking my arm. 'Drink this.' He took out a small vial of golden liquid. He thrust it into my hand. I merely stared at it.

'This is Harry's Felix Felicis. But why –?'

'It doesn't matter why I have it. Just drink it. Harry wanted us to do so if anything happened and we needed help.'

'But where's Harry –?'

'With Dumbledore getting a Horcrux.'

_He's what?_ I thought, my heart sinking. _No, that means _–

'Now drink this!'

'But Ron –' I tried to tell him what was going to happen but he wouldn't let me.

'No buts, Jenna!' snapped Ron. 'Just drink it!'

Unwillingly, I pulled the cork out of the small bottle. Tipping it upside down, I poured the contents into my mouth. With Ron satisfied I'd taken the potion, he started down the corridor with Ginny and Neville. But before I followed I held the bottle in front of me, the golden liquid shimmering inside it. I'd placed my thumb over the top of it when I pretended to drink it. I had a feeling Harry would be needing the potion more than I would. Pocketing the bottle I ran after the others.

'Follow me,' I told them. We turned down into an alternate corridor towards the Astronomy Tower I'd found on one of my walks with Noah. 'This leads past the Arithmancy classrooms towards the Astronomy Tower. It's quicker than going past the grand staircase.'

'But what do we do when we find them?' panted Ron behind me.

'No idea,' was my reply. I hadn't the faintest clue what to do. I just knew we had to stop Malfoy getting to the Astronomy Tower.

We ran down a second corridor which led us to the Arithmancy classrooms. Just up from there was the Astronomy Tower, another corridor leading towards the grand staircase where Malfoy and the Death Eaters. They'd be here any minute. I could hear their voices getting nearer. The Death Eaters were getting closer. Ron, Ginny, Neville and I reached the top of the corridor to see them turning into it.

'Jenna!'

'Ron, Ginny!'

The four of us looked to our left to see Professor McGonagall, Bill, Lupin and Tonks standing on the other side of the adjoining corridor next to where we stood.

'You didn't say anything about a guard, Malfoy,' growled a Death Eater to Malfoy's left. 'You said the school would be deserted of people!'

'I didn't know they'd be there,' said Malfoy. 'I swear I didn't know.'

'Never mind!' shouted another Death Eaters. 'They're easy targets! Get them!'

The Death Eaters were drawing their wands. The one who'd shouted first was the first to fire a curse. Professor McGonagall and the other members of the Order ran forwards to protect us. As the curse headed for us I threw my hands up in front of me. My shield covered the gap between the two walls of the corridor and protected us from the full force of the curse. The shield faltered as it hit. The curse rebounded against it, smashing into the wall.

'Leave them!' shouted Malfoy. 'We need to get to the Tower!'

The Death Eaters turned and ran just as I let go of the shield, stumbling to my knees. I'd never made one that big before. Professor McGonagall instantly took charge. She drew out her wand and sent a Patronus charging down the corridor.

'Remus, Bill, Nymphadora,' she ordered, 'try and head off the Death Eaters. Try and stop them as best you can. I've sent a message to Filius to fetch Severus so he'll be here to help you soon.'

They nodded, drawing their wands and chasing after the Death Eaters.

'Now, as for you four,' she said, turning to us, her eyebrows so close together they seemed like they were joined, 'I know normally the Headmaster would never approve but you are the best defence we've got.'

'Pardon, Professor?' gasped Ginny. Ron's mouth fell open; Neville almost started choking in shock; I just stared at her.

'You all went to the Ministry last year with Potter, did you not?' said McGonagall, oddly casually for her standards. 'You have more than proven yourselves against Death Eaters. And as I said, until more Order members arrive or the Headmaster returns, you are the best defence we've got. I would normally never allow underaged wizards to fight in this situations but we're going to need all the help we can get.'

'We're ready, Professor,' I said. I couldn't believe the words actually came from my mouth. 'We've taken Felix Felicis so we've got a bit of luck on our sides.' Well, most of us.

'Well, that may at least avoid any serious injuries among you lot. Now come on. Remus, Bill and Nymphadora can only hold them off for so long.'

With Professor McGonagall in the lead we followed her towards where we could hear the fight taking place. The sounds of the curses and hexes being sent and deflected rung loudly in the empty corridors. As we followed I hoped desperately Noah did not try and find me. I didn't want him to get mixed up in this, especially since he was a Muggle-born. As soon as the Death Eaters saw us we too were fighting them. I, however, was looking for someone else: Malfoy.

I saw him dodging curses trying to get to the door of the Astronomy Tower. Another man who'd just come running down it was killed as Malfoy got nearer, being hit by the Killing Curse. Though the reality of this fight hit me at that moment, it didn't stop me. I ran forwards to catch up with Malfoy. I wasn't going to make it so I threw my hand out and raised my force field. It covered the door, blocking Malfoy. He hit against it but it wouldn't break. Spinning round, he saw it was coming from me.

'You just don't learn, Black!' snarled Malfoy at me. He whipped out his wand from his inside robe pocket. I saw him level it with my chest. 'I've had enough of you once and for all!'

A fight broke out between me and Malfoy. Around us fights were happening between the Death Eaters and the Order. As I dodged Malfoy's curses I saw that Ron, Ginny and Neville were missing theirs with more ease then I was. Without the aid of Felix everything was up to my quick thinking. I threw hexes back at Malfoy which he blocked with a swish of his wand. Across from us another Death Eater was throwing curses about anywhere and everywhere. My main defence was my shield and I was slowly exhausting it and myself meaning I was less likely to be able to dodge the curses.

But then I felt a curse hit my back and I was knocked to the ground. I started to get back up when I felt someone grab me. I felt their arm round my neck with their wand tip pressed into my face, their hand pulling my hair so my head was pulled back.

'You just don't know when you're on the losing side, Black,' snarled Malfoy into my ear. He dug his wand into my cheek. 'Now, I'm going to give you one chance, and one chance only.' I looked at him through the corner of my eye. 'Join the Dark Lord and accept your heritage like the rest of your family and he will spare your life. He would be pleased with your magical skills. Like Bellatrix's he said.'

'Malfoy, don't do this,' I breathed. I flinched as his grip tightened. 'He will kill you. He has no mercy for you or your family after Lucius failed him!'

'Shut up, you bitch!' spat Malfoy. 'I'll spare you now but I don't know whether the other Death Eaters will. You have the choice. Join us or die along with your precious Potter. Think about it.'

Malfoy shoved me to the floor away from him. I turned to stop him but saw he was already starting up the stairs to the Tower platform before I could block him with my force field. Instead I ducked as a passing Death Eater fired a curse at me. He along with two others ran after Malfoy. I got up and chased after them. Next moment I was thrown back. Sitting up I saw Snape had arrived only to see him go through the invisible barrier up to the Astronomy Tower platform.

'Jenna, get down!'

I felt a pair of arms go round me and I was forced back to the floor. I closed my eyes as a hand covered my face. I thought of my shield again and it encircled me and the person protecting me. I heard the spell collide with it and rebound. Opening my eyes I saw it was Lupin shielding me. When the curse had passed he pulled me to my feet. I saw there was only one Death Eater left down here. The one firing curses at everyone and everything. One of them hit the ceiling above the Tower door and it caved in. The curse on it also seemed to get broken.

I threw out my hand and tried to make my shield surround those nearest to the falling debris. I just managed to protect Tonks and Ginny, the shield faltering with every piece of falling stone. I dropped it once the debris had stopped. I watched next to Lupin as the dust settled to see Snape and Malfoy emerge. My heart sank. That could only mean one thing. Whoever was meant to be killed had been. Killed by Snape because Malfoy couldn't do it! I started forwards to stop him but Lupin held me back.

'It's over!' shouted Snape.

'No, stop him!' I shouted. I tried to break from Lupin's grip but he wouldn't let go. 'Stop them! They've killed someone!'

Lupin didn't seem to understand me. And next the other Death Eaters were back. As he was distracted by them I ran after Snape. I felt something catch my ankles and I fell to the ground. Looking up I saw a man leaning over me. He had long, grey, matted hair and large canine teeth. His breath reeked off blood making me gag as he moved closer to me. I knew who this was; it was Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who'd bitten Lupin as a boy.

'Scream for me,' he whispered. 'I love to hear the fear in little girls.'

He licked his lips as if he was ready to attack me. I closed my eyes, turning my face away, when I heard a voice yell, '_Stupefy!_'. I opened my eyes to see a jet of red light hit Greyback's chest and he was knocked away from me. I moved back as he got up and lunged to where the spell had come from. It was Harry. He was alive. Greyback leapt on top of him, leaning hungrily over him as he had with me moments ago.

'Harry, watch out!' I shouted. Greyback was preparing to strike.

'_Petrificus Totalus!_'

Greyback's body froze and fell on top of Harry. He pushed the frozen body off him and before I could go to help him Harry had ran after Snape and Malfoy. I then had to duck as a curse came towards me from the blond Death Eater. Professor McGonagall, Tonks and Lupin were still fighting a Death Eater each but I couldn't see any of the others, Bill, Ron, Ginny or Neville.

'Fall back!' bellowed a wheezy Death Eater. 'Everyone fall back now!'

The Death Eaters who were left duelling threw a few more curses before following after the large lumpy Death Eater who'd shouted. They ran down the corridor after him and disappeared. I got up and looked around the devastated corridor to see the Order members helping up those who were wounded. Neville was the only one of us hurt. Bill … he looked terrible, liked he'd been savaged. Tonks was busy chaining up the remaining Death Eaters.

'Everyone to the hospital wing now!' barked Professor McGonagall. She joined Lupin on Bill's other side to get him moving. Tonks followed after them. 'Black, Weasley, help Longbottom!'

Ron and I helped Neville to the hospital wing, Ginny in front of us. When we got there, Madam Pomfrey was already tending to Bill on a closed off bed. She came out briefly and spoke to Lupin before he came over to us with a potion box in his hands to clean us up.

'What's happened to Bill?' asked Ginny anxiously.

'Greyback bit him,' said Lupin heavily. Ginny gasped; Ron's mouth fell open. 'It's all right. Greyback wasn't transformed tonight so the contamination might not be as bad.'

'What the bloody hell's that supposed to mean?' shouted Ron, jumping from his seat.

'Mr Weasley, control yourself!' snapped Professor McGonagall, eyes narrowed through her square glasses at him. 'Madam Pomfrey is doing her best to tend to him but there is no way to tell how affected Mr Weasley will be at the moment.' She straightened her glasses and turned to Lupin and Tonks. 'I'm going to find Filius and get in contact with Kingsley. The Ministry will no doubt want to know what's happened. Remus, Nymphadora, make sure these four do not leave the hospital wing.'

Professor McGonagall marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

A while after McGonagall left Hermione and Luna arrived at the hospital wing. Neither were hurt seeing as they had been tending to an unconscious Professor Flitwick. Harry still had not come back and so, Ginny being Ginny, she went to go find him much against Lupin's and Professor McGonagall's instructions. She was certainly stubborn. She wasn't the only one worried about him. While she was gone Madam Pomfrey left Bill's bed, closing it off with a curtain, and went to tend to Neville. She then disappeared into her office to get in contact with Ron's parents. Ron and I watched as she closed the door, having been healed by Lupin. Tonks was sitting on the bed next to us.

Minutes later the door opened. All of us looked up to see a very battered Harry standing there with Ginny. Hermione instantly ran over to him. I was too but I stopped. It wasn't my place to hug him anymore or at least, probably not in some people's opinion. Lupin went to check he was all right but the first thing he asked was how Bill was. We were all waiting to hear that.

'No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf,' said Lupin in answer to Ron's question, 'but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and – and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on.'

'Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though, said Ron. 'Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state –'

'Ron –' started Ginny, stopping him, 'Dumbledore's dead.'

'No!'

I looked across at Lupin next to me. He was looking between Ginny and Harry as if hoping for a contradiction but I knew it was true deep down in my stomach. Dumbledore was the one I'd seen die in my dreams. He collapsed down into a chair with his face hidden in his hands. I'd never seen him like this before. I looked back at Harry. Our eyes met when he glanced away from Ron and I saw it was true, the hurt in those green eyes.

'It's not a lie,' I breathed, staring at him. 'Dumbledore's dead.'

'How did he die?' whispered Tonks. 'How did it happen?'

'Snape killed him,' said Harry. 'I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was … Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realised it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak – and then Malfoy came through the door and Disarmed him –'

All of us couldn't believe what Harry was telling us. I, however, stared at him helplessly seeing as I knew he wasn't lying.

'– more Death Eaters arrived – and then Snape – and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra.'

Harry stopped. None of us spoke. But then I gasped and placed my hands over my ears as a sound cut through me. Somewhere outside in the darkness I could hear a song but to me it sounded like it was right beside me. It was a phoenix's song but it was no longer beautiful as it had always sounded to me. It was a lament, still beautiful but full of sadness. I could feel Fawkes's song as if he was hovering in front of me singing; feel his pain go right through me; hear his voice ringing through my head.

'Jenna?' I heard Lupin's voice somewhere beneath the song. It sounded distant though I could feel his hands on my arms. 'Jenna, what is it?'

'I can hear him,' I breathed. I could hear my voice shake. 'I can feel his pain. Fawkes, he – he's hurting …'

Through the battles, the wars we fight  
The mighty rise and the mighty fall  
Never forgotten and never lost  
Only the greatest remain as tall

Around me I could feel everyone watching me as I tried to block out Fawkes's song. But it sounded so strong in my head I didn't even realise McGonagall had returned with news of Ron and Ginny's parents being on their way. Only then did the music seem to soften in my head as she spoke though I could still hear it. I looked out to the grounds to try and find the mourning bird but I could see no sign of his red and gold plumage though I knew he was there.

'… you were with Professor Dumbledore when he – when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some –'

'Snape killed Dumbledore,' said Harry bluntly.

McGonagall's face flushed and she swayed slightly on her feet. Madam Pomfrey immediately conjured a chair and helped her into it.

'Snape,' she repeated, 'We all wondered … but he trusted … always … _Snape_ … I can't believe it …'

I wasn't listening though. I had to find whereabouts in the grounds Fawkes was. His song, something in it had spooked me. He seemed to think … like a phoenix, Dumbledore would be back. But he couldn't come back, nothing could reawaken the dead, not even a phoenix's powers were strong enough to do that. I continued to listen to his song. Again and again Fawkes seemed convinced Dumbledore would be back.

_He can't come back_, I thought, wondering if Fawkes could hear me like I could hear him. _He can't come back_.

'I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered …' McGonagall was saying when Harry cut her off.

'I do,' he said. 'Through the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. There was one in Borgin and Burkes in Diagon Alley. He fixed the broken one and they were able to pass between them. So they got in through the Room of Requirement.'

It was now our turn to explain to Harry what had happened. Between them Ron and Ginny explained how Malfoy had got passed them using the Darkness Powder from Fred and George's shop along with his Hand of Glory and then run into me. Harry looked at me when they brought me in and I knew what he was thinking. He knew I hadn't been there to help them but had been with Noah. I avoided his eye. Lupin took over and told him about the fight.

'So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville,' said Harry, looking at Hermione, 'were you –?'

'Outside Snape's office, yes,' breathed Hermione.

She and Luna had been outside it for ages but apparently he didn't stir once until Professor Flitwick had gone to tell him about the fight between us and the Death Eaters. He burst into Snape's office to tell him before they heard a thump and Snape told them he'd collapsed. They didn't realise Snape had Stunned him. She felt so bad about it but anyone could have made that mistake. But like Lupin said, if they'd gone after him Snape could have killed them as well.

Harry continued questioning us about what had happened. Tonks resumed the story.

'We were in trouble, we were losing,' she said. 'Gibbon was down,' the one who'd set off the Dark Mark, 'but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback … it was all dark … curses flying everywhere … the Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs to the Tower … then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stairs behind them with some kind of curse … Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air …'

'Didn't anyone try and stop Malfoy?' asked Harry angrily.

'Yeah, I did,' I replied, speaking for the first time. 'I tried to stop him but he managed to get away. I tried to block the door with my shield but I was too late and he got through. Then the other Death Eater put a curse on it and we were blocked from the Tower.'

The others explained that the curse wouldn't let anyone but Snape through. Harry thought that was only because he was going to help them and that his Dark Mark let him through. If that were true though I would have been able to get through that barrier but I too had been thrown back when I tried.

Harry was not happy when Lupin and Tonks told him what happened when they came back. They'd just let Snape pass, assuming he had captured Malfoy and they were being chased by Death Eaters. He shouted it's over and they'd interpreted it a different way to what it meant.

'He'd done what'd meant to do,' spat Harry.

In the silence I could just hear Fawkes's song still echoing in the grounds. It was broken when Mr and Mrs Weasley burst in, Fleur in toe; Mrs Weasley went straight to Bill's bedside and began dabbing his wounds with a potion. She was in tears at what happened and Mr Weasley looked to Lupin for comfort about the bite. Then they asked about Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall told them he was dead. Mrs Weasley, though, was more concerned about something else.

'Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks … it's not r – really important … but he was a very handsome little b – boy … always very handsome … and he was g – going to be married!'

'And what do you mean by zat?' said Fleur suddenly, staring at Mrs Weasley. 'What do you mean, 'e was _going_ to be married?'

Everyone in the room seemed to back away as the inevitable warzone between Fleur and Mrs Weasley appeared to flare up.

'Well – only that – ' sniffed Mrs Weasley.

'You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?' demanded Fleur. 'You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?'

'No, that's not what I – '

'Because 'e will!' snapped Fleur. 'It will take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!'

'Well yes, I'm sure,' said Mrs Weasley, 'but I thought perhaps – given how – how he – '

'You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps you 'oped?' said Fleur accusingly. 'What do I care how 'e looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!'

Fleur snatched the cloth from Mrs Weasley and pushed her aside to begin dabbing Bill's wounds herself. Nobody dared say anything as they looked between a shocked Mrs Weasley and a livid Fleur. You could tell everyone was waiting for her to explode. Finally, Mrs Weasley spoke.

'Our great Auntie Muriel has a very beautiful tiara – goblin-made – which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair.'

Everyone just stared amazed at them as the two women began crying and hugging each other. Well none of us had expected that considering how much Mrs Weasley had despised Fleur beforehand.

'You see!' shouted a strained voice. I looked up to see Tonks glaring at Lupin. 'She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!'

'It's different,' said Lupin, tense. I saw his eyes glance at me. What? 'Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely – '

'But I don't care either, I don't care!' said Tonks. OK, what was going on? I was completely baffled. Tonks had even got hold of Lupin's robes and was shaking them. 'I've told you a million times …'

'And I've told _you_ a million times,' said Lupin. He wouldn't look at her or me that matter. He merely took Tonks' hands and removed them from his robes. 'That I am too old for you, too poor … too dangerous … and I have a child to look after!'

'Hey, hang on!' I said. I walked up to them, looking between them. 'Firstly I am not a child anymore, Lupin, and more importantly, what's going on?' I looked at each of them. Neither said anything and both looked away. But I didn't need telling as something Harry had said earlier in the year came back to me and I looked at them stunned. 'No way,' I breathed, staring at Tonks. 'You – you have feelings for my Uncle?' I hissed quietly at Tonks.

'Jenna, it's not what you think,' said Lupin quietly. 'But now is not the time.'

He placed a hand on my arm but I shrugged it off. I felt sick. My cousin was in love with Uncle. It – it was disgusting! It was wrong! When did it even happen?

'I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus,' said Mrs Weasley from beside Fleur.

'I am not being ridiculous,' said Lupin, again looking at me. I just looked back disgusted. It really was sick. 'Tonks deserves someone young and whole.'

_And not already in my family!_ I thought personally.

'But she wants you,' said Mr Weasley gently. 'And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so.' He gestured at Bill.

'This is … not the moment to discuss it, said Lupin, now looking at everyone. I was still glaring at him, repulsed. It was pretty clear what his feelings were to me. And the thought did make me feel sick. 'Dumbledore is dead …'

'Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world,' said Professor McGonagall curtly.

At that moment my eyes involuntarily went to Harry. He was standing with Ginny, looking at her. A little more love in the world … I couldn't be anything further from it. I then cringed as I thought that.

Just then, the doors of the hospital wing opened and in came Hagrid. He'd done whatever job Professor McGonagall had set him and Slughorn had said the Ministry had been informed. McGonagall thanked him before asking him to gather the Heads of House to speak with them and Hagrid. Harry was also to join them. I watched as Harry followed before looking away. They left.

'Jenna?' I looked up to see Lupin watching me anxiously. 'Jenna, I know this is a shock for you – '

'A shock?' I burst. 'It's more than a bloody shock, Lupin! It's a bloody bombshell! When were you going to tell me that you'd been messing about with my cousin?'

'It's not been like that at all.'

'So what has it been like? A bit of snogging between missions and some on the side?'

'Jenna, please,' said Mrs Weasley shocked.

'This is nothing to do with you,' I snapped at her. 'This is between me, my Uncle and my cousin so keep out of it!'

'Jenna, that is no way to talk to Molly,' said Tonks. 'She's only trying to help.'

'_Don't_ even think you can tell me what to do,' I said to Tonks, glaring at her. 'You are not my mother or any close relation and never will be. You're sick … going after _my_ Uncle!'

'It's not something I planned,' replied Tonks. 'Honestly, I would never want to get in between you and Remus.'

'Then keep away from him! Just stay away from him and me!'

I looked at her warningly before turning on my heel and leaving the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione tried to stop me but I just snapped at them as well. My cousin was in love with my bloody Uncle! How did they want me to take it? Be happy for them and wish them well? Not in my lifetime or theirs.

By the time I'd got back to the Tower I'd run out of firepower. I was just exhausted, my body was sore and covered in cuts, and I just wanted to go to bed. The Fat Lady took one look at me and let me in without the password. I climbed through the portrait hole to find a lot of staring faces. I looked around ignoring them until I'd found Noah. He was on the sofa by the fire, staring into it. I walked over to him. Everyone seemed to move silently out of my way and I was given a clear path to him. He looked up as he saw me approach.

'Jenna,' he breathed. He instantly stood and enveloped me into his arms. I wrapped mine round him to, resting my head on his chest. I felt tears start to burn at my eyes. 'I'm so glad you're all right. I was worried sick.'

'Dumbledore's gone …' I breathed, my voice shaking. It had only just really hit me the reality of it. 'He's dead …'

Noah kissed my forehead. 'It's all right, I'm here.'

Over the next couple of days all lessons were cancelled and students were being taken home. Parvati and Padma were some of the first, leaving the morning after the attack; Smith was marched away by his rather haughty-looking father; but others were determined to stay. Seamus refused point blank to leave until after Dumbledore's funeral. He was to be buried at the school.

The school and Hogsmeade became full of wizards and witches coming in to pay their respects to Dumbledore. Families were booking in to both The Three Broomsticks and The Hogs Head while Ministry officials were being accommodated in the castle. Several times I saw Rufus Scrimgeour walking around with some of his colleagues. I made sure I kept well out their way. Madame Maxime also returned in her large blue carriage in the afternoon before the funeral. She instantly went to Hagrid where she started crying in his arms.

The next day I spent all my time before the funeral with Noah. We sat quietly together on a bench in the courtyard, his arm wrapped round my waist with my head on his shoulder. I was thinking. I'd come to the conclusion that, as much as I didn't want it, I was part of this fight more than ever now and I didn't want Noah getting involved because of me. He was a Muggle-born and if the Death Eaters found out that he was involved with me … I shuddered to think what they'd do. Bellatrix would certainly love to get her hands on him to get at me. I didn't want Noah to die.

We heard the clock tower bell right at one o'clock. We looked at each other. Professor McGonagall, who was now the Headmistress of Hogwarts, was probably gathering all the students now. Noah and I had skipped lunch. A few minutes later four lines of students, one for each house, came out of the Entrance Hall doors. Noah and I got up and joined the Gryffindor line. Ahead of us I could see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny together, Harry and Ginny holding hands. My stomach twisted horribly as I saw them. I looked away, my eyes coming across Neville and Luna who was helping him down the steps at the back. A smile flicked briefly on my face.

Noah and I sat on one of the back rows of chairs beside the lake. Looking around I saw just how many people had come. Loads of Ministry wizards were there including Scrimgeour, Percy Weasley and Umbridge; members of the Order of the Phoenix had come, Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley and to my dismay, Lupin was sitting with Tonks, her hair back to a vivid pink. They were even holding hands. I knew I couldn't stop Lupin seeing her but it felt so weird and I was certainly not going to be happy about it straight away. The rest of the Weasleys were also there. Fred and George had come up from the shop and Bill was being supported by Fleur. Least he looked better than he had. There few other wizards there I recognised but all were either close friends of Dumbledore or old students.

Once the staff had been seated a weird music started playing. Looking over at the lake I saw it was the merpeople who lived there paying their respects. It wasn't the most pleasant music to listen to but you were able to see that their song was that of loss. As the music continued Hagrid came down the aisle between the chairs, crying silently, Dumbledore's body in his arms. I took a deep breath as I saw it, tears starting to sting at my eyes. He placed Dumbledore's body down on the table in front of the chairs covered in its purple velvet with golden stars sheet. Hagrid then returned down the aisle to sit next to his half-brother, Grawp, who looked very odd in a jacket and trousers.

The words of the man who'd gotten up to speak seemed to drift over me as I half listened. In my head I could hear something; a voice, another song. I looked around but I couldn't locate it. But then I realised who it might be. Fawkes was singing again but so quietly that only I could pick it up. He was singing his lament again and still had that line about Dumbledore coming back. I looked at Dumbledore's body on the table. How could he come back?

Once the tufty-haired man had sat down the silence was broken as several of the younger students screamed. I jumped as well when I saw bright, white flames blossom around Dumbledore's body, rising higher and higher into the air until they completely covered his body. They twisted and danced in strange shapes and I swear I saw something either come or rise from those flames but my eyes were obscured by my tears that I couldn't be sure. Eventually the flames vanished and a white marble tomb rested on the table, it's plain surface gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

The cries of shock continued as dozens of arrows shot into the air from the Forbidden Forest where centaurs had come to pay their respects. Then, as silence resumed, people began to leave, holding each other to comfort one another. After a few had left, I also got up and walked away from it. I walked a little way round the lake to where the beech tree stood. I placed my hands against it as I remembered the many days I'd spent under it with Harry and the others. My eyes then turned to the castle. There had been rumours that Hogwarts would not reopen. But even if it did … I knew I wouldn't be returning …

'Jenna?' I looked away as a voice spoke behind me. I smiled slightly as Noah approached me. He wrapped his arms lightly round my waist and kissed my temple. 'You OK?'

'I'm fine,' I replied but I knew I wasn't. I had to tell him now. This was the only chance I had. 'Noah …' I looked into his eyes, 'we need to end this.'

He looked at me confused.

'Why?' he asked me. 'I thought we were all right. You'd dealt with your feelings for Harry.'

'I have,' I told him gently. My throat felt so dry. 'But it's not because of that we need to end this. I'm part of this war – '

'No, you're not,' Noah said sternly to me. 'You are not part of this if you don't want to be.'

'You don't understand.' I ran my hand over his cheek, brushing back his hair. 'I'm part of this fight whether I like it or not. I have been since I came here. We need to end this because I don't want to see you get caught up in this because of me.' I felt my tears finally fall from my eyes. 'I don't want to lose you. If Bellatrix or any of my family found out you're a Muggle-born then they'd come after you just to get at me. I can't risk that.'

'Then I'll fight with you,' said Noah. 'I'll join this fight – '

'No!' I said strongly. I was not letting him get involved at all. 'No, Noah, you can't. I don't want to lose you. Please, promise me you won't come after me. The further you are from me the safer you'll be. Please, stay away.'

I could see this was hurting him. But it was for his own good. I don't know what I'd do if Noah was killed because of me. As he looked at me I knew he didn't want me to join this fight but like I told him before; there are some things in life you have to do and this was one of the things I had to do.

'I know there's no way to change your mind,' said Noah heavily. He looked down at me, gently brushing his fingers through my hair. 'Just promise me you'll come back. I don't want to lose you either.'

'I can't promise that,' I said. 'I don't know whether I will or not and I will not make promises I can't keep. I learnt that years ago.'

We stood in silence for a few seconds before Noah said, 'Well then, I guess this is goodbye. I'll miss you, Jenna.'

'I'll miss you too.'

His hand that had been going through my hair touched my face. Next I had my eyes closed as Noah and I shared one last kiss. The softness and gentle touch of his lips ran against mine making my heart rush slightly and I couldn't help but wonder if I'd ever feel it again. When we broke apart I gazed into his eyes, hoping I could see a future to come back to him.

'Goodbye, Noah.'

I walked away from him before I completely lost control. I brushed the tears away from my face making them red from my jacket sleeve. Looking up I saw Harry standing alone, the Minister for Magic walking away from him. I went over to him, joining up with him, Ron and Hermione. Like it had been for years. We walked slowly together towards the carriages for the train journey home.

'What did Scrimgeour want?' asked Hermione quietly.

'Same as he wanted at Christmas,' shrugged Harry. 'Wanted me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the Ministry's new poster boy.'

I smiled. Harry would never do something like that.

'Poster boy?' I repeated. I glanced at him. 'The Harry I know would never do something so cheesy.'

Harry looked at me. He smiled back. I felt my heart skip a beat. Why did things have to be so complicated between us now? Why couldn't we go back to how we were?

'Look, let me go back and hit Percy!' said Ron loudly to Hermione. Harry and I looked at him.

'No,' she said firmly, taking his arm.

Was it possible? Have those two finally decided to take my advice?

'It'll make me feel better!'

All of us laughed. Even Hermione grinned. It faded though when she glanced at the castle.

'I can't bear the idea that we might never come back,' she said. 'How can Hogwarts close?'

'Maybe it won't,' said Ron. 'We're not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Everywhere's the same now. I'd ever say Hogwarts is safer, there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d'you reckon, Harry?'

I looked at him. I knew what his answer would be before he'd even said it.

'I'm not coming back even if it does reopen.'

'I knew you were going to say that,' I said quietly. Ron and Hermione merely stared at him. I knew Harry would never be happy until someone had put a stop to Voldemort. He didn't need a prophecy to tell him that. He would have gone after Voldemort even if that prophecy was never made. Because I knew Harry, like me, couldn't bare to see anyone else he loved be taken away from him. 'But then what will you do?'

'I'm going back to the Dursley's once more, because Dumbledore wanted to,' said Harry. 'But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good.'

'But where will you go if you don't come back to school?' asked Hermione.

'I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow,' replied Harry. 'For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that.'

'And then what?' said Ron.

'Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?' said Harry. He was looking at Dumbledore's tomb over his shoulder. We stopped walking. 'That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right – and I'm sure he was – there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him.'

I felt a stab through my chest. I remembered the prophecy: _Neither can live while the other survives._ And all I could hope was that it didn't mean what it could in the worse situation. That Harry would have to die in order to kill Voldemort.

'And if I meet Severus Snape along the way,' he added, 'so much the better for me, so much the worse for him.'

The four of us watched as the crowd had almost dispersed completely now. Hagrid was still being held by Grawp as they walked back to his cabin, howls of grief echoing over the grounds.

'We'll be there, Harry,' said Ron.

'What?' Harry looked at us. Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other. Ron was right.

'At your aunt and uncle's house,' said Ron. 'And then we'll go with you, wherever you're going.'

'No – ' said Harry quickly.

'No, he's right, Harry,' I said. I looked at him into his eyes. 'You said to us once before that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?'

'But we're still here, right beside you,' said Hermione. 'Like we've always been.'

'We're with you whatever happens,' said Ron. 'But, mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow.'

'Why?' asked Harry.

'Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?'

Harry looked at Ron, startled. It did seem strange that in amongst all this fighting that something as normal as a wedding could still take place.

'Yeah,' said Harry finally. 'We shouldn't miss that.'

'I don't think Mrs Weasley would let you even if you wanted to,' I said.

The journey back to London was spent in silence. Neville, Luna and Ginny joined us and from the look she gave Harry, it appeared Harry had broken up with her. I kept my gaze away from them out the window, curled up with my legs on the seat. Even though they'd broken up, I knew once this war was over Harry would go back to her. My feelings would just have to remain unreturned. I sighed.

As the countryside passed us by I couldn't help but wonder what the next few months or year would bring. Bill and Fleur's wedding; Harry and I had our Apparition test in August so I was bound to see him sometime this summer; after that, who knew. All I knew was that someday Harry and Voldemort would finally meet again in a final fight … and I was going to be by Harry's side when that day came no matter what he says.

The journey was much quicker then usual (probably due to wanting to get the students home quicker) and platform nine and three-quarters came into view. The seven of us gathered our belongings and joined the throng on to the platform. The Weasleys had been at the funeral had also returned on the train and so met up with us on the platform. Mad-Eye Moody and a few other members of the Order were also there. Going through the barrier we saw Hermione's parents waiting for her. They came over to greet her. The Dursleys weren't there yet.

While Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley spoke to Hermione's parents with her, Lupin and Tonks were speaking with Mr and Mrs Weasley. Then, Mrs Weasley came over and gave Harry and me the usual big hugs and Ron and Ginny said goodbye to us. I looked away as Ginny said goodbye to Harry. Then it was just us.

'I told Molly and Arthur that Nymphadora and I will wait with you until your uncle arrives,' said Lupin. He looked at me but I avoided his eye. Something told me Tonks was going to be coming home with us. 'Then we'll be leaving as well.'

Lupin went and joined Tonks as they waited for the Dursleys. I glared slightly at the pair of them.

'So I guess I'll see you at the Apparition Test,' said Harry, turning to me. I looked at him.

'Yeah,' I agreed, 'and then at Bill and Fleur's wedding unless we end up spending the holiday at The Burrow like last year.'

Harry laughed. I did so too, knowing a blush was creeping into my cheeks.

'I just want you to know, Harry,' I continued nervously, 'that no matter what happens between now and when you face Voldemort, I'll always be with you to help in any way I can. And I'll be right by your side when the time comes. You're not getting rid of me that easily.'

Harry looked at me for a moment, then sighed.

'After eight years of knowing you, I know you're not going to be swayed, are you?' he said. I shook my head. Harry smiled lightly, then took my hand. 'It's hard to believe what we've been through together, isn't it?'

'Yeah.'

'Just promise me you'll never leave. Promise me you _will_ always be here. I can't imagine ending this without you there when we've been through it all together.'

'I promise.'

* * *

**AN: wel, first chapter of the holidays. hope you enjoy it and please leave a review. and thanks to all the people who reviewed the last chapter. you're ace! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	35. No Longer Protected

Chapter 34

No Longer Protected

The trip back to Moonlake Cottage for me was much more protected than it usually was. Moody had decided to come along for the ride and Tonks, as I had assumed, came with us. Now I knew what it was like to be watched. Either way, I was glad to be home. I hadn't been back to Moonlake Cottage for nearly a year. It looked the same as ever. The same welcoming smells, the same comfy furniture, the same sounds of the clock in the hallway. When the room came into view I saw Mad-Eye and Tonks standing in the sitting room. Lupin stepped out behind me a few moments later.

'You better go and unpack, Jen,' he said to me. He brushed down his robes and motioned the other two Order members into the kitchen. 'I'll call you when dinner's ready.'

The three older wizards walked out of the room. I knew what that was going to be about. Protection Spells and Harry and Merlin knows what else.

I bent down and let Gizmo out of his cage. He hooted happily at me then flew off and settled on his perch. Next I took his cage and my trunk and dragged them upstairs. My room was exactly the same when I left it. My bed was unmade; my books were scattered over my room and bookshelf; a few pairs of shoes dotted here and there; and my jewellery box was open. I don't remember opening it before I left.

Curious I went over to it. There lying on the side was my pendant. The sickle moon one Harry had given me. It was broken. The clip had been broken from the chain. I remember now. I broke it because I was angry with Harry. And I still couldn't do magic outside school for another month so I couldn't fix it. I touched my mother's necklace in guilt also feeling another beneath my hand. I pulled the chain out from under my shirt. It was the Black locket.

I stared it, remembering back to the day I stole it. Low thing for me but I had to get it. It was rightfully mine. I had a feeling one of the other Black members would eventually try and get it so I made a copy in case they tried to get it. I placed the identical copy lying about on the chest of drawers, not caring if it was found. The one bit of magic I _did_ do outside school. I was just lucky I left there before the Ministry could send a letter through the Trace I had on me.

The Trace. In some ways it sort of felt like an invasion of privacy, being tracked by the Ministry through every bit of magic I did. In other ways, it was good because it upheld the Statute of Secrecy. Then again the Ministry is so cocked up at the moment what did it matter? The Muggles would soon know about us because of Voldemort and his hatred for them. Still, only one month left of it. Anyway, back to the necklace.

'I'll get Lupin to fix it later,' I said, putting it in my pocket. I looked round my room. 'But first,' I bent down and picked up a broken photo frame; I'd broken it last year, 'I better clean up and unpack or Lupin will murder me.'

After making my bed I put all my robes in the laundry basket for washing. Next I put all my textbooks on my bookshelf, picking up any other random books I'd left lying about and putting them back in their rightful places. Yeah, even though I'm a witch I don't get out of doing chores. The magic just helps it along a bit. Once I'd put my things away I took off the Black locket, a weighty feeling lifting off me, and picked up the broken picture frame with the necklace to take to Lupin to fix.

I came downstairs, looking for Lupin. I could hear voices in the kitchen. Quietly I approached the door to listen though I knew the moment Moody's eye saw me I'd be discovered. There were more people in there now. It sounded like Kingsley and Dedalus were here.

'… need to get Potter from Privet Drive safely,' I heard Kingsley say. 'The protection he's got vanishes the moment he turns seventeen.'

'But if we move him any day beforehand it could jeopardise it,' responded Tonks.

'And Black? Her protection's running out as well.'

What? What protection? This was news to me. What protection was I under?

'I know,' replied Lupin's voice. 'Tala … she never had this problem with her magic. But Jenna's developed a lot quicker than I anticipated and along with the spell Tala put on her as a baby, it means she might find it harder to control.'

'Does she even know what happened?' asked Tonks.

OK, now I was really freaked. What were they talking about?

'I suggest we pause for a moment as this conversation is no longer private.'

Through the perspex glass I saw Moody motion with his wand. I made a dash to go back upstairs but the door swung open and I was pulled inside. I glanced over my shoulder to see everyone looking at me, an unimpressed look on Lupin's tired face.

'Er … anyone thirsty?' I asked hesitantly.

'Surely by now I've taught you not to listen into other people's conversations,' said Lupin.

I turned and stood straight, facing them. I looked at each of them in turn.

'Well, when either my friends or myself are the subject of discussion,' I said carefully, 'I'd rather know what's going on after what happened the last time information was withheld.'

'This is not open for discussion,' growled Moody. 'Not now, at any rate.' He got up and took his walking cane. He strode past me to the door. 'We'll continue this when there aren't eavesdropping witches about.'

Kingsley and Dedalus also got up. They walked through the door from the dining room into the sitting room. A moment later I heard the familiar sounds of the emerald flames as they disappeared into them and Flooed away. Glancing back, I saw Tonks and Lupin share a look that plainly told me something was up.

'So what's this protection that's on me?' I asked. I could hear slight quaver in my voice. In truth I was scared at what I was going hear. More things about myself I didn't know? 'And what spell did Mum put on me.'

'Now is not the time,' said Lupin point blank. He turned away and flicked his wand at the larder. Some food and a pot came floating out and landed on the sideboard. 'It's soup for dinner. Dora, can you start peeling these vegetables?'

'Stop doing this!' I shouted all of a sudden. Lupin and Tonks both stopped, looking back at me. 'Tell me what's going on!' I demanded. 'What the hell is wrong with me? And don't give me that look, Lupin,' I added when Lupin put on the face he used when he was telling me off. 'Do you think I haven't worked out by now that something's wrong with me? That something's not the same as other witches?'

'Jenna, there is nothing wrong with you,' said Lupin firmly.

'Then what are you hiding from me?'

I stared between the two adults, daring them to try and stop me. I didn't care what the current situation between us was; I had to know what Lupin was hiding from me.

'I have dreams, terrifying dreams predicting people's deaths which I've been taken into. I've done magic without my wand I never meant to do. I can't transform any more, but then I go disappear into fire like a phoenix can at a mere whim. It's like I've lost a part of me. And if you know what it is, Lupin, then please, tell me.'

I watched Lupin carefully, trying to find any clue in his eyes as to what was wrong with me. He just looked back, his brown eyes fixed upon me, before he sighed and slumped down on to a stool. He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation.

'I was hoping it would never come to this,' he said quietly. 'That I'd never have to tell you.'

'Tell me what?' I asked desperately.

'Remus?' said Tonks gently. She placed a hand on his. He gripped it. I was becoming increasingly scared of what was going to be said. I could feel my body shake as I stood there waiting for an answer.

'Best start with the simple stuff,' he said eventually.

Lupin sat straight staring right at me.

'The dreams, the magic without your wand, the transforming. These are just magic that has been passed on to you from your mother. Tala used to have premonitions and children sometimes inherit magical qualities. Harry, for example, inherited James's talent on a broom. As for magic without your wand, that just means your magic is getting stronger and so you'll be able to use it without the need of a wand to direct it. Wandless magic, however, takes a lot more self control.

'Now as for the spell Tala put on you.' Here, Lupin's voice became more hesitant. 'That's a complicated story in itself, not all of which I can explain because I don't know all the details.

'Years ago …' began Lupin in a mutter like it was hurting him to recount it, 'Tala almost lost her life.'

'I know, Lestrange raped her,' I said but Lupin cut me off.

'No, this was different.' Lupin shuddered. It seemed to be tearing him up. 'It was on a mission for the Order and Tala was cornered by Bellatrix.' My heart skipped a beat. 'She was merciless, using every curse and hex Voldemort had taught her. In her view Tala wasn't worthy to be with a Black, even if he was blood traitor like Sirius was considered. Tala was left bleeding to death, slashed over her stomach by a terrible curse.' He sighed hiding his face in his hands. 'Only I knew and I wasn't there to help …'

'Knew what?' I asked though I was afraid to.

'That she was pregnant.'

I stifled a gasp, my body convulsing as Lupin said it. My legs suddenly turned to jelly. Tonks caught me as I started to fall over and helped me into a seat. I found it hard to breathe. My throat felt constricted as I tried to take in this information. It felt like someone had just dropped a weight in my stomach as I learnt this. I'd come so close to dying … before I was even born.

'She survived,' said Lupin. He must have seen my reaction because a moment later he was kneeling in front of me, his hand holding my face. 'She survived to marry and have you. If she hadn't you wouldn't be here.'

'Bellatrix is vicious though,' I said shakily. 'How could I have survived?'

'Because of Fawkes.'

'Fawkes? Professor Dumbledore's phoenix?' Lupin nodded.

'Dumbledore was with Sirius when they found her,' he explained. 'She'd lost too much blood for them to move her to St Mungo's so Dumbledore called Fawkes to him. The phoenix healed her, the tears closing the wound on Tala's stomach. They got her to St Mungo's straight after so she could have a Blood Replenishing potion.'

'Did anyone check to see if I was all right?'

'Sirius didn't know about you, Tala had refused to tell him. When I got to the hospital I instantly spoke to the Healer and told her Tala was pregnant. They did some tests and confirmed you were all right. Sirius was none the wiser.

'When you were born you were perfectly healthy.' Lupin took the seat in front of me. He held my hands in his and gripped them tightly. 'But Tala wasn't sure everything was all right because of what happened. Sirius told me before she died they'd had an argument about your safety. Tala tried and, much against Sirius's opinion, placed a Binding Spell on you to seal some of your magic until you were older.' Lupin turned over my right arm. On it lay four scars in the shape of two crosses. 'The Three Strikes.'

I stared at my arm as I took all this in. Lupin knew about them? But what were they? To my knowledge those crosses stood for Mum and Dad and James and Lily. People who I loved or loved me. These were from a spell?

'What does this spell do besides bind my magic?' I asked. 'What are its effects and why did I need it?'

'I don't know,' said Lupin heavily. 'Tala was sure that you were in danger and bound your magic until you were old enough to handle it. Then, I assume, she'd lift it but she never …' Lupin didn't finish the sentence. 'The spell itself,' he continued, 'I've researched it and it's very complicated. Tonks knows more about it though than I do.'

I looked behind me. My breathing still felt slightly constricted. I hadn't noticed Tonks' hand on my shoulder and the other stroking my hair. I didn't brush her away. Instead I watched her as I waited for an answer.

'The Three Strikes spell is only used when a person's magic can be a danger to them,' said Tonks. That didn't make me feel any better. 'It's dangerous itself because of the complications it can lead to so it's rarely used. It's a brutal spell.

'The person under the spell has three chances. Well, they get three strikes, hence the name. Unless the spell is removed first, the person can only lose three people they care about or care about them before their magic breaks free.'

'But I've lost four people who loved me or I loved,' I said quietly. 'James and Lily and ...' I bit my lip, 'Mum and Dad.'

'If it is a pair of people, parents for example, the strike is split in half, giving the person under the spell longer.'

'But why James and Lily?'

Lupin answered that one.

'You and Harry have a deep history with each other,' he told me. 'Sirius and Tala were his godparents while James and Lily were yours. When Tala died, Lily regularly babysat you when Sirius and James were busy for the Order until they went into hiding. You were like a second child to them as Harry was to your Mum and Dad.'

Wow, Harry and I went way back. I don't even remember it. It's not like he did either.

'So what are the consequences of this spell?' I asked Tonks, glancing at her.

'The person it's cast on gets too scared to love,' she said simply, 'in fear of losing them.'

I took a moment as I thought it through. Then I just got up and left the room. I slammed the kitchen door behind me, ignoring Lupin and Tonks calling my name, and went upstairs to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me and fell against it. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand to try and stop myself crying. How could Mum do that to me? Bind my magic in case I became a danger because of what happened! What could possibly happen from being healed by Fawkes?

A while later, I didn't know how long it was, I heard my door open. I was lying on my bed staring at the wall thinking about what Mum did. How could she do that to me? I felt my bed depress behind me. A hand gently brushed back my hair.

'Are you all right?' I looked up. It was Tonks. She no longer had her vivid pink spiky hair but long brown waves. She was also slightly thinner but more ample in the chest department. Her punk Muggle clothes looked very odd on her now.

'You're in your natural form,' I mumbled.

'I thought it'd be easier for you to talk to me if I was un-morphed.' She stroked my hair again. I looked away. 'Jenna, I know I'm not your favourite person at the moment because of what happened between Remus and I. But I do care about you so if you want to talk, I'm right here.'

I thought for a moment then sat up.

'It's just hard to believe,' I mumbled, pulling my hair over my shoulder and fiddling with it. 'First … you and Lupin and now I'm apparently a danger to myself so Mum puts a spell on me which now really does makes me scared to love anyone in case I do lose control. I've got one strike left and –'

'Jen, listen to me,' said Tonks kindly. She brushed back my hair, running her hand over my cheek. 'You are a strong witch. I've never seen anyone be able to deal with the things you've been through. Even if the spell does break I know in my heart you will be able to control whatever power Tala bound. She had her reasons. She wanted to protect you like any mother would for her child.'

A smile started at the corners of my lips. I guess Mum just wanted to protect me. Like Lupin said, she probably would have removed the spell when she thought I was old enough. But it was the consequences that scared me most. I cared so much for everyone I knew, my friends, the Weasleys, Hermione. I'd do anything to help them if they needed it. But there were only three people I knew I couldn't lose; Tonks, Lupin and ... Harry.

'Do you really love him?' I asked moments later. I looked up at Tonks. I had to know something. 'Are you sure it's love you feel?'

Tonks smiled, a blush in her cheeks I could tell had nothing to do with her being a Metamorphmagus.

'I'm pretty sure it is,' she said. 'Every time I see Remus he makes my heart skip a beat. My pulse races, my legs turn to jelly, I get butterflies. I can't help but smile whenever I see him and I can't stop thinking about him when I don't. I've never felt like this for anyone. I'm pretty sure it's love.'

I bit my lip nervously.

'Does Lupin feel the same way?'

'I hope he does. I love your uncle and I think he feels something for me. But I can assure you, I don't want to come between you and Remus. I know you see him as a father because he's looked after you most your life and the last thing I want to do is appear as if I'm trying to replace your mother. I care about you and I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardise our relationship.'

I looked at Tonks for a moment, then said, 'You're not replacing my Mum, Tonks. I just don't want Lupin getting hurt.'

'I know.'

We sat there for a moment before I leaned forward and hugged her. Tonks returned the hug. I held on to her tightly. It was nice knowing someone else cared about me. I may have had my doubts but I wasn't going to do anything to ruin this chance for Lupin. It had been a while to my knowledge since he'd last had someone. I just had to give Tonks a chance.

Unknown to Tonks though … she'd just told me what I'd dreaded.

Over the next week or so I tried my best to start getting along with Tonks seeing as she was at Moonlake quite often now. She and Lupin spent most of their time putting Protection Charms around the house or communicating with other members of the Order. As for me, I had more important things to do. I had just under a month before I became of age and I had to prepare myself. At the beginning of August was Bill and Fleur's wedding. After that who knew what I'd be doing with Ron, Hermione and Harry.

After convincing Lupin to place an Undetectable Extension Charm on my old school bag I returned to my room to pack. I put as many clothes into my bag first, folding them up at the bottom of the bag; after that I went to my bed and took my toy dragon and, carefully cutting into him, placed the Black locket inside him and put him inside my bag as well; after him were a few other personal things from my room including my slippers, the small amount of Felix I still had from the fight against the Death Eaters, my broom and my photo album. Next it was just a matter of taking the books from Lupin's library that would help us the most.

Creeping across the landing I headed for the banisters to see if Lupin was in the hallway. The coast was clear. I quickly went downstairs. Across from the kitchen door was another with the words "Lupin's office" written in the wood. Checking Lupin wasn't coming I quickly went inside and shut the door behind me. Knowing I had little time I searched Lupin's library for all the books I'd written down that I thought we'd need. Pulling them from the shelves I chucked them into my bag. With those gathered I hastily left the room and ran back upstairs to my room.

Once inside I closed the door and locked it so Lupin couldn't come in. I dropped my bag down on my bed and opened the lid. I reached into it and pulled out a book. Again and again I did this pulling out four more books, my arm sinking deeper into my bag each time. I think I had the right ones. _Curses, Hexes and Jinxes of the Underground_; _Offence and Defence: Magical Strengths and Weaknesses_; _Practical_ _Potions and Ingredients in the Muggle World_;_ Dark Beasts and Darker Arts_; and _A Guide to Wandless Magic_. I think these were the ones that would help us most. I put them back in my bag and hid them amongst my clothes. With those hidden I shoved my school books inside. Hermione would probably have thought of this as well but if she hadn't, we'd have my books. At least they're in a better state than Ron's.

'That should be enough,' I muttered to myself. I closed the lid and clipped it shut. I then picked it up and put it in my wardrobe. 'And still it's really light,' I added in surprise. Benefits of the spell I guess. Now I only had two things to sort out: my photo of Mum and Dad, and Harry's necklace.

Lupin had fixed both when I went downstairs on Saturday night for dinner. They were on the side as Tonks, now known as Dora, helped Lupin cook. I picked them up. I turned over the photo frame and pulled out the back. I then took out the photo. Mum and Dad smiled up at me and waved. Then Dad gave Mum a kiss and he winked at me, grinning. I carefully folded the photo and put it my pocket. After dinner I placed the necklace in my jewellery box and took out a second. The Key to my Heart. I clipped it round my neck and held it in front of me on its long chain. I knew the person who had already won that. I just hoped I lived long enough to give it to him.

Something quite surprising and shocking happened around the middle of July. I don't know what possessed her to do it, but then again she was always a bit out there, Dora proposed to Lupin and he accepted. They'd only been together for a few weeks. It was a small ceremony, I was a bridesmaid, but it just seemed strange. Lupin never did things this rashly. It wasn't like him. At the wedding I watched them carefully as they took their vows and as I thought, Lupin's voice was not as sure as he pretended. Now I wasn't sure at all if Lupin returned Dora's feelings. On the plus side though I met my cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted.

'She could only be Sirius's daughter,' said Andromeda certainly when Dora introduced us. 'I can see him shining through her smile.'

The Wednesday after the wedding I was transferred to The Burrow, joining Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. It was pretty uncomfortable sharing with Ginny again. Every so often I received a look from her which to me clearly said I wasn't welcome here. However, she never said anything. Anyway, it appeared The Burrow had become the unofficial headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix seeing as there were so many Protection Charms on it when I arrived. And that Saturday night Harry was to be brought here too.

'The plan is,' growled Moody, 'to move Potter here avoiding as much trouble as possible.'

I was sat in the living room of The Burrow next to Ron and Hermione. This was the first Order meeting that we'd ever been allowed into. Moody at first had objected to Ginny and I being present seeing as we were still underage but when Kingsley pointed out what I'd said at the start of the holiday, Ginny and I were allowed to listen in.

'Mundungus, here,' continued Moody, stumping around the room, 'came up with the idea to use several decoys in case Voldemort's Death Eaters turn up. In this situation we are going to need seven volunteers, of age _only_,' he added as Ginny's hand shot up.

'Stupid age rule,' she muttered bitterly beside Hermione.

Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur and, against his will, Mundungus were chosen to be the fake Harrys. It was decided that Dedalus and Hestia were to go ahead to the Dursleys' house to move them out and at the same time they were Disapparated to their safe house, Harry was to leave Privet Drive for the last time with the guard. Hagrid, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, Kingsley, Moody and Mr Weasley were to be the guard, one Harry with each.

As they discussed all this I decided to leave the room. I quietly got up from my seat on the sofa next to Ron and returned to Ginny's room alone. I sat down on my mattress and took out my dragon. I held him tightly as I thought about Harry. I then pulled out my photo album and looked through it. All those pictures of me and Harry, of how we used to be. Why did it have to be so different now? In a matter of days we'd be leaving here to go Merlin knows where on the trail of these Horcruxes and –

I let out a sigh. It was pointless to hope and hopeless to dream …

Saturday night came sooner than I expected. At half past nine when the sun finally began to set the guard took off. I watched in the garden with Ginny and Mrs Weasley as the Thestrals and brooms and Dad's motorbike disappeared into the night sky. All I could hope was that they came back. I stood silently in the yard with the other two. I just stared into the sky.

'I'll go make us some tea,' said Mrs Weasley after a few minutes.

She bustled off inside leaving me and Ginny alone in the garden. I glanced at her from behind my hair to see she was watching me. I hastily looked back into the sky.

'I hope they get back all right,' I said. I didn't like the uncomfortable silence we were in.

'Me too,' replied Ginny.

We stood in silence a little longer. Behind us I could hear Mrs Weasley moving about in the kitchen preparing some tea and whatnot. I decided it would probably be better to go inside. I turned and headed for the kitchen door.

'Just so you know, Jenna,' said Ginny suddenly. I stopped and looked back at her. She was staring coldly back at me. 'You had your chance with him. Now it's my turn.'

'I don't know what you're talking about,' I said casually. However, I didn't move as I knew more was to come.

'I've seen the way you look at him,' said Ginny. 'The way you'd stare at him and looked away when you thought he'd noticed. Seen the glimmer of hope in your eyes. Harry may have broken up with me but I will always be his girlfriend. You can't change that.'

Anger burned in my heart as she said that.

'People change, Ginny,' I said slowly. 'None of us know how this fight will affect him. None of us even know if he will live. I'd say it's pretty confident of you to assume Harry will come back to you if he survives.'

'Harry loves me,' snapped Ginny. 'And I don't care what crap you say, Harry will still love me after this fight.'

I looked at her a moment longer, then said, 'You don't know the meaning of love.' Ginny stared at me angrily. I just shrugged and walked back inside. I looked back at her as Mrs Weasley handed me a cup of tea. Ginny had turned her back to me. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. The sooner we left the better.

The wait for the guard to return with Harry was a long one. Half past eleven was when Ron and Tonks' Portkey was due back. We heard the _pop_ of the Portkey arriving but when the three of us ran outside all there was on the ground was a rusty oilcan. Mrs Weasley let out a cry of shock as my heart skipped a beat. Where were Ron and Tonks? Had something happened? Our fears increased when the second Portkey appeared and neither Fred or Mr Weasley were there.

'Where are they?' I muttered worriedly. 'They should be back …'

I waited outside as Mrs Weasley ran inside to check her clock. There wasn't much use in that seeing as it always pointed to "danger" now. I heard it strike midnight. I jumped as another _pop_ echoed in the garden. Spinning round I saw a large shadow getting up from the ground. It was Hagrid! That meant Harry, the real one, would be with him!

'Harry!' I shouted and sure enough, he looked up as Mrs Weasley and Ginny came running at my shout. Harry was instantly pulled into one of Mrs Weasley's hugs.

'Where are the others?' she cried as she let go. She was in a right state.

'What d'you mean?' panted Harry. 'Isn't anyone else back?

'No,' I said. 'No one. You're the first.'

'The Death Eaters were waiting for us,' said Harry. My heart skipped a beat. 'We were surrounded the moment we took off – they knew it was tonight – I don't know what happened to anyone else.'

My heart plummeted. This was what I feared, losing more of my family. I couldn't lose them, I couldn't lose Tonks or Lupin! I instantly turned away to try and get a grip on myself. I couldn't think like that. I knew in my heart of hearts that they were all right. They just had to be!

I returned to the house with Mrs Weasley and started to gather some medical supplies for the others in case there were injuries. There was bound to be. Ginny and Harry were still out in the garden. I watched them out of the window. Minutes later a fourth blue light appeared in the garden and my heart leapt as I saw Lupin appear. George, however, was injured. He was brought inside by Lupin and Harry. I gasped as I saw his face covered in blood; his ear had been severed off. I handed Mrs Weasley the potion box and she started to heal him. I then turned to go greet Lupin.

'Lupin!' I gasped as he suddenly grabbed Harry unceremoniously by the arm and dragged him into the kitchen.

'Oi!' shouted Hagrid. 'Let go of him! Let go of Harry!'

'What creature sat in the corner, the first time that Harry Potter entered my office at Hogwarts?' he asked angrily. I'd never seen him like this. He even shook Harry by the shirt. 'Answer me!'

'Lupin!' I shouted. 'Let go of him!'

'A – a Grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?'

Lupin released Harry as Hagrid roared, 'Wha' was tha' about?'

'I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check,' said Lupin tersely. 'We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor.'

I let out a breath as Lupin said that. Him and his methods. Course, Hagrid didn't know why Lupin hadn't done the same to him to which the reply was, 'You're half-giant. The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only.' Fair enough.

I went back into the living room to help Mrs Weasley with George. From the kitchen I could hear Lupin give Harry the third degree about the fact he used _Expelliarmus_ against a Death Eater because it was Stan Shunpike. He had a point though. Harry always used that spell as his first defence. He wouldn't kill an innocent person.

'So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?' Harry shouted angrily at him.

'Of course not,' said Lupin. I could tell he was restraining himself from really letting rip at Harry like he had at me before. 'But Death Eaters – frankly most people! – would have expected you to attack back! _Expelliarmus_ is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!'

'I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there,' said Harry. 'That's Voldemort's job.'

I didn't hear Lupin's reply as Hagrid just managed to get through the door at that moment but I knew it would have been a rather scathing one.

Over the next half an hour the rest of the groups returned, Hermione and Kingsley first, then Mr Weasley and Fred. And to our great relief George also stirred. It was typical of him that the first thing he said to Fred was a joke about his missing ear. I just shook my head, glad that he was all right. A little while after the last group, Ron and Tonks finally appeared. She instantly ran into Lupin's arms and explained what happened. As I watched I had an odd feeling in my bones … like I suddenly didn't belong in Lupin's life … It was really weird.

Bill and Fleur were the last to return on their Thestral. But there was no sign of Moody or Mundungus.

'Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backwards off his broom and –' Bill said, 'there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail …'

I couldn't believe it. Moody was dead. But … he was always such a good fighter, a great mentor. Constant vigilance, that's what he always told us. And he was gone. I just couldn't believe it. None of us could.

'Here.' Bill had got out a bottle of Firewhisky and poured everyone a glass. He flicked his wand and each of us got a glass. He held his own up and then said, 'Mad-Eye.'

There was a chorus of, 'Mad-Eye.' and everyone drunk. I would have too, I just didn't like the idea of drinking Firewhisky. Didn't believe in drinking alcohol but I still raised my glass to the fallen warrior.

Within moments though Lupin changed the subject to find out what happened. Mundungus had fled and we knew someone had betrayed us to Voldemort. The question was, who? The only bonus was that Voldemort hadn't known about the seven Harrys and so had acted as Moody had predicted. Attacking the one with the strongest protector first.

'Yes, and zat eez all very good,' snapped Fleur, 'but still eet does not explain 'ow zey knew we were moving 'Arry tonight, does eet? Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. Eet eez ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not ze 'ole plan.'

Nobody dared to contradict Fleur but her insinuation seemed to have been taken to heart by Hagrid. I looked behind me to see him sitting in the corner hiccoughing with tears rolling into his beard. I knew he'd already been tricked by Voldemort once when we were in the first year for a dragon egg but it couldn't possibly have happened again? And by the sounds of his outburst Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me.

'If someone made a mistake,' he said in a quieter tone than first used, 'let something slip, I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not their fault. We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think Voldemort anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort.'

After the silence that followed Harry's mini speech, Lupin excused himself to find Kingsley who'd left before Bill and Fleur had got back. Bill said that he'd go which instantly had me, Tonks and Fleur all asking where. They were going to recover Moody's body. Mrs Weasley too wanted them to wait but it was between them getting it first or the Death Eaters. They turned to leave but I followed Lupin into the kitchen.

'Lupin!' I called to stop him. He turned to look at me but I had nothing to say. After a few seconds though I said, 'Be careful, all right?' He just watched me for a moment longer before leaving.

When I returned to the sitting room I saw another argument in process, this time over Harry wanting to leave. I felt a twinge in my stomach as I worked out what it was about. Everyone was against him leaving seeing as we just risked our lives to get him. To change the subject Mrs Weasley asked where Hedwig was but Harry didn't respond. I think I knew what that meant.

'Wait 'til it gets out that yeh did it again, Harry,' Hagrid said next. 'Escaped him, fought him off when he was right on top of yeh!'

Harry, however, didn't believe he'd done anything. It was his wand. But as Hermione pointed out, how could his wand react without Harry's instructions? I watched as Harry rebuffed all the explanations people gave him and I could see that something was bothering him. It must have been his scar, it must be hurting again because moments later he strode out the house. Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other before following him.

We saw him walking over to the gate around the garden. I felt a surge of sympathy as I watched. He had to deal with so much and no one, not even Ginny, could see how much it hurt him. They knew it hurt but they didn't know the real extent of it. I could though because I'd known him so long and only I could identify with him because I too had lost my parents. As the three of us watched though Harry suddenly fell to the ground, gripping the fence.

'Harry!' gasped Hermione and I.

The three of us ran over to him. I caught his wrist as he started to fall while Ron grabbed his shoulders.

_Voices … two of them in a dark room … one was Voldemort's, the other weak and frail … an old man sat in the corner of the room, cowering from Voldemort …_

I let go of Harry's wrist and looked at him. He was still out of it, gripping the gate tightly while trying to keep standing. I'd just seen inside of Harry's head. I done this before, back in the fourth year. I'd seen what Harry had just seen, a man being tortured by Voldemort. And it was Ollivander, the wand maker. Once Harry had regained himself he confirmed that was what he'd seen.

'But it was supposed to have stopped!' cried Hermione. 'You scar – it wasn't supposed to do this any more! You mustn't let that connection open up again – Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!' Harry didn't reply. 'Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the wizarding world! Don't let him inside your head too!'

'Hermione, lay off him!' I snapped, standing between them. 'He didn't mean to go inside Voldemort's head again, it was an accident.' I then looked at Harry. 'But she's right. You've got to close your mind, Harry, no matter how tempting it is to find out what he's up to. He's already used this against you once. You don't want it happening again.'

The shock of losing Moody hung over the house for the days that followed but we had little time to dwell on it as the arrangements for Bill and Fleur's wedding were more important and we were all kept busy. It was almost impossible for Harry, Ron, Hermione and I to get together to discuss what we were going to do as soon as Harry and I were of age. However, on that subject, Harry had a little shock for me.

'What?' I gasped. 'Harry, I thought we were in this together?'

'I can't let you come,' said Harry in a low voice to me. He'd managed to get me out of the house with him to hang some laundry up on Monday evening. 'You're not of age for another four days after the wedding and I can't wait that long. I need to get out of here as soon as possible.'

'Harry, I promised you that I'd stick with you,' I said, pegging up a sheet. 'You of all people know I tend to keep my promises!'

'Jenna, I can't risk you coming,' said Harry. 'The Trace on you will lead the Ministry to where we go and if Voldemort manages to take control before we leave, you'll give him our positions. I can't let you come because they'll be drawn to you and will hurt you first to get to me!'

'Then leave later! You're not going without me!'

'You're not coming and that's final!' snapped Harry. He strode angrily away leaving me with the rest of the washing. I watched as he walked off feeling completely betrayed. He hadn't wanted me to leave him and now he didn't want me to come.

'Bloody hypocrite,' I muttered to myself as I finished hanging the laundry.

There was now a tension present between me and Harry circulating around us. Harry knew I wanted to come and help him and I knew he wasn't going to let me and I was completely against it. He needed all the help he could get and by pushing me away, it was one less mind to help him. Eventually I reached a silence with him about being left behind and resigned myself to helping him prepare whenever Hermione and I had a free moment.

'And how did you manage to get away?' Harry asked us. We took a perch on his camp bed and I dragged out the books and my bag Hermione had hidden in Ron's wardrobe.

'Oh, Ron's mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change the sheets yesterday,' said Hermione. She instantly started going through the books she and I had collected together.

'And I'd already cleaned up the breakfast things,' I added.

While Hermione and I continued going through the things they'd need when they left, we discussed the death of Moody. It was pretty certain that he'd been killed though Lupin and Bill hadn't been able to recover a body. I still felt quite sad when I thought about it. Harry certainly went to far when he said the Death Eaters probably did the same to his body that they did to Mr Crouch's in the fourth year. Hermione burst into tears and, seeing as Harry was being very good at ignoring people's feelings at the moment, Ron instantly jumped to comfort her.

That was another thing. Over my few days at The Burrow before Harry got here I'd noticed a change in Ron and Hermione. Ron was being nice to her. He wasn't being as sarcastic as he usually had been. It was really strange. They still hadn't told each other how they felt but when I walked in on them having a private moment they just jumped apart and looked embarrassed. I thought it better not to ask. But still it was sweet to watch him comfort her about Moody even if I did feel like a third wheel next to them. Next moment though I was protecting myself from a copy of _Monster Book of Monsters_ that Ron had just thrown from him after it got dropped on his foot.

'What with all those books anyway?' he asked, hoping up and down.

'Just trying to decide which ones to take with us,' replied Hermione. 'When we're looking for the Horcruxes.'

'Oh, of course,' said Ron sarcastically. 'I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library.'

Hermione laughed dryly while I said, 'No harm in having a few books with us if they're likely to help.' I shot Harry a look.

'Listen,' he said, ignoring my look. 'I know you said, after Dumbledore's funeral, that you wanted to come with me.'

'Here he goes,' said Ron to Hermione and I, rolling his eyes.

'As we knew he would,' said Hermione.

I said nothing, looking at a copy of _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration _instead of giving Harry another bitter look.

'You know, I think I will take _Hogwarts: A History_. Even if we're not going back there, I don't think I'd feel right if I didn't have it with –'

'Listen!' shouted Harry.

'No, Harry, _you_ listen,' said Hermione over him. 'We're coming with you. That was decided months ago – years really.'

'But –'

'Shut up,' said Ron.

'– are you sure you've thought this through?' asked Harry.

We all had, well, those of us who were going. Hermione had been packing with me for days whenever we could so that we were ready to leave in a moments notice if we had to and sneaking Moody's supply of Polyjuice Potion from under Mrs Weasley's nose. On top of that, Hermione had been working hard on some complex spells and had modified her parents memories so that it was like she didn't exist to them and Ron had created a doppelganger of himself using the ghoul in the attic so that anyone who came looking for him would think he's got Spattergroit. I, of course, had stolen books from Lupin's library and packed them in my bag in case of us needing to leave. If Harry thought we hadn't prepared for this then he was seriously wrong!

We sat in silence when Ron came back from showing Harry the ghoul in the attic. It was only broken by Hermione and mine's noise while we sorted the books. Noises from downstairs also started. Mrs Weasley was shouting at someone again.

'Ginny's probably left a speck of dust on a poxy napkin ring,' muttered Ron. 'I dunno why the Delacours have got to come two days before the wedding.'

The conversation then turned to what was going to happen when they left. I merely sat in silence and started to re-read my copy of _Fantastic Beasts_. I still couldn't believe Harry was making me stay behind. I bet he wouldn't even come back and get me when I was of age. I felt completely betrayed by him. He knew I could help and he tells me I'm to stay here and probably go back to Hogwarts as well.

'And once we get hold of it, how _do_ you destroy a Horcrux?' asked Ron.

I looked up, interested. How do you destroy a Horcrux? Hermione had the answer. Once she'd explained how she got the answer that is. She'd "summoned" a book from Dumbledore's personal library and they come zooming to her.

'When I went upstairs to get my things, it – it just occurred to me that the more we knew about them, the better it would be … and I was alone in there … so I tried … and it worked. They flew straight in through the open window and I – I packed them.'

'Nice one, Hermione,' I said. 'Can't believe we never thought of that before. But wouldn't Dumbledore, if he was still alive, be angry that we took them. Surely he would have given them to us if he thought we needed them?'

'I can't believe Dumbledore would have been angry,' she said imploringly. 'It's not as though we're going to use the information to make a Horcrux, is it?'

'Can you hear us complaining?' said Ron.

She pulled out a large leather black book from our pile called _Secrets of the Darkest Arts_. Apparently it was a terrible book full of Dark magic. Hermione even thought it was the book Voldemort learned how to create Horcruxes from even though he asked Slughorn how it was done. With each Horcrux made your soul becomes more unstable and so making six must have been ridiculous according to what Hermione told us she'd read. There was a way to put the soul back together but it was very painful and only through remorse could it be done. Yeah, Voldemort was really going to start feeling sorry for all the people he'd killed.

'So does it say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?' asked Harry.

'Yes,' said Hermione, turning the pages as if they were contaminated with something, 'because it warns Dark wizards how strong they have to make the enchantments on them. From all that I've read, what Harry did to Riddle's diary was one of the few really foolproof ways of destroying a Horcrux.'

'What, stabbing it with a Basilisk fang?' asked Harry.

'That's what it says,' I replied. I glanced at the page Hermione had turned to. 'Horcruxes have powerful magic protecting them so ordinary methods of destroying things like _Reducto_ or _Diffindo_ would merely bounce off them. They wouldn't even leave a scratch.'

'Oh, well, lucky we've got such a large supply of Basilisk fangs, then,' said Ron. 'I was wondering what we going to do with them.'

'It doesn't have to be a Basilisk fang,' said Hermione patiently. 'It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can't repair itself. Basilisk venom only has one antidote, and it's incredibly rare –'

'– phoenix tears,' said Harry.

'Exactly. Our problem is that there are very few substances as destructive as Basilisk venom, and they're all dangerous to carry around with you. That's a problem we're going to have to solve, though, because ripping, smashing or crushing a Horcrux won't do the trick. You've got to put it beyond magical repair.

That was all well and good but where were we going to get these things even if we do find the Horcruxes?

'But even if we wreck the thing it lives in,' continued Ron, 'why can't the bit of soul in it just go and live in something else?'

'Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being.' Ron and Harry didn't seem to understand so Hermione carried on. 'Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, I wouldn't damage your soul at all.'

'Which would be a real comfort to me, I'm sure,' said Ron.

'It should be, actually,' I said, ignoring Harry's laughing. 'What Hermione's saying is that whatever happens to your body, your soul will survive, untouched.'

'But it's the other way round with a Horcrux,' said Hermione. 'The fragment of soul inside it depends on its container, its enchanted body, for survival. It can't exist without it.'

'Meaning when the case containing a Horcrux is destroyed, the soul is with it,' I finished.

So we had covered how to destroy a Horcrux but, as Ron pointed out, how could Ginny have still been possessed by the diary if the soul depended on it. Hermione answered that, telling us that Ginny was emotionally close to the diary having poured her heart into it. That was how Voldemort's soul was able to possess Ginny.

The silence that followed didn't last long as there was a resounding crash from downstairs. Minutes later Mrs Weasley, looking very dishevelled, was in the room and Harry was pointing his wand at her.

'I'm so sorry to break up this cosy little gathering,' she said. 'I'm sure you all need your rest … but there are wedding presents stacked in my room that need sorting out and I was under the impression that you had agreed to help.'

We had no choice but to end the conversation and Hermione and I left to sort out the presents. We had to sort them into piles of who they were for from whom and what size they were. I think that was unnecessary but Mrs Weasley seemed determined for us to keep talking to a minimum.

'So what's going to happen then?' I asked Hermione when Mrs Weasley had left. 'When you guys go gallivanting off who knows where.'

'What do you mean?' asked Hermione. 'Aren't you coming?'

'Harry's not letting me,' I said resignedly, 'and he won't leave later so that the Trace on me is broken.'

'Well we can come back and get you,' said Hermione. 'Or one of the Order members could escort you to where we'll be.'

'Harry won't do that, Hermione, you know that. He won't tell anyone where he's going or what he's doing and the last thing he's going to do is come back for me when it will put everyone in danger. I've got no chance of helping him when I promised I would.'

Hermione was silent for and we continued sorting the presents. Then, she said, 'Well then we'll arrange a place we can meet. You can Apparate, right?'

'Yeah, I got the basics,' I said. 'It won't be legal though.'

'That won't matter,' said Hermione. 'One of us can Apparate to an agreed point the day after your birthday so as to get you and then take you wherever we're hiding at the time.'

'But where?' I asked. 'The only place I decently know is London.'

'Then we'll choose somewhere in London where we can meet you. You can Apparate to that place the day after your birthday and we can get you. Then Harry can't complain and we won't be putting anyone else in danger.'

Hermione and I agreed that the two of us would meet up at Tottenham Court Road at eleven pm the day after my birthday so that she could take me to wherever they were hiding out at that time. With that decided we discussed quietly what things should be put in my bag in case we left anything behind while she put some of my things in her bag. The one thing I insisted that went with her was to be my toy dragon. I'd have my bag on me at all times which meant in the extreme case I was captured or something by the Death Eaters then the Blacks wouldn't be able to get their hands on the family locket. I wasn't going to give it up easily.

The following morning the Delacours arrived and were warmly greeted by Fleur and Mrs Weasley. I'd never met any other foreign wizards besides the ones who'd come to Hogwarts in the fourth year. Mr Delacour was a short, plump wizard with a small black beard whereas Mrs Delacour was as elegant as her two daughters, Fleur's little sister Gabrielle standing beside her. I watched them greet each other with the usual feeling of longing for a family of my own to do that with. I'd never really felt a mother's embrace before and I always longed to have my parents back. Lupin was a great substitute for them but lately I've just felt I didn't belong with him anymore, like I'd overstayed my welcome in his life.

The next day was Harry's birthday and his was officially of age. Lucky him. I got down to breakfast with Hermione and Ginny to see him already unwrapping his presents. I could see mine hidden behind the mess. I'd got him something I knew he'd like. It was a small photo album filled with copies of photos of the years we spent together before we knew about Hogwarts. Sort of a reminder of what we were like before we found out about the wizarding world. At this time of his life I thought a reminder of what things were like would be nice for him.

Hermione volunteered to pack his new things into her bag and I followed her back upstairs. Ron joined us and was still spluttering about the fact Hermione had said she needed to wait for the last of his pants from the wash. I just sniggered silently to myself at the horrified thought probably going through Ron's head. We went back downstairs when Hermione had packed his presents and Ron, for some reason, burst into Ginny's room.

The sight that met my eyes made my chest suddenly constrict and my stomach twist and I knew perfectly well why Ron had wanted to open Ginny's door for inside her room she and Harry were kissing. I gasped silently as I saw it. They sprang apart when they heard the door bang against the wall. The two of them stared at us but the moment Harry looked at me after Hermione and Ron, I walked away. I hurried back downstairs and out into the garden where I tried to get a grip on myself.

'You got over him,' I told myself. I was crouching on the ground behind the back of the house. 'You don't have feelings for him. What Tonks said didn't describe what you've felt for him. You want Noah …' As I said that, I stopped. I hadn't thought of Noah since school finished. I'd forgotten about my own ex-boyfriend the moment I left him. I stood up and ran my hands over my face. 'Why does it hurt so much?' I muttered to myself. 'Why does it have to be so hard now?'

I started when I heard voices coming from the other side of the garden and made a dash back indoors through the back door.

That evening was to be Harry's birthday dinner and I had determinedly avoided him for the rest of the day by hiding in the same place in the garden I'd hid in the previous Christmas holidays. I still hadn't gotten over the kiss and it kept replaying in my mind. I returned as the party was being set up and busied myself away from Harry by decorating the garden with small lanterns Mrs Weasley had lit. By seven o'clock people began arriving and I was pleased to see Lupin had come with Tonks. However, a message then came which seemed to change his mind about being there.

A Patronus in the form of a weasel came streaking over the sky and landed on the table. Sitting up on its hind legs, it began to speak using Mr Weasley's voice. So this was how the Order used them to communicate.

'Minister for Magic coming with me.' and it dissolved.

'We shouldn't be here,' said Lupin instantly. He walked over to me and grabbed my wrist. 'Harry – I'm sorry – I'll explain another time – come on, Jenna.'

'What? Why?' I asked as Lupin led me away and took Tonks' wrist as well. 'Why are leaving?'

I didn't get an answer. Instead I felt a pressure on my chest and darkness took over me as Lupin Apparated the three of us away. A few seconds later I felt the pressure release and I took a stumbled step back as my feet hit the floor. I still wasn't used to Apparating seeing as I only mastered it a couple months back and Side-Along with Lupin was even worse.

Regaining my bearings, I instantly said, 'What's the deal, Lupin? Why did we leave? It's Harry's party.'

'We're not welcome in places where the Minister is,' said Lupin bluntly and he walked off into the kitchen. I let out an annoyed breath and stalked off upstairs to my room.

The rest of the night I spent in there, watching the sun slowly recede behind the hills. I sat up on my bed with my back against the headboard fiddling with my Mum's necklace. The feather in it tickled my fingers and I thought absently of what Mum was like. She was kind and friendly and beautiful; liked practical jokes seeing as she was a Marauder; was a bright witch; and she loved animals and magical beasts …

My mind drifted back to what Lupin had told me about the spell Mum had put on me. She had done it because she thought something had happened due to Fawkes healing her while she was pregnant. What could have possibly happened from being healed by phoenix tears.

I suddenly leapt back off my bed as a bright red and gold light started beside me. Peering up from the other side of my bed I saw a flash of what I was sure was fire and gasped at what I saw. There hovering over my bed was a large, magnificent bird with the brightest red and gold plumage I'd ever seen. It flapped its wings gently up and down as it stayed level above my bed, its beady eyes watching me. He had a letter in his beak.

'Fawkes,' I breathed. Fawkes dropped a letter on my bed and let out a small caw as he looked at me. I got up and sat back down on my bed, picking up the letter. 'What's this?' I asked him.

_A gift for you_, said Fawkes. Again I jumped. I could hear a voice along with the gentle song of the phoenix. I really hated these surprises I got from being an Animagus. _Use it well_, concluded Fawkes and he disappeared in another flash of fire. I stared amazed at the place where Fawkes had just been before looking down at the letter. It was addressed to me in emerald ink. I turned it over cautiously and opened it. Inside was a piece of parchment, and six red and gold feathers. My eyes widened when I saw them.

'Phoenix feathers,' I breathed. I took one out the envelope and held in front of me. I ran my finger over the long feather. It was so soft and warm under my skin. 'But why?'

I placed the six feathers on to my bed and pulled out the letter. I unfolded it and looked at it.

'It's from Dumbledore!' I gasped. 'But how –?' I cut myself off. Knowing Dumbledore, he would have said questions later. So I read the letter.

_Dear Miss Black_

_This is a letter I have written to you in the absence of placing you in my will as I refuse  
__the Ministry to have control over Fawkes until the reading of my will and the information I  
__am about to relay to you is of the utmost secrecy. Fawkes, I trust, will have delivered the  
__copy of my will (I have shortened it to the priorities so as not to bore you) to you the day  
__my will is read to Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger, and so you are reading it the  
__same time that Minister Scrimgeour reads out what the three persons above have  
__received._

_Now time for the formalities. I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, of sound mind  
__and body (besides my right arm, of course) hereby leave some of my personal  
__possessions to the following students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: a  
__Mr Harry James Potter, Mr Ronald Bilius Weasley, Miss Hermione Jean Granger, and  
__Miss Jennifer May Black._

Even when he was dead, Dumbledore still managed to slip in a few jokes.

I skimmed the part of the letter which told me what Harry, Ron and Hermione had got. Ron had been left Dumbledore's Deluminator, whatever that was; Hermione had been given a book called the _Tales of Beedle the Bard_, a book I knew to contain the wizarding equivalent of Muggle fairytales; and Harry had been given the very first Snitch he'd ever caught in a Quidditch match, the one he'd almost swallowed. _What strange things to leave us_, I thought. _I wonder what he's left me_, though I had a vague idea what it was.

_To Jennifer May Black, I leave six phoenix feathers to join the first that hangs on the  
__necklace of Tala Megan Lupin, given to her mother on her seventeenth birthday._

What? Instantly I took off my mother's necklace and looked at the feather. It wasn't a phoenix feather. It was way too small and a dappled white colour. A phoenix feather was about three times the length and bright gold and red, like the ones lying beside me on my bed. I turned back to the letter to see there was more writing and of a much more serious tone.

_Unlike with the items I have bequeathed to Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger, it  
__is important that you understand from the start to why you have received this item._

_Seventeen years ago, Miss Tala Megan Lupin was involved in an Order mission and  
__was left gravely injured. I accompanied her then boyfriend, Sirius Black, to her side  
__where we were unable to heal her as there was no evidence of what curse she had  
__been hit with. In desperation Mr Black begged me to call Fawkes to heal her. Though  
__reluctant, I did so as I too was not willing to let the young woman die._

_Fawkes healed Miss Lupin and her life was spared. A little under six months later she  
__gave birth to a baby girl whom she had been pregnant with during the attack. Only a  
__week after the birth, Miss Lupin, now Mrs Black having married her then boyfriend, came  
__to me after receiving a disturbing premonition. The premonition, she recounted to me,  
__included the death of herself, the death of her friends, James and Lily Potter, and her  
__daughter, then aged seventeen, displaying magic which was not that of an ordinary  
__witch._

_In the next few days it became evident that the baby possessed some magic belonging  
__to Fawkes. Setting the carpet alight by happily clapping her hands revealed that. Miss  
__Lupin return to me with the baby and news of another premonition. She had caught the  
__glimpse of a future fight where the above mentioned and herself were alive. For this  
__reason, I requested Miss Lupin to Bind the phoenix magic in her daughter for the time  
__being. But, as Miss Lupin predicted, she was killed before we could discuss the matter in  
__greater detail._

_It became clear to me by the girl's fifth year that the Binding Spell placed on her was  
__starting to wear off. By her sixth year, it was more than evident but, of course,  
__unnoticeable to anyone who was not aware of her past. I knew it was time to act,  
__however, under her Uncle's instructions, I was not allowed to reveal to her the nature of  
__her magic._

_I now advise you to be wary of the powers you possess and to use them as you see fit.  
__Through personal research I have determined that these powers were given to you for a  
__reason and, when they have been used for what they are intended for, they will leave  
__you so they will be limited. Choose carefully with how you use them but remember: for  
__some death is but another adventure._

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore  
__Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

I just stared at the letter once I'd finished it. So it was Dumbledore who'd wanted to bind my magic. And evidently, in his eyes at least, for good reasons though what they were he hadn't revealed. He'd just told me to use them wisely. He didn't even tell me what bits of Fawkes' magic I had or what it was I could do or why he'd given me the feathers. All I could be sure about was that the magic was going to be released soon and then would eventually leave me. I picked up the feathers that lay beside me. I was meant to do something with these eventually. But what it was … I didn't know.

I was to return to The Burrow the next day. Least I was saved doing any duties before the wedding. It was to take place at one o'clock and that gave me the whole morning to get ready. Having learnt some tricks since the Yule Ball in the fourth year I didn't need to rely on Tonks to help me look right. For the wedding I had a dress to wear which Andromeda and Ted had actually bought for me. Their excuse was that they owed me seventeen years worth of presents seeing as they hadn't ever met me before. I felt really guilty about accepting it but they wouldn't take no for an answer and so I was left to get ready in my room while the rest of the Tonks' got ready elsewhere.

The dress itself was beautiful. Personally I would never have chosen it if I'd seen it. It was a long white dress which rested on my chest and zipped up at the back so it was quite tight fitting around the chest and waist, even giving me a bit of cleavage. As I put it on I had a feeling Tonks had been partly involved in choosing it. It had a halter-neck made from a red and gold ribbon, the colours blending into each other around my neck, and had another red and gold sash tied at the back around the waist.

I took a moment and looked at myself once I'd finished getting ready. I looked almost unrecognisable to myself. I'd loosely curled my hair with a Muggle method recommended in _Witch_ _Weekly_ for those underage so I had long black and red tresses weaving in out of each other, my bangs straight and crossing over my forehead and eyes; as for makeup I'd simply gone for a bit of mascara and red eye shadow; I wore my red earrings again Hermione had given me before and my owl feather necklace, the Key hidden under my dress. It just wasn't me but strangely enough I felt comfortable in it.

'I guess dresses and makeup aren't that bad,' I muttered, turning slightly to look at the back. The red and gold sash flowed nicely down the back of the dress. 'I guess I could start wearing skirts a little more seeing as Lupin _had_ brought them for me. Start acting like a girl.' I snickered slightly at that. Well, I had packed some in case I wore out all my trousers.

I span round when I heard the door open. It was Lupin.

'You ready?' he asked. I nodded. Lupin smiled, the first I'd seen in a while, and came over to me. He gently took my hands and kissed my forehead. 'I've never seen you look so beautiful,' he told me. 'I'm so proud of you, Jenna. Now, let's get going.'

We joined Tonks, Andromeda and Ted downstairs in the living room. Tonks and Andromeda instantly started commenting on how beautiful I looked when they saw me. I have to admit, I did blush slightly at it. Taking Lupin's hand, I held it tightly and braced myself for the Disapparation from Moonlake cottage. A few moments later I felt the familiar pressure on me and saw nothing but darkness. I gripped Lupin's hand tightly as he pulled me onwards. Seconds later I opened my eyes to see The Burrow before me.

After being shown my seat I walked off to try and find the others. I saw Ron, Fred and George were all busy showing people to their seats so went off to find Hermione. She was in Ginny's room, luckily alone.

'Jenna, you look amazing!' gasped Hermione after she'd finished strangling me. She was wearing a long, floaty lilac dress and matching heels. 'You did this completely without me?'

'I'm not totally useless when it comes to dresses,' I said, a glare on my face but also a smile. 'You taught me well, master,' I added, doing a bow with my hands together in front of me.

'Oh, very funny,' said Hermione.

Our conversation was cut short when Mrs Weasley introduced us to Ron's Auntie Muriel who had wanted to see what we looked like. At first she seemed like a nice old lady of one hundred and whatever but she was very harsh. Hermione apparently had bad posture and skinny ankles. As for me, my hair was way too long and I was too thin. Tell me something I didn't know. We managed to excuse ourselves and left Muriel to Mrs Weasley. Hermione still had to finish helping the others and I was left free for a while so I returned to Ginny's room.

I found my bag hidden above her wardrobe where I'd left it before my unexpected exit yesterday. Half of me had thought she would have tossed it out but obviously she hadn't found it. Grabbing it I left her room and went up to Ron's room. Finding the bag that Hermione and I had been carefully packing, I carefully dug into it and pulled out my toy dragon. I checked my locket was still in it. It was. Hearing Mrs Weasley's voice shouting that it was time for everyone to take their seats, I stuffed it in my bag before putting my bag into Hermione's small purse. I thought it would be easier for me to leave without anything with me and Hermione would never notice my bag in there as well. Putting it back in its place I left the room.

I got to my seat in the marquee next to Hermione's just in time. I said my apologies and sat down with her, Ron, Fred, George and obviously another Weasley relative judging by the red hair. Looking round I noticed Harry wasn't there. _Where is he?_ I thought to myself as Mr and Mrs Weasley walked up the aisle and took their seats at the front. Bill and Charlie then came down the aisle dressed in their smartest dress robes. I was happy to see Bill didn't look at all like he'd been savaged by Greyback. I smiled as I watched them standing at the front. Bill looked a bit like a nervous school boy.

When Fleur came down the aisle the Veela blood in her became evident to me as she seemed to glow in her wedding dress. It was a beautiful white dress with a embroidered corset and her silvery hair flowed elegantly down her back. Ginny and Gabrielle, the bridesmaids, followed her in golden dresses.

The smile on my face remained as I watched the ceremony and the vows. It just seemed so surreal that something this normal could still happen in the middle of this war. As the wizard directing the service said, 'You may now kiss the bride.' my gaze left them briefly as my mind wandered. One day … maybe I'd have this, getting married. Walking down the aisle and promising myself to one man for the rest of my life. But as I imagined it the man's face was clouded. I couldn't see who it was I would fall in love with. Reality then hit back as I thought I might not even live past this next year.

I stood as the chairs which we had been sitting on rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that we were standing underneath a canopy supported on golden poles. The sun was glowing brightly over the orchard casting a golden glow over them. Beneath our feet a golden pool spread to form a dance floor under the tent and the chairs grouped themselves on it around the white tables that had now appeared. The band took their place where Bill and Fleur had got married at the front and people began to mingle as the music started.

I made my way through the crowd off the dance floor table to watch. I wasn't really one for dancing. I merely watched as everyone had a good time thinking, _I don't belong here_. I felt like an outsider. I stood with my arms folded, gripping my elbows, over my chest looking at everyone. After a while I grabbed a bottle of Butterbeer before making my way inside for a break from the noise. I took refuge in Ron's room and stood by the window so I could still look into the garden. I sighed as the feeling of not belonging here deepened.

'Jenna?' I looked up to see a curly-haired redhead standing in the doorway to Ron's room. 'Are you all right?' he said, coming inside.

'Er, not meaning to be rude or anything,' I said, staring at him. 'But do I know you?'

'It's me, Harry,' said the boy. I looked at him closely until I realised I could see Harry through the face. 'Just been to the toilet and I saw you in here. Wondered why you weren't outside.'

'Wow, never really pictured you as a redhead,' I muttered.

'Me neither.'

'And, um, I needed something from my bag. That's why I'm in here.'

'Oh, right.'

We stood in silence for a moment before I turned back round to the window.

'Thanks for the birthday present, Jen,' said Harry. I glanced back at him. 'It was a great gift. Brings back old memories.' Harry stepped up behind me and put his arms round my waist. My heart raced slightly as he did so. 'It's strange to see how much we've changed.'

'Yeah,' I agreed. I turned round, breaking the grip Harry had on me. I didn't want to risk Ginny walking in on us. It was then I really did get a full look at Harry. He was wearing black dress robes with a black bowtie and, even though he was posing as a Weasley, I could see the real Harry through it. 'You look really smart, Harry,' I said hesitantly.

'So do you,' replied Harry. 'Well, I mean, you look beautiful.'

I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and covered it by saying, 'So, um, I'm just going to – I'm going back outside. You coming?'

Harry nodded and we went back outside together. Luckily though, one of Ron's real cousins came and asked me to dance and I was separated from Harry before Ginny could see us which I was relieved about. However, when I looked back at him I saw a very familiar glare on his face about it.

It wasn't bad dancing with one of Ron's cousins until he tried some funny business and put his hand somewhere where it wasn't welcome. As soon as he did it I stepped back from him and slapped his face and said, 'You try that again and you'll be getting more than a slap.' I then stalked off.

After that I kept myself busy by hiding on a table of French girls Fleur knew. I had a Butterbeer with me and sipped it every so often, looking around carefully in case anymore guys tried anything with me. But then something happened which made my blood go cold.

I'd seen something charging through the slowly darkening sky. A silver light came speeding towards The Burrow and landed down on the centre of the dance floor. A gleaming Patronus formed in the shape of a lynx and stood stiffly on its four legs. I stared at it in mounting fear. Something must have happened. The lynx opened its mouth and from it came Kingsley's deep voice.

'_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming_.'

It all happened so fast. In a moments notice the sky darkened above us and the garden was filled with the noise of people Apparating around The Burrow. Chaos started immediately as people started running to the boundaries of the garden to Disapparate. I got up from my seat and ran to try and find Harry or one of the others. It was now or never. We had to leave now! Around me the Death Eaters were starting to fight members of the Order.

'Harry!' I shouted. 'Harry, where are you!'

I stopped and looked round desperately for him. He had to be somewhere. I finally found him with Hermione running towards Ron.

'Harry, wait!' I shouted at him.

He looked round. I saw him reach his hand out but whether he was telling me to hurry up or stop, I didn't know or care. I had to get to him. But the moment I was within reaching distance of him he vanished into thin air with a _crack_. He was gone. I stopped, panicking as I tried to think what to do. I came to the conclusion I had to help defend The Burrow.

As I went to retrieve my wand hidden beneath my dress, something caught me around my ankles and I was flung to the ground amongst the chaos of the other witches and wizards running to the barriers to Disapparate. I scrabbled to get back to my feet. I suddenly felt my body convulse and tense. I screamed in pain and crumpled on the grass. It felt like was being stabbed repeatedly by white hot knives. Seconds later though it seemed like forever the spell was lifted and I was pulled to my feet.

'Hello, precious,' said a smooth, cruel voice. It was high and dripped in sarcasm, a phoney baby voice. I closed my eyes as my chin was forced upwards by the cruel point of Bellatrix's wand. 'My, don't you look all dressed up … Did we interrupt something?' I could feel her hand gripping my throat. 'Tell me, how's the werewolf?'

'His name is Lupin,' I said. I merely felt a pain shoot up my spine and I let out another scream, tears starting to fall from my eyes.

'_LESTRANGE!_'

I opened my eyes to see Lupin running towards me with his wand raised. Tonks was just behind.

'Put your shield around us.' I didn't respond. 'Do it!' demanded Bellatrix. Still I refused. In front Lupin was preparing to fire a spell at us. 'Do it or I'll kill him here and now!'

'_Stupefy!_'

Lupin shot a spell at Bellatrix as Bellatrix removed her wand from my chin.

'_Avada _–'

'NO!'

I raised my shield as Lupin's spell shot from his wand. The blue shield encircled me and Bellatrix before she could finish the curse. The red sparks hit against it and were rebounded on to what was left of the already destroyed canopy. I stood surrounded by it, shaking with my eyes closed, protecting me and Bellatrix. I opened my eyes a few moments later to see Lupin was all right. He and Tonks were in front of us. They had their wands raised pointing at her.

'There's a good cub,' said Bellatrix silkily. Her lips ran against my face as she spoke. I felt her hand caress my cheek before her wand dug into it again. 'Now let's see what the werewolf wants …'

'Give me Jenna, right now,' said Lupin calmly. I looked worriedly up at him. He was holding his hand out, his wand still raised in the other. 'Release my niece!'

Bellatrix didn't respond. She just smiled her manic smile at him.

'RELEASE HER!' bellowed Lupin.

'You really think you're in a position to demand anything of me?' asked Bellatrix coolly. Lupin glared at her. 'You see … I could not only kill your little cub here,' she ran her wand tip over my cheek, 'but I could easily kill you and your new wife as well.'

Bellatrix snapped her fingers. I heard footsteps come from behind. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two more Death Eaters approach. They stood either side of us and she ordered me to extend my shield to cover them as well. I had no choice but to follow.

'Now I suggest you lower your wand.' Lupin didn't. Neither did Tonks. Bellatrix removed her wand from my cheek and pressed it into my chest. Lupin started forwards slightly. 'Lower your wand, werewolf!'

Reluctantly Lupin lowered it. My nerves were increasing and I was shaking badly in Bellatrix's grip. It was never Voldemort I had really feared. It was Bellatrix, always her as I was always told I was like her. I looked helplessly back at Lupin as he threw his wand to the ground. However, he kept his other hand raised to reach for me.

'I'm unarmed,' he said. 'Now give Jenna to me.' Bellatrix laughed.

'Ooh, I don't know,' she giggled. 'She's a lovely bargaining tool …'

Tonks made forwards to get me but Lupin threw his arm out in front of her.

'Don't!' he said warningly. 'If you make a move, Lestrange will kill her.'

Bellatrix laughed again.

'Oh, you're a smart one, werewolf,' she said. 'If only you were smart enough to stay away from us Blacks.' Lupin's glare turned even darker. 'So here's your chance. I'll let you and your little wife go free, unharmed … and you leave the girl with me.'

'No deal,' said Lupin instantly. 'Jenna is my child, _my_ family!'

'You're wicked, Bellatrix!' shouted Tonks. 'She's just a girl!'

'Perhaps you're not taking me seriously. I guess I should show you I mean what I say.'

My body started aching again right from my heart as Bellatrix used the Cruciatus Curse on me again. I writhed in Bellatrix's arms. I screamed unable to hold it in or fight it.

'Please!' I screamed. 'Make it stop! Please!'

'Stop it!' bellowed Lupin.

Bellatrix lifted the spell. I fell forwards being held up by her arm, my knees weak and shaking badly. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself.

'You have a choice, werewolf,' said Bellatrix. All signs of sarcasm were gone from her voice. 'Renounce your claim over this girl and leave her with me or I'll kill her.' I was pulled straight by my hair. Bellatrix pressed her face against mine and dug her wand into my chest. 'Here and now in front of you.'

I looked desperately at Lupin. He couldn't leave me with her. She'd kill me if he did. But at the same time if he tried to get me then he and Tonks would also die. It was a stalemate, a catch twenty-two. It was heads you win, tails I lose on both sides. But there had to be a way for Lupin to get me free. I watched him carefully. My whole body was shaking. He merely stared back, his brown eyes looking for a way to stop the situation but unable to find one.

'Lupin,' I breathed. I shook my head slightly, tears rolling down my cheeks as I realised what he was going to do. 'Please … don't …'

'I have no choice,' replied Lupin.

'No!' I shouted. I tried to break Bellatrix's grip but she merely tightened it. 'Lupin, please, you can't!'

He closed his eyes and looked away. Then, slowly, 'I, Remus John Lupin –'

'No – Lupin!'

'Remus, you can't!' gasped Tonks. 'She's just a child!'

'I, Remus John Lupin –' he repeated.

'Don't do this!' I begged him not to. 'Lupin, please –!'

'– hereby renounce –'

'No –!'

'– my claim over Jennifer May Black.' My heart felt like it had stopped the moment he said those words. I just stared at him, unable to believe what he was doing. He looked back helplessly and finished, 'I disown her.'

'No!' I screamed. I dropped my shield and fought against Bellatrix's grip. She kept her hold on me. 'No, Lupin, please!'

'There's a good doggy,' said Bellatrix. 'We're done here.'

'_No!_'

I pulled against Bellatrix in one last attempt to get away before darkness surrounded me. A pressure started on my chest and I took in a sharp breath. The Burrow spun and vanished in front of me as I was Apparated away, a large dark room appearing moments later.

* * *

**AN: first chapter of Deathly Hallows posted, woo! well, hope you enjoyed and please leave a review and tell me what you think. oh, and just a reminder to check out my other oneshots and story and review them too. cheers! ;) BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	36. An Unexpected Ally

Chapter 35

An Unexpected Ally

Before my feet had even touched the ground I'd pulled away from Bellatrix. I felt an increase on pressure on my chest and I lost control of the Apparition. I landed roughly on the floor, winding myself. I let out a short moan trying to get over the dizziness. As I pushed myself up I heard voices and footsteps approaching the room. The door burst open with a bang but I was too shaken to acknowledge who it was at first.

'Who's there?' asked a female voice. 'Show yourself!'

'What is the meaning of this?' shouted another voice, this time male. 'Who broke the Anti-Disapparation Jinx?'

'Oh, don't get your wand in a knot, Lucius,' said Bellatrix's voice. 'Wait, you don't have one.'

'You were not meant to leave the house, Bella,' said the woman's voice. 'You were under the Dark Lord's instructions!'

'The Dark Lord does not imprison me, Cissy. If he thought I was going to sit here when I heard the Ministry had fallen and that they were heading for the blood traitors' house, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to get even with our dear little cousin over there!'

I looked up to see someone point at me. It took a moment for my eyes to focus but I instantly moved back when I saw who it was. Three people had entered the room: Lucius Malfoy, dressed in long black robes looked down on me; beside him was his wife, Narcissa, her white-blonde hair a contrast to Bellatrix's dark black, in a long elegant green dress; just behind them I saw Malfoy, his white hair not as neat as usual, wearing dark trousers and black shirt. I tripped over my dress as I stood up. The bottom of it tore under my heals.

'Why have you brought her here?' demanded Narcissa. She glared at her older sister. 'You know the werewolf would go to any lengths to get her back!'

'The werewolf has no rights over the girl,' laughed Bellatrix. Her black eyes then turned on me, a smile on her face. The Malfoys looked at me too. 'He disowned her. She's mine now.'

'No!' I shouted. 'I belong to no one!'

Bellatrix threw her head back in laughter. She looked down her nose at me and began to walk towards me. She twisted her wand in her fingers, ready to strike.

Immediately I closed my and thought of Moonlake Cottage. I twisted on the spot and attempted to Disapparate out of the room. I felt my body get compressed and darkness surrounded me. Next moment something hit me and I was thrown back. The darkness receded, the pressure released, and the room came back into view.

'I suggest you don't try and Disapparate again,' said Lucius. 'You'll never break the Charms on this house unlike _some_ people.'

'I can try,' I replied and I tried to Disapparate again. A moment later I was back on the floor. Determined I tried again but only to receive the same results. I sat up somewhat dazed on the floor, backing away as Bellatrix stood over me.

'_Aww, the little bird is twapped in its cage_,' she cooed, using that mocking baby voice. She bent down, leaning closer to me. With every inch I moved back Bellatrix followed. I found my back against a wall. '_Left behind by her pwecious hewo … longing to be with him … to be in his pwotection …_' I held in a breath as Bellatrix ran her sharp fingernail over my cheek. 'Then I can make this simple for you,' whispered Bellatrix. I could feel her cold breath on my neck as she whispered in my ear. 'Where is Potter?'

She pulled her face back to look at me. I spat in her face.

'I'll never tell you,' I snarled. Bellatrix wiped the spit from her eyes. The cruel black orbs then turned on me.

'Wrong answer …' She drew back and pointed her wand at me. '_Crucio!_'

I tensed as the curse took me but I did not scream. I sat there on the floor with my eyes tightly closed. I could feel myself starting to shake as my body felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly. When it ended I fell forwards slightly. I took deep breaths to get over the pain.

'Oh, the witchling is learning to fight it,' cooed Bellatrix. I looked up at her behind the hair covering my face. I was out of breath, panting from trying not to lose control. 'No matter,' she shrugged. 'She'll be easy to break. Just takes a bit more convincing. Now, where is Potter?'

'I'm not telling you!' I shouted.

Again Bellatrix used the Cruciatus Curse on me. I clenched my hands at the increased intensity, my body starting to convulse. The pain was bordering on the unbearable but I did not let a scream leave my lips. I was not going to tell her where Harry was. I didn't even know. The Curse was lifted again a few minutes later.

'Where is Potter?' demanded Bellatrix.

I didn't reply at all. I was panting too much from trying to keep control. I was caught off guard as Bellatrix used the curse on me a third time. It was too much this time. The power Bellatrix was pouring into it had to be of pure hatred. In a matter of moments I heard the screams escaping my lungs. I fell to the floor. My body jerked and twitched uncontrollably. The burning knives continued to stab at every part of me they could get.

'Stop!' I cried. 'Please, stop it!'

'Tell me where Potter is!'

I tried to fight off the curse as best as I could but my screams told me I was getting weaker by the second. The longer I resisted, the longer Bellatrix held the curse. Two minutes … three … four … five –

'Tottenham Court Road!' I was on my back on the Malfoy's carpet, still twitching and shaking, unable to take anymore. 'Tottenham Court Road!' I shouted again. I didn't know if they were going to be there or not but that was the only place I knew Hermione and I had mentioned because it was where we were going to meet the day after my birthday. 'That's the only place I know!' I screamed as the pain spiked again. 'Please, stop!'

When the pain stopped I just lay there on the floor, completely still. My heart was thumping in my chest and my breathing was shallow. I stared dazedly up at the ceiling. Thoughts of dread and fear flowed through my sore body. I heard Bellatrix giving orders and two _cracks_ of people Disapparating. I felt tears fall down either side of my face while I lay there. All I could do was hope Hermione had not taken herself, Ron and Harry there.

Bellatrix's face looked down on me. I shrank back slightly from her. Her twisted smile scared me. I dreaded what she was going to do next.

'_Aww, don't crwy_,' she cooed. I swallowed. She tilted her head to the side, looking at me, the manic smile still on her face as she enjoyed toying with me. 'I won't kill you just yet. We'll wait 'til Potter and your little friends are here to do that …'

I turned my face away. I was still panting. Thankfully the pain was slowly leaving me. Bellatrix's footsteps marched away from me. I calmed myself enough to listen to what she said to the Malfoys.

'And what if the girl's information is false?' asked Lucius. 'Will you dispose of her then?'

'She'll regret giving false information,' laughed Bellatrix. 'Torturing her, brings back memories of Sirius.' She snorted. 'I'll teach her the meaning of fear …'

Her heavy footsteps strode away and a door closed behind her. Three more pairs left the room just afterwards through another door and I was left alone. I remained lying on the carpet in the corner. I didn't have the strength to get up. I couldn't Disapparate because of the Charms on the house and I wasn't powerful enough to break them like Bellatrix. I hunched up in a ball, gripping my dress.

I glanced behind me. I was in a dark room, a study of some sort judging by the furniture. A polished mahogany desk stood along the wall next to me, a high-backed chair with a dark green seat cushion of the same wood standing ominously behind it. There were a couple of leather books sitting on it, parchment rolls and quill beside them, and a dark wooden box containing who knew what on the edge closest the wall. A leather black sofa was positioned next to the door Bellatrix had strode out of and in the opposite corner was a large grandfather clock. It's loud ticking echoed in the silent room. A second door was on the wall opposite to where I was lying. There was a looming cold presence in here. I shivered and turned away.

'Don't be there,' I begged silently. 'Please don't be there …'

Not even an hour had passed before Bellatrix came striding back into the room. I looked behind me when the door banged open and Bellatrix thundered in, her torn black dress flapping behind her like a bat's wing and the black boots on her feet pounding the floor. Lucius came running in after her shouting his objections. Narcissa and Malfoy followed him.

'Bella!' shouted Lucius. 'I object to you storming round my house!'

'YOU LIAR!' she shrieked. I sat up terrified as she strode towards me. She drew not her wand but a silver knife from inside her boot. I jumped as I saw it. 'YOU LYING BITCH!'

Bellatrix was getting closer and closer. The knife glinted in the dim light. I pushed myself out of the way as she lunged for me. While she was twisted the knife out of the wall I scrambled to my feet. Next moment I felt something pull me back. Bellatrix had lunged forwards and grabbed my hair. I lost my balance and fell back to the floor.

'WHERE IS POTTER!' screamed Bellatrix. She grabbed my hair and pulled me backwards. She pressed the knife into my throat drawing blood at the tip. 'WHERE IS HE!'

'I don't know!' I screamed. I tried to pull her arm away but she was incredibly strong. Bellatrix moved the knife across my throat, a small cut leaking more blood. 'I don't know where he is! He wasn't going to take me! I didn't know where he was going!'

'YOU LIAR!' shrieked Bellatrix again. 'The Dark Lord has seen in Potter's mind. He wouldn't leave _you_ behind!' she sneered. 'He'd risk anything to protect his _godfather's_ child! The Dark Lord knows Potter would do anything to keep _you_ safe! _Now tell me where he is!_'

'I don't know!'

I froze as I saw Bellatrix lift the knife above me. She was going to kill me. Without knowing what would happen or what she would do, I ducked as she brought the knife down to slit my throat. Because of Bellatrix holding me by my hair, her arm was pulled down and the knife cut across it. My hair fell in front of my eyes as I pushed myself forwards. I felt it to find I was missing a lot of hair. Behind me, Bellatrix was holding the rest of my hair.

Bellatrix threw my hair aside. Her hand whipped into a pocket in her dress and she drew out her wand. I knew I had nowhere to run but it didn't stop me. I got up and ran as Bellatrix threw a curse at me, barely missing it.

'BELLA!' bellowed Lucius. 'ENOUGH!' Bellatrix didn't seem to care she was destroying her sister's home. All she was interested in was killing me.

'_CRUCIO!_' she screamed. The curse just missed me as I threw myself behind the sofa. The leather cushion hissed from the curse's power. I ran from it when another curse sent it up in flames. '_FLAGRO!_'

Bellatrix flicked her wand like a whip. A tongue of green sparks flew from it. It slashed across me, ripping my dress. A searing mark was left diagonally over my chest. I let out a small breath and fell to my knees. Bellatrix performed another whipping motion with her wand. A second mark cut the material of my dress and burned across my stomach. I crumpled on the floor.

'Hurts, doesn't it?' sneered Bellatrix. I looked up at her, lying on my stomach shaking. I used my arms to cover myself up where my dress had been ripped. 'Now, I'll ask you one last time. Where is Potter?'

'I d – don't know,' was all I could say.

'LIAR!'

I gasped and flinched in pain every time Bellatrix used that curse on me. Tears were leaking from my closed eyes. One after another I felt the curse slice across my back creating more burns. My dress was getting torn to shreds. I hunched up tighter as I tried to bare the pain. My back was on fire.

'STOP!'

I flinched as I braced myself for another hit but it never came. I opened my eyes to see someone standing in front of me. Blinking away my tears I saw it was Malfoy. He was stood straight in front of me, arms and legs wide apart. I couldn't believe it. He was … stopping Bellatrix …

'Move,' warned Bellatrix. She made to move around Malfoy to point her wand at me. I flinched in fear. But Malfoy stopped her. 'Get out of my way, Draco!'

'No!' he said. Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at him. 'I mean – I-I never told you I almost killed Black at Hogwarts last year, did I?'

A smile twitched briefly on Bellatrix's face.

'Did you really?' she asked. 'You never told me this, Cissy,' she said, looking at her sister.

'Didn't I?' replied Narcissa. 'It – it must have slipped my mind.'

I followed the conversation with my eyes. What was going to happen now?

'Well,' continued Malfoy, 'w-why don't you let me finish off Black? I mean, I almost killed her once if it weren't for the little mishap at the end. Y-you got the pleasure of killing her father and – and Dad killed her mother.'

Bellatrix thought about this for a moment, then said, 'You know … I like the sound of that.' She smiled. 'Seems your son might be able to regain you some of your honour, Lucius,' said Bellatrix, glancing at him. 'So go on, Draco.'

I watched Bellatrix put her hands on Malfoy's shoulders and turn him to face me. I looked up at him. He just stared back. He took his wand out and pointed it at me. The tip was shaking.

'Why kill her now?' he suddenly said, looking at Bellatrix. 'I mean, she might still have information for us. After all, l-like you said, she's important to Potter. S-she might be willing to talk in a couple of days.'

I looked across at Bellatrix's face. She was watching Malfoy carefully. I too was wondering what he was up to. Why was he stopping Bellatrix from torturing me, from killing me? Why did he want to keep me alive? I wasn't going to talk. I had nothing of use to them.

'Leave her to me, Bella,' insisted Malfoy. 'I-I'll make sure I give her what she deserves.'

Bellatrix considered him for a moment longer, and said, 'Fine.' She stowed her wand in her dress. 'But I want to be here when she dies. I want to see the light leaving those blue eyes of hers.' Bellatrix looked down on me from behind Malfoy. He glanced at me as well. I recoiled away from them. 'Fetch Wormtail,' ordered Bellatrix. 'He can drag her skinny carcass down to the cellar to join the other prisoner.'

'I think not, Bella.'

I looked up when Lucius spoke up. Bellatrix glared at him. Lucius appeared not to notice.

'Oh, do you?' said Bellatrix smoothly, walking over to him. 'And why might that be?'

'As master of this house, I decide what happens to our … _guests_,' he said smoothly, looking down on me. Bellatrix's glare deepened. 'You may have captured her but you have handed the rights of her treatment over to our son. She is still your prisoner,' said Lucius, stopping Bellatrix's inevitable protests, 'but we will decide what we do with her.'

'Very well,' sneered Bellatrix, glaring at her brother-in-law. Lucius merely looked back, his face in neutral. 'Do as you will with the girl. Just get her out of my sight until she decides to talk.'

Bellatrix looked down and spat at me. Next she strode away, slamming the door behind her. I closed my eyes and looked away, glad she was gone. It was over … for now …

'Draco, get the potion box from the kitchen. Lucius, cancel the Concealment Charms on the spare room. We need to hide her.'

There was a sudden movement around me. Something brushed back the hair falling into my eyes. I opened them to see Narcissa kneeling beside me. I recoiled back from her.

'Ssh, it's all right,' whispered Narcissa. She gently stroked my hair. 'Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you.'

'W-why are you doing this?' I breathed. My voice was barely audible and it shook badly.

'I've got the potion box, Mother,' said Malfoy.

'Take it upstairs to the spare room,' instructed Narcissa. 'Your father's already up there. Get him to come back and help me get her up there so we can hide her.'

I heard Malfoy run out the room. I looked back at his mother.

'Bella—' I started but she hushed me.

'She won't find out,' Narcissa assured me.

I just stared at her amazed. Why were they doing this? Why were they protecting me when the Malfoys' hated my family? What had changed their minds? I didn't have the strength though to ask Narcissa this and I closed my eyes from exhaustion.

-o-

Harry did not know where his rage was coming from, but it had propelled him to his feet too. Lupin looked as though Harry had hit him. Harry just couldn't understand it. Lupin was being such a hypocrite. Never once did he abandon Jenna because of his _affliction_ and now that Tonks was expecting his child, he was doing a runner. Harry was appalled by Lupin's behaviour, a man who he'd always admired.

'If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad,' Harry said, 'what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father's in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with us?'

'How – how dare you?' said Lupin. 'This is not about a desire for – for danger or personal glory – how dare you suggest such a –'

'I think you're feeling a bit of a daredevil,' Harry said. 'You fancy stepping into Sirius's shoes –'

'Harry, no!' Hermione begged him, but he continued to glare into Lupin's livid face.

'So what does Jenna say?' asked Harry. 'What does the child _you_ raised say about you ditching your family to go on this little outing?'

'Jenna is nothing to do with me anymore!' snarled Lupin dangerously. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at Lupin strangely. He looked away.

'Where is Jenna?' asked Harry slowly. 'Where is she?' Lupin was shaking, his eyes focused on anywhere but Harry's face. His fists were clenched by his sides. 'Where is she?' demanded Harry.

'Bellatrix took her!' bellowed Lupin. 'I had no choice!

'NO!' burst Harry before he could stop himself. The bottom of his stomach felt like it had fallen out; his heart was pounding in his chest. 'You did have a choice! You had a choice and you let her go?'

'She would have been better off if I'd never found her!'

'It was you who made Jenna's life worth living! I'd never seen her so happy when she told me she'd got adopted! She loved you more than anything!'

'All I did was make her life a misery! It was one mistake after another with her and now I've lost her! She's probably lying dead somewhere because I couldn't protect her! It was between watching her die or her losing her family, I had no choice but to disown her! I couldn't even take care of my niece! What chance have I got of looking after my own child!'

'I'd never have believed this,' Harry said. 'The man who taught me to fight Dementors – abandoning his child and his niece! You're – you're a coward.'

Lupin drew his wand so fast that Harry had barely reached for his own; there was a loud bang and he felt himself flying backwards as if punched; as he slammed into the kitchen wall and slid to the floor, he glimpsed the tail of Lupin's cloak disappearing round the door.

'Remus, Remus, come back!' Hermione cried, but Lupin did not respond. A moment later they heard the front door slam.

'Harry!' wailed Hermione. 'How could you?'

'It was easy,' said Harry. He stood up; he could feel a lump swelling where his head had hit the wall. He was still so full of anger he was shaking.

'Don't look at me like that!' he snapped at Hermione.

'Don't you start on her!' snarled Ron.

'No – no – we mustn't fight!' said Hermione, launching herself between them.

'You shouldn't have said that stuff to Lupin,' Ron told Harry.

'He had it coming to him,' said Harry. Broken images were racing each other through his mind: Sirius falling through the Veil; Dumbledore suspended, broken, in mid-air; a flash of green light and his mother's voice, begging for mercy … Jenna lying dead at Bellatrix's feet, her cruel laughter echoing in his head …

'Parents,' said Harry, 'shouldn't leave their kids unless – unless they've got to.' A lump then started in Harry's throat. 'He let her go … he let Jenna go – he handed her over to Bellatrix!'

'Harry –' said Hermione, stretching out a consoling hand, but he shrugged it off and walked away, his eyes on the fire Hermione had conjured. He had once spoken to Lupin out of that fire placing, seeking reassurance about James, and Lupin had consoled him. Now Lupin's tortured white face seemed to swim in the air before him. He felt a sickening surge of remorse. Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke, but Harry felt sure that they were looking at each other behind his back, communicating silently.

He turned round and caught them turning hurriedly away from each other.

'I know I shouldn't have called him a coward.'

'No, you shouldn't,' said Ron at once.

'But he's acting like one.'

'All the same …' said Hermione.

'I know,' said Harry. 'But if it makes him go back to Tonks, it'll be worth it, won't it?'

Hermione looked sympathetic, Ron uncertain. Harry looked down at his feet, thinking of his father. Would James have backed Harry in what he had said to Lupin, or would he have been angry at how his son had treated his old friend?

'But what about Jenna?' asked Ron. 'Do you really think she's –?' He didn't finish the sentence.

'She's not dead,' said Harry straight out. 'She can't be. Jenna can't …'

He could not keep the plea out of his voice. Images of Jenna being tortured by Bellatrix kept replaying themselves in his head. Her body convulsing on the floor, Bellatrix laughing as she tortured her. Her imagined screams cut through him making his body shake.

He shouldn't have left her behind. Harry should have taken her with them. He'd seen her running for him at the wedding and he'd shouted at her to stop before they'd Apparated away. Guilt flowed through Harry's body, anger as well at Lupin for letting her go. Jenna was probably dead by now … No, he mustn't think that. Jenna had survived the Death Eaters once before, she could do it again. Or at least … he hoped she could …

-o-

A ticking. I could hear a ticking somewhere near me. It pounded through my head like the Clock Tower bell at Hogwarts. I brought my hand to my forehead. A softness travelled over it when I raised it. It was then I noticed something soft under my head. I opened my eyes. I was lying in a bed. I sat up and looked around.

I was in a small room with little furniture. A chest of drawers stood beside the four-poster bed I was lying in and there was a small desk and lamp in the corner furthest from me. A long mirror stood opposite the desk. I looked at the bed I was in: I was under a white sheet, a dark green bedspread over it and dark green pillows supported my back; the green hangings were pulled back and tied with silver ribbon. Torch brackets gave the only light in the room. I took another look round the room. There was no door.

Carefully I got up. I was no longer in my dress but wearing a pair of silver silk pyjamas. They were soft against my sore skin. I padded quietly across the room in my bare feet and looked in the mirror. I touched my face before running my hand through my hair. It was so short, just touching my shoulders and in odd lengths, falling into my eyes and around my face. It looked so strange on me. I flinched when I let my arm fall to my side. I looked down and saw a red mark peeking out from underneath the pyjamas by my neck.

I undid the buttons staring into the mirror. One by one I revealed a deep red burn mark crossing over my chest and under my strapless bra from yesterday. Further down was another burn crossing in the opposite direction over my stomach. I pushed the pyjama bottoms down a bit to see the burn continued underneath my underwear. I ran my finger over it, flinching from the pain.

A knock sounded somewhere in the room. I gathered the open pyjama shirt around me and spun round to see a door appear out of nowhere in the room. Malfoy entered the room. He closed the door behind him and it vanished. He turned to face me. He stared at me silently. I looked back at him.

'Mother fixed your dress,' he said quietly. He held up a folded piece of white material for me to take. Warily I went over to him and took the dress.

'Thank you,' I said. I held it over my chest to make sure Malfoy couldn't see anything.

'Now you've woken up, I'll get Jitters to make you something,' said Malfoy, turning away.

'Hey, wait,' I said. Malfoy stopped. He looked back at me over his shoulder. 'What do you mean "Now you've woken up"? How long have I been out?'

'Three days. I've never seen Bellatrix torture someone more than she did you. It's usually the Cruciatus Curse and that's all. No one manages to stand up to her as long as you did.'

'You say that as if it was a daily occurrence.' Malfoy's pale face flushed. I hesitated and looked away for a moment, then asked, 'Where am I? The room didn't have a door and yet you managed to get in.'

'This is the spare room in the Manor,' answered Malfoy. He seemed glad to get off the subject of torturing people. 'It's under strong Concealment Charms. Not even the Dark Lord knows of this room. It used to be my grandfather Abraxas's room before he died. We only use this room if we need to hide something.'

I remained quiet and thought for a moment, then asked, 'Are you hiding me?'

Malfoy did not acknowledge my question. Instead, he turned away and said abruptly, 'Jitters will bring you up some food. Don't try and leave the room.' and he left, the door reappearing and disappearing into the wall.

I remained where I stood for a few minutes, clutching my dress to my chest. I eventually walked back over to the bed and sat down on it. I laid my dress down to see it was completely repaired. Good as new. I couldn't think why Narcissa would do this. She hated her cousin as much as Bellatrix did so why she was showing compassion to her cousin's child, I didn't know. Why the sudden change of heart?

The house-elf, Jitters, came up to the room a little while after Malfoy left with a tray of food in her hands. I took it gratefully and began to eat. Jitters watched happily as I ate and squeaked in delight as I thanked her.

'You is very polite, Miss,' squeaked Jitters, her bat-like ears flapping. 'Kreacher knows not what he is saying.' Jitters took the plate and placed it back on the tray. She picked it up and headed for the door.

'Jitters,' I said quickly. The house-elf stopped and looked back at me.

'Yes, Miss?' she squeaked happily.

'What has been said about me?' I asked. 'Kreacher and – I mean, what does … Draco and his family think of me?'

'Kreacher always had low opinion of Miss,' said Jitters nonchalantly. She appeared to be a very open and casual house-elf. Completely the opposite of Dobby. 'But Kreacher is gravely misinformed. Master, too, was never keen on this side of Mistress's family either. Young Master Draco though, he was of mixed opinions.'

'Mixed opinions?' I repeated. 'How do you mean?'

'Miss should mind her business,' replied Jitters a little more angrily. 'Jitters is here not to divulge Master Draco's secrets.'

'Sorry, Jitters,' I said quickly. 'I didn't know it was a secret. Forgive me.'

'Is all right, Miss,' squeaked Jitters. 'You did not know and no harm is done. Master's secret is safe.'

Jitters was a much nicer house elf than I ever thought a house-elf serving the Malfoys would be. But Hermione's words that house-elves should not be slaves came to my mind.

'If you don't mind me asking, Jitters, are you happy here? With the Malfoys? Dobby always said they treated him horribly.'

'Dobby was a disobedient house-elf,' said Jitters. 'He forgot chores, ignored orders and burnt food. He deserved his punishments. Master Draco has always treated me with kindness. Master Draco always preferred Jitters to Dobby but Dobby was always a disobedient house-elf. A house-elf is meant to serve, not to disobey. I am happy to serve Master Draco and his family and I keeps Master's secrets in return.'

Jitters smiled at me. She did seem to be happy here. I guess how a house-elf feels and reacts to the family they served depended on how they were treated. Hermione was right.

'Thanks again for the food, Jitters,' I said. 'It was really nice.'

'I am here to serve any family of Master's as he directs.' Jitters bowed in front of me. 'And Master insists you get food so Jitters is happy to oblige.'

With a click of her fingers Jitters and the tray vanished.

Over the next week or so I regained my strength after Bellatrix's torturing. The day after I'd woken was my birthday and so the Trace on me had finally broken and I was able to heal myself as best I could. My wand had been hidden in my dress and Lupin had always told me it was a necessity to know Medical Spells. However, the burns on my chest and back would not heal. I would have to wait until I got to St Mungo's to heal those. The minor cuts and bruises I had I healed with a tap of my wand.

Malfoy did not return to the room. The only visitor I got was Jitters whenever she brought me food. I was still wondering why the Malfoys were treating me with kindness but, seeing as none of them visited me, I had no way of asking them why it was. She also gave me a pair of old jeans and t-shirt of Malfoy's and I was able to shrink them to fit me. Those were the only clothes I had besides the pyjamas.

I had nothing to do in the room as time passed and as there were no doors or windows I had no way of escape. Even if they wanted nothing to do with me, the Malfoys were determined to keep me here. I spent most of my time sitting on the bed practicing spells I'd looked up during the first month of the holiday. The only other thing I did besides that was think about what Dumbledore had left me.

I had been left six feathers to join the seventh on my Mum's necklace. I looked at the feather. It was small and dappled white like it always had been. A spark of inspiration then hit me. I took of the necklace. Next I grabbed my wand and placed the tip on the feather and said, '_Finite Incantatem._'

A small spark flew from my wand and hit the feather. Nothing seemed to happen at first. The feather just lay there in my hand. My eyes widened though as the feather slowly changed colour. It began to lengthen in my hand and its white colour was soon replaced by a vivid red and gold. I held it up in front of me and ran my finger along the edge. Sure enough I felt the familiar warm glow of it as I stroked my finger up and down it. Placing the tip of my wand against it again, I said, '_Iterare Incantatem_.' and the feather shrunk back to its original size.

'So I do have something to do with Fawkes,' I mumbled to myself. I tied my necklace back round my neck and clasped the feather. 'I have seven of his feathers. But what else?'

I had no idea what other magic I had from being healed by Fawkes and I wasn't likely to find out until the spell on me broke. I looked at my arm. I still had two crosses so no one else I loved or who loved me had died which was reassuring. In some ways I didn't want the spell to break in case I lost control. But Dumbledore had told me to use them wisely and I had them for a reason. I guessed I'd just have to wait to work out what that reason was.

It was another couple of days before I was needed to give information again. A knock sounded against the wall and I looked up. The door appeared through the wall.

'Bellatrix is wanting to see you,' Malfoy said shortly. 'You need to get out of those clothes otherwise she'll think we're helping you.' He chucked a piece of white clothing at me. It was a copy of my dress when it was torn. 'Put this on. She'll be none the wiser.'

I got off the bed and took the dress. I was about to take my t-shirt off when I realised Malfoy was still watching me. I raised my eyebrows at him. His cheeks flushed and he instantly turned round muttering something I didn't hear. I also turned my back to him and pulled off my top. I pulled the dress on and took the jeans off underneath it, leaving them with the top on the bed. I went to zip up the dress but my back was still sore and it hurt to do so.

'Malfoy,' I said, unwillingly. 'Can you … zip me up, please?' He didn't reply but I heard his footsteps approach me. I held the ripped pieces of material over my chest together and Malfoy zipped up my dress. 'Thanks.'

'No problem,' replied Malfoy. I glanced back at him to find his eyes focused on me. He hastily looked away. 'I need to take you to them.'

Malfoy took hold of my wrists and forced them behind my back prior to dragging me to the door. I pulled against him unable to think why he was suddenly treating me like this when so far he'd been nice.

'What the hell are you playing at?' I hissed at him. I tried to pull away from him. Malfoy didn't let go. He just pulled me towards the stairs and made me go down them. 'You bloody –'

'Shut it, all right?' hissed Malfoy in my ear. 'Got to make it believable.'

I stopped walking and stared confused at him. Malfoy looked back at me. He raised his eyebrows slightly. He was … faking this? Before I could be sure this was what he was doing Malfoy forced down the rest of the stairs. He pushed me forwards, his grip firmly on my arms behind my back, and marched me through the hall and into a room on the left.

'Here she is,' said Malfoy. He pushed me to the floor of the study. I fell on my side and looked up through my hair at the people before me. Bellatrix was there, her sister and Lucius just behind her, another Death Eater I knew to be Antonin Dolohov on her left. I lowered my eyes from them, knowing it was best to be submissive.

'She wasn't too much trouble, was she, Draco, I trust?' asked Bellatrix smoothly. She had her wand in her hand, twisting it gently between those white bony fingers.

'None I couldn't handle,' replied Malfoy.

He took his place behind Bellatrix next to his parents. He looked at me, his eyes trying to catch mine in secret. Our eyes briefly met. He looked at me pointedly. What?

Bellatrix approached me and lifted my chin with the point of her wand. Her eyes roved over me. She smiled at the state of my dress. I moved my arm over my chest to cover myself but she pulled it away. Her smile got larger when she saw the burns over my chest and stomach. She ran her finger over them. I flinched slightly.

'Painful?' she cooed sarcastically. She pushed me away from her and stood straight. Ropes flew out of her wand tip and tied themselves round my wrists behind my back. I pulled against them but couldn't break them. 'I have to give you credit though,' she added. 'None of my previous victims have stood up to me as well as you. All submitted after the first taste of _Crucio_. None of them gave a worthy fight, not even Sirius.' Anger burned in me as she spoke my father's name. 'The Longbottoms gave a good fight though. It was fun torturing them. You, however … such a promising witch. Too bad you chose the wrong side. Oh, well,' sighed Bellatrix childishly. 'Just makes it all the more fun.

'So,' Bellatrix paced slowly around me. I followed her with my eyes, watching her every movement in case she decided to attack. 'Ready to tell us where Potter is?'

'No,' I replied shortly. Bellatrix did nothing. Her thin lips though twisted into a smile.

'Do I have to remind you what happened last time you refused to tell me something?' asked Bellatrix. A pain shot up my spine making me gasp. I tensed as it continued for a few seconds until it receded. I let out the held breath and took another deep one. 'You have a choice,' continued Bellatrix as if nothing happened. 'Either give us the information we want or we'll loosen your tongue and force it from you.'

'Then I guess,' I breathed slowly, 'you'll have to … force it from me.'

Like when Bellatrix first captured me I was forced to endure the Cruciatus Curse repeatedly, her questioning me about Harry's whereabouts each time she lifted the curse. The more she used the curse the weaker I got but still I would not give in. Each time she demanded information on where Harry was I replied that I didn't know, only resulting in another taster of the Cruciatus Curse and after a while I couldn't hold my screams in any longer.

'Please,' I panted after half an hour of this, lying at Bellatrix's feet. 'I don't know where he is … We didn't discuss where we were going … we didn't know …'

'You liar!' shouted Bellatrix. I let out another scream as Bellatrix gave me another dose of pain. I crumpled up tighter on the floor, gripping my body and shaking. 'You know where he is and you will tell us!' I refused to answer. Another dose followed by more of my screams.

'Stop it!' I cried in desperation. 'You already know where he'll be!'

To my amazement Bellatrix lifted the spell. I looked shakily up at her.

'Go on,' she said slowly.

'Think about it,' I replied. I swallowed and took another shuddered breath. 'Y-you think the Dark Lord knows him so well … then you should know where he is …'

'What is she on about?' shouted Dolohov. 'She is useless, Bella. She has nothing but rubbish for us. You saw where the last bit of information got us! Allow me to loosen her tongue!' I inhaled sharply as Dolohov drew his wand. '_Cru_—'

'No!' shrieked Bellatrix, spinning round and pointing her wand at Dolohov. His wand shot out of his hand and landed on the floor behind the Malfoys. 'You will not touch her,' hissed Bellatrix. 'If you had been listening, she's as good as told us where he is.' I swallowed when she said that. I couldn't have! She looked at me, a smile forming on her lips. 'Potter's using Grimmauld Place … isn't he?'

Though I didn't reply Bellatrix had got exactly what she wanted. She had all the information she needed. _Least the Secret's still safe_, I thought. Because I hadn't actually told her they were in Grimmauld Place I had not passed on the Secret. I wasn't even sure if they were there. Moody had told us before he died that when Dumbledore died, all those who had been told the Secret when he was alive were now all Secret-Keepers so anyone we told about Grimmauld would be able to get in. But I hadn't. The Secret was safe.

I felt a pair of hands grab my arms and I was pulled to my feet. Looking up I saw it was Malfoy. He looked back at me momentarily before pushing me forwards. I stumbled a bit and was marched back up the stairs. Keeping his hold on me Malfoy moved past me and tapped his wand on the wall at the end of the landing. The door appeared. Malfoy quickly took me inside and closed the door behind us. It vanished.

'You really know how to play with fire,' he said. I looked at him, my eyes narrowed. Malfoy stood behind me and tapped the ropes with his wand. They undid themselves and released my wrists. I rubbed them once they were free. 'Why didn't you just tell her where he is?'

'Because I didn't know,' I replied stiffly. 'I haven't been lying to her. And I refuse to betray my friends.'

'I don't believe you!' burst Malfoy suddenly. 'You're being tortured and yet you still remain loyal to Potter when he left you behind? Anyone else would have submitted after only a few minutes of Bellatrix's torturing!'

'I will not abandon my friends!' I snapped back, glaring at him. 'I don't care if I get tortured! So long as Harry, Ron and Hermione are safe, I don't care what happens to me! Harry is my only hope!'

'Then you're holding on to a dream,' sneered Malfoy. 'Potter won't come back for you!'

'You don't know that!' I growled. I bit back my tears. 'You don't know that because you don't know him! Harry wouldn't abandon me! He's the only one who can save us from Voldemort. He would not leave me behind.'

All of a sudden I felt really light-headed. I swayed slightly on my feet. The room was spinning. I let out a dazed moan as I started to fall over. A pair of arms went round my waist and caught me before I fainted. I moaned faintly. Opening my eyes I found myself looking up at Malfoy … into his gray eyes … there was pain in them. He stared back briefly then cleared his throat. He helped me stand then removed his arms from round my waist.

'Get some rest,' said Malfoy quietly. 'Jitters will bring you some food later.'

Malfoy turned and left me alone in the room. What just happened?

The next day I was surprised when Malfoy brought me breakfast instead of Jitters. I'd heard the knock and saw the door appear. I sat up to see Malfoy carrying the tray. He came in and closed the door. It vanished. I watched as he came and sat at the foot of the bed.

'How are you feeling?' he asked.

'Still sore,' I said. I reached forwards and took a piece of toast. 'But fine otherwise.' I took a mouthful. Malfoy simply watched me. I looked away. It was strange. Something had changed in Malfoy and it was taking a while for me to get use to it. I swallowed my bite and said, 'Do you want some?'

'I'm having breakfast later,' he shrugged.

Malfoy remained in silence as I finished eating. When I was done he took the tray and got up to leave. I watched as he made to go before –

'Draco!' He stopped and turned to me. It was the first time in a while I'd called him by his first name. 'Thank you,' I said quietly. 'For helping me.'

For the first time ever, a smile that seemed completely genuine came on Draco's face.

'No problem.'

The next few days passed without notice for me. On Wednesday morning though I woke up feeling hot and sweaty. I'd had a nightmare. I was running from someone but I had nowhere to go. The person chasing me was going to catch me any moment. I could hear them all around me. In my desperation I was making balls of fire at my hands and I threw them into the darkness, never hitting the person who was haunting me. I woke up from my dream when I came face to face with my attacker.

I regained control of my breathing as I thought, _It was just a dream_. But I'd used magic I didn't even have. I sat up and brushed back my short hair. The sleeve of my pyjama shirt slid down my arm. They were too big for me anyway. I went to roll it down again when I saw something on my arm. There was a third cross.

'Three Strikes,' I breathed. 'It's been broken.'

When Jitters came with my breakfast I asked her if it was possible if she could get me a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. I was wary whether she was going to be able to or not but an hour later she appeared in my room with a copy of the paper in her hands. I thanked her for it and she vanished. Quickly I looked through the paper for news of any deaths. It reported nothing of Lupin or Tonks being dead. I let out a relieved sigh. My family was safe. I went to close the paper when a small article caught my eye.

_Another Unworthy Magic Stealer Eliminated_

_With the success of the new Muggle-born Register, slowly the name of wizard is being  
__redeemed and purified as these "magic thieves" are eliminated from our society._

_Yesterday these so called "wizards" received a wake-up call as the Muggle-born  
__Registration Commission showed they had zero tolerance for those staining the name  
__of wizard by visiting the home of one of these usurpers who had refused to present  
__themselves at the Muggle-born Registration Office in the Department of Mysteries._

_The thief in question, former pupil of Hogwarts School, Noah Oakley, refused entry of  
__Ministry officials when they knocked on his door. They had no choice but to force entry  
__and, as suspected, after a thorough search of the house discovered the boy to  
__possess no history of magic in his family before himself. Oakley showed no intents on  
__surrendering his wand and foolishly attempted to stop the Ministry officials. Ministry  
__officials had no choice but to eliminate this stain in the name of wizards who had  
__rightfully gained their magic._

'_We wish greatly that he had not resisted arrest,' said Head of Muggle-born  
__Registration Commission and Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Dolores Umbridge.  
_'_As a family woman myself, it was a pity to leave Mr Oakley's mother and younger sister  
__in grief over their dead family member but we do what we must do. We are now starting  
__investigations on his sister, Daniela, to ensure that no other illegal magic is present in  
__this Muggle family.'_

_Let the fate of Mr Oakley be a warning to any other Muggle-borns who believe  
__themselves to be above the law. We do not stand thieves and let this be a lesson to __all._

The paper dropped from my hand on to the bed. I couldn't believe it. Noah was dead. He was dead. I looked down at the article again. Dolores Umbridge … a family woman? Sorry that they had to kill him?

'That lying hypocritical bitch!' I shouted. I picked up the paper and tore it in two before throwing it across the room. I glared at it crumpled on the floor, tears starting to fall down my cheeks. 'He's dead,' I breathed, falling back on to the bed. 'Noah's dead.'

As much as it hurt, it didn't hurt as much as when Dad had died. It was just the shock of it. I'd broken up with him in order to protect him but this – Muggle-born Register – he was killed because of whatever this cocked up scheme was. It was then I remembered about the cross on my arm. I pulled down my sleeve and looked at it. It was a single cross. That meant the spell was broken but also that I'd lost someone else I loved. But I hadn't been in that place with Noah. We'd been going out for about for over half a year in total and only when he's gone do I realise what I felt for him. That made my guilt even worse and I spent the rest of the day in tears over Noah's death.

Another week passed since Noah's death and the breaking of the Three Strikes Spell on me but still I had no knowledge of any new powers I possessed. I tried many things I knew to be associated with a phoenix but nothing worked and I was left with my questions still answered. Maybe they'd only come out when I was in danger or a life threatening situation or something like that. And if that was the case then they were going to be coming sooner than I expected.

Late on Friday night I was surprised when Draco burst into my room.

'What's wrong?' I asked him. He was pale and flustered. He had a rucksack on his back and was making sure the door to the room was closed. 'Draco, what's going on?'

Draco placed his hand over my mouth and told me to be quiet. I did as I was told, also removing Draco's hand. Looking at him I saw he was listening for something. I did so too. There were rushed footsteps coming from below us.

'Come on,' said Draco quickly. Draco took my hand and pulled me to the empty wall. He placed the rucksack down on the floor and dove into it, pulling out a pair of socks, trainers and a beanie hat for me. 'Put these on.'

'Draco, what's happened?' I asked again. I took the socks and trainers and pulled them on. I watched as Draco reached into the bag again, this time pulling out his wand. He started tapping at the wooden panels along the wall like he was looking for something or listening for them if they were hollow. 'What's going on?' I asked him a third time.

'Bellatrix,' was all Draco said at first. That could not be good. He tapped another two panels with his wand. 'She's going to kill you – tonight.' My heart stopped. 'She's had enough of your false information and she wants to get rid of you.'

Draco and I both froze. We could hear footsteps out on the landing.

'Quick,' whispered Draco. 'Get your stuff and shove them into the bag.'

I did as I was told, pulling on the hat and making sure my hair was covered. I then grabbed my dress and shoes from the wedding, my copy of the _Daily Prophet_ with Noah's death listed, and my wand shoving it in my back pocket. I shoved the rest into Draco's bag.

'Got it!' said Draco suddenly. I turned to face him. Outside the voices were getting louder. Draco stood up and tapped the panel with his wand again, saying, '_Dissendium!_'

The panel in the wall slowly disappeared revealing a steep flat tunnel. Looking into it told me it was quite deep as there was no sign of the bottom through the darkness. Beside me Draco was checking it too with the tip of wand lit. We jumped when the footsteps got closer and something banged on the wall where the door was hidden.

'We've got to go,' said Draco instantly. He grabbed his bag and headed for the tunnel. He looked back at me. 'Are you coming or what?' I looked between him and the empty wall. I didn't know what to do. 'Jenna, do you trust me?' asked Draco. I looked at him. He was holding out his hand to me. 'Do you trust me?' he repeated.

I moved backwards to him as the banging got worse. I'd made up my mind.

'Yes,' I replied warily. I took his hand.

'Then jump!'

Draco pulled me forwards and we jumped into the tunnel. I heard the explosion above us from the wall being blasted in. I looked up to see the tunnel entrance had closed up after we'd jumped in. Turning back round I realised just how steep and long this tunnel was. It started to curve at the bottom before coming to a sharp end. I screamed as my feet hit the ground and I fell forwards on to my stomach. Draco was lying beside me. He let out a groan.

'Come on.' Draco took my hand and pulled me up. 'We've got to get moving.'

I didn't argue. Brushing myself off I pulled my wand out of my trouser pocket and lit it. Draco did the same his wand. Shining it up the tunnel I saw it was a long muddy tunnel. Where it led I couldn't be sure but I worked out it must be underground. Draco started to walk up it. I didn't follow. How could I be sure this wasn't a trap? Then again, he'd just saved me from being killed by Bellatrix. I had to trust him. I made sure I had a firm grip on my wand as back up before following after him.

We walked along the tunnel for about an hour before the ground began to slope upwards. I kept my eyes on Draco, my wand shining on the ground behind him. Through my head all I could think of was, _Why is he helping me?_ I couldn't work out why he and his family had suddenly had a change of heart and had hid me when I was a blood traitor. I watched as Draco sped up slightly. It appeared we were coming to the end of the tunnel. Sure enough, he disappeared a few seconds later. I ran forwards to come to a wall. A light shone down on me and I looked upwards. Draco was above me.

'Give me your hand. I'll pull you out. Step on to that rock if you can't reach.'

I saw the rock he meant and stepped on to it. I reached up and grabbed his hand. He gripped mine tightly and pulled me up. I was pulled out the tunnel and into the opening in a forest. Behind me Draco was closing the tunnel with another spell. The grass crawled over the hole, sealing it up. Next he stood up and walked past me.

'We need to get deeper into the forest,' he said swiftly. 'That tunnel only brought us inside the first band of trees. We need to find a safe place to Apparate or they'll find us.'

'Hold on a minute,' I said, standing up. Draco looked at me impatiently. 'I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you're doing this. Why are you helping me? Last time I checked, you hated my guts.'

Draco let out an irritated sigh before saying bluntly, 'Now is not the time. The Death Eaters will be on your tail the moment Bella tells them you're gone. Your only hope at this present moment shouldn't be Potter but that Bellatrix stays put instead of breaking the Dark Lord's instructions again. And the moment she finds you, she'll kill you. Now, if you want to live to see Potter again then I suggest you stop asking me questions and follow me.'

I just stared at him speechless. He turned and walked off into the forest. Deciding now was not the best time to argue with him, I ran after him.

We didn't stop until it was nearly one in the morning. Draco just kept looking round the forest until he was satisfied we were safely enough hidden. He'd shine his wand around an area, think for a moment, then walk off again if it wasn't satisfactory. Well, he was a Malfoy and they had high standards. I was exhausted by the time we finally stopped.

'I think we're in the clear,' said Draco shortly. He then turned to me. 'Give me your hand.'

'What are you planning to do now?' I asked him. 'We've been walking for the past three hours. Where are we going?'

'There's a cave in a hillside on the outskirts of this forest,' explained Draco bluntly. 'It'll be quicker to Apparate there now we're deep enough in the forest. We can hide there tomorrow until we figure out how you can get away.'

I nodded. Draco took my hand and the heavier darkness surrounded me. I winced at the pressure on my chest as it pressed on my burns. Draco's hand was gripping mine tightly, pulling me onwards. A few seconds later the darkness receded and the pressure released to my relief. Opening my eyes I saw we were inside a cave.

'_Lumos!_' said Draco. His wand tip illuminated him beside me. I did the same. From what I could see in the wand light, Draco looked as tired as I felt.

'We'd better get some rest,' I muttered. Draco murmured his agreement.

He slung the bag on to the ground. He conjured two sleeping bags out of thin and they landed on the ground with a thump. Next he created two pillows, one for each of us. While he did that, I searched the cave for some wood. I found the odd twig here and there and gathered them in a pile. I pointed my wand at it and said, '_Incendio_.' The sticks caught alight and began burning gently. I looked up to see Draco had already climbed into his sleeping bag. I thought it best to follow his example so I went and got into mine.

'Night, Jenna.' I glanced back at him. He wasn't facing me. A smile flicked on my face.

'Night, Draco.'

I woke up the next morning to see Draco was already up. He was making some breakfast. The cave was still dark and I saw the reason why. The entrance was almost completely blocked off by fallen rock.

'Morning,' I said. He hadn't noticed I was awake. He looked up at me slightly surprised. I just smiled. 'Wow,' I continued, getting out of my sleeping bag. 'Didn't know you could cook.'

'Mother always said cooking was one of the things a man must know,' shrugged Draco. 'She taught me.'

'Least you had parents to teach you things,' I mumbled. I sat opposite him round the small fire he'd made. I watched silently as he cooked. He finished a few minutes later and handed me a bowl of porridge. I took it gratefully and started to eat.

For the rest of the morning I watched as Draco kept himself busy. He didn't talk to me. He busied himself with meaningless things. Going through the backpack one minute, going deeper into the cave the next, then checking the entrance. I guess he was uncomfortable with the situation. It felt strange to be in this proximity to him. But I didn't really feel that uncomfortable. I just needed to know why he was helping me.

After battling with asking him throughout the morning, I eventually got up the courage at lunch. He was busy cooking something. I went and sat near to him.

'That looks good,' I said conversationally. 'What is it?'

'Sausages and rice,' replied Draco. 'Only things in the cupboard they wouldn't notice gone.'

Silence followed as Draco finished the cooking. He handed me some in a tin and we started to eat. I watched him for a couple of minutes or so as we ate, then said, 'I want to thank you … for all you've done for me.'

''S no problem,' said Draco. He finished his mouthful and put down his tin. He then looked up at me. 'We're family.'

'Yeah,' I agreed. 'Distant family though …' Our conversation continued in this stop-start fashion for a while. 'So … why did you help me? Surely you're going to get in trouble as well for helping me escape.'

'Bellatrix won't find out, hopefully,' shrugged Draco.

'What did you do to hide it from her?' I asked.

'I pretended to feel ill at the start of the week,' said Draco. 'Jitters helped me get some things together while I remained in bed. Mother then told me that Bellatrix wanted to eliminate you once and for all and she Transfigured Jitters into my look-alike while I went to get you out. They won't have realised I've gone so long as Jitters doesn't speak and stays in bed like I instructed her.'

'You have a very loyal house-elf. She'd do anything to help her master.'

'Yeah, she's a good house-elf. Better than Dobby at least.'

'Dobby was a good house-elf,' I objected. 'He just didn't like being shut up. He wanted freedom and house-elves have the right to want that. But if one is happy to work then that should be respected to. We should respect them for what they want.' Draco nodded. I continued. 'So why did you save me?' Draco looked at me. 'Why start helping a blood-traitor.'

'Because I owed you my life.'

'What?' I looked at him strangely.

'Last year, you refused to fight me in the Room of Hidden Things,' started Malfoy in a list. 'Fifth year, you stopped Longbottom from trying to fight me –'

'And you think you owe me your life because of those?' I asked. I didn't understand at all.

'Third year, you stopped that Hippogriff killing me after I insulted him.' Draco paused then looked at me. 'I paid you back for not fighting me by sparing you last year outside the Astronomy Tower. I paid you back for Longbottom when I stopped Bellatrix from torturing you. Now I'm paying you back for saving me from the Hippogriff by saving you from Bellatrix.'

'But why?' I asked. Draco refused to reply. His face paled slightly. 'Why the change of heart?' I asked carefully.

Draco shifted uncomfortably on the ground. I hesitated, thinking I'd over-stepped the line.

'Because I've seen what You-Know-Who can do,' he said. His voice shook slightly. 'Seen him kill without remorse. He killed that Muggle Studies Professor from school.'

'Professor Burbage?' I asked. Draco nodded.

'He killed her without a second thought … and he tortured my parents.' I gasped. Draco was shaking. He was trying to hide it but I could see it hurt him to say it. Tears were starting in his gray eyes. It hurt to watch. 'He let Bellatrix torture them in front of me for failing to kill Professor Dumbledore.' Draco turned his face away from me. His white hair fell over his face. 'I begged him to stop her but he wouldn't until he was satisfied they'd paid for my failure.'

I couldn't believe it. Bellatrix had tortured her own sister? That was cruel, it was sick, it was twisted, it was … there wasn't a word to describe it. Draco looked up at me.

'You were right,' he said slowly. 'You were right all along last year. Voldemort has nothing to offer us. Even Dad can see it now. Mum was never for or against the Dark Lord but Dad never listened, saying that as purebloods we had a duty to uphold wizarding traditions and purity with families. But it's too late to back out.'

'It's never too late,' I told him.

'Oh, it is,' replied Draco dryly. 'With the Dark Lord using the Manor as his headquarters, we have no choice to follow his orders. It was a relief when he left.'

'Where did he go?'

'I don't know. Bellatrix then took order over the house as much as she could without pushing Dad too far. He's never liked Bellatrix. When she brought you there I instantly knew that something must have happened. I needed to keep you safe, get you out of the house if it was possible, because I knew you and your _friends_ were the only ones who knew how to stop Voldemort. I couldn't let her kill you.'

I felt a surge of sympathy for Draco. Rallying my nerves, I moved closer to him. I took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Draco raised his face. I could see the hurt in his eyes as we looked at each other. But there was something else there too … something I couldn't quite tell what it is … A shiver suddenly went down my spine.

'Ooh, it's chilly in here,' I breathed. The fire had died out and there was a slight breeze blowing through the cave. Draco mumbled in agreement. 'I know what will warm us up.' I took out my wand and pointed it in front of me. I summoned up the happiest thought I could think of and said clearly, '_Expecto Patronum!_'

A bright light burst from my wand. Beside me Draco shielded his eyes. I watched as the silver light slowly formed together to reveal a dazzling white horse standing before us. I smiled as Hooves looked down on me. Her hooves pawed the ground and she shook her mane. The whole cave was now illuminated by Hooves' silver glow and her light warmed me up.

'I've never seen a Patronus that bright,' breathed Draco. He was staring at Hooves in amazement. 'Mine never came out that corporeal.'

'You can produce a Patronus?' I asked, curious.

He drew out his wand and pointed it in front of him, and said, 'With Dementors under the Dark Lord's control, it was a necessity to know it. _Expecto Patronum!_'

A second light came from Draco's wand. I watched as the shape darted once round the cave before it finally started to form a clear animal. I gasped when I saw it.

'It used to be a cobra,' said Draco. He turned to me, looking straight into my eyes. My heart skipped a beat. I glanced back at the two Patronuses.

'How long has it been like this?' I asked, my heart starting to race.

'A few months.'

I looked at the two Patronuses again. The white stallion stood beside Hooves looking down on her. She watched him cautiously through her long mane. He wasn't as bright as Hooves was but his light seemed to brighten as Hooves accepted his presence. He shook his short mane and let out a slight neigh before stepping closer. Hooves did not seem to reciprocate the stallion's advances, however, she did not bat him away.

I took a moment to think this through before asking, 'When did you start feeling this way?' I did not look at him. 'Everything you've ever harboured for me was hatred.'

'I never hated you,' started Draco.

'You insulted my friends!' I said, standing up. I stepped back from him. 'Insulted me! You did everything you could to make our lives as hard as possible! You were part of that bitch's Inquisitorial Squad! You got Buckbeak sentenced to death!'

'I made mistakes!' shouted Draco, standing up as well. 'Everyone does! I'm only human!'

'You expect me to accept that as an excuse for what you did? I watched my family die because of yours!' I shouted back. 'Bellatrix killed my Dad in front of me and _your_ father killed my Mum when I was a month old!'

'I know! I've learnt my lesson!' Draco stepped up to me and took hold of my arms. 'I've seen my family get tortured in front of me! I know what you've been through,' he said more calmly, 'and I'm sorry. That's why I'm helping you! You showed me if there's something worth believing in then it's worth fighting for.'

'When did I ever show you that?' I asked, completely confused.

'When you tried to tell me Voldemort wouldn't show my family mercy. You were right and I was too blind to see it.'

'But you tried to get me to join his side during the fight at Hogwarts!'

'Because I didn't want you to get caught up in this! You're a blood traitor in Voldemort's eyes. I thought if I could get you to join us then he'd spare you!'

'Why?' I demanded.

'Do you have to have a reason?' asked Draco angrily. 'I don't have to explain myself to you!'

'Then explain this!' I pointed at his Patronus. 'A Patronus only changes its form when the person conjuring it suffers a life altering event like a death or their feelings of strong emotion such as love are unreciprocated. And unless someone in your family has died recently then there is no reason for your Patronus to have changed, especially to a horse!'

Draco let go of me and walked away. I watched him carefully, my heart racing. He couldn't be in love with me. He was my cousin. Distant but all the same he was still family.

'Is it a crime … to fall in love with someone?' Draco looked back over his shoulder at me. 'Is it a crime to want to protect them even if it means you're condemned to death as well?'

I looked away from him, uncomfortable. What he was saying was making sense to me. It was like he'd looked into me and seen what I'd felt for Harry over the past year. What was making me uncomfortable though was that it was what he appeared to feel for me.

Draco was waiting for my reply. I looked through my hair at him before mumbling, 'No.' shaking my head.

'Then don't judge me for what I do,' Draco said sharply. 'You can't predict who you fall in love with and you can't stop it.'

'I know. What about Pansy?' I asked next. 'She always seemed so taken with you.'

'Parkinson?' spat Draco. He said it with such disdain. 'It was always the power and status that attracted her. She knew nothing about me.' Draco fell silent. I just watched him, unable to believe what I'd learnt in the last hour. He glanced at his watch. 'It's almost two,' he said finally. 'You need to leave if you want a chance of finding Potter before dark.'

I nodded. Then, without thinking, I said, 'Come with me.'

'What?' breathed Draco, shocked.

'Come with me,' I repeated. 'If want to redeem yourself so much then come with me.' He turned away from me. I walked over to him and took his hand. I gently rubbed his shoulder. He looked at me sadly. 'Draco, come with me,' I insisted. 'Help us. Help us to fight him!'

'I can't,' he replied. He dropped his gaze from mine. His hand gripped mine. 'If I leave then Voldemort _will_ kill my parents. If he finds out I've done this I'll be punished as well. I can't let anything happen to them, not after what I've seen him do.'

Draco raised his eyes again and looked at me. I could see the pain in them. A pain I knew all too well, pain from fearing for your family. I felt sorry for him because it had taken him so long to learn this.

I don't know what spurred me to do it. Without a second's more thought I stepped closer to Draco. Closing my eyes I leaned up and pressed my lips on his. I knew how he felt towards me and that I didn't feel the same but I couldn't leave him with the feeling of despair. I held the kiss for a couple of seconds until I felt Draco's lips move against mine and I followed his rhythm. I hesitantly raised my hand and let my fingers brush his cheek, moving round to cup his face; I felt his own hand press gently on my lower back while his fingers touched my neck. A few moments later I pulled back and opened my eyes. I watched as Draco seemed to savour the feelings for a moment then open his eyes too, his grey ones looking into mine.

'Wow,' he breathed, gazing down at me.

'Remember that,' I told him. I gently stroked his face. A tear glistened on his cheek. It looked so out of place on him so I brushed it away with my thumb. 'And remember. As long as there's one person willing to fight him, there will be others. Wherever there's light, there's hope. Harry will win. Then you and your family will be free.

'Now,' I took a step back from Draco but took his other hand. 'To get you home.'

'How?' asked Draco. 'I can't Apparate into the Manor without being detected.'

'I have another way,' I replied, smiling. I wasn't sure if it would work but it was worth a shot. 'Think of your bedroom,' I told him. He looked at me cautiously. 'Like with Apparition. Think of you bedroom. Want to be there.' I watched as Draco did as I instructed. I, too, closed my eyes and thought of his room. I felt a warm feeling start in my fingertips. It started to spread all over my body. 'This may hurt a bit,' I said and I opened my eyes.

I saw a flame start between our hands but it did not burn us. It started to surround us and, before it could consume me, I let go of Draco. He opened his eyes to see the fire consume him. He vanished in a bright flash of fire. I covered my eyes as the flame illuminated the cave. It disappeared almost as fast. He was gone, taken back home by the phoenix's escape. Behind me his Patronus also dispersed. I sighed, saying goodbye to him.

With the discovery of something I could do like a phoenix I gathered up the sleeping bags and things and shoved them into Draco's backpack. I allowed Hooves to disperse and lit my wand. I shone it up the tunnel towards the entrance. There was a slither of light shining through it at the top of the rocks. If I could transform then I'd be able to squeeze through it and Apparate out of here.

Firstly, I shrunk the bag so it fitted in my pocket. With that done I ran up to the entrance of the tunnel. I shoved my wand into my jeans and stood opposite the rocks. I closed my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. I calmly thought of a squirrel, a creature small enough to get through the crack. And to my amazement I felt my body transform. It was very painful. I opened my eyes to find the rocks towering above me. I scurried as fast as I could up the rocks. I jumped from one to another right up to the top. I squeezed through the hole at the top. After a couple of tries I managed to get through it and I saw daylight. I jumped down the rocks the other side and transformed back.

With a quick look round to remember, I span on the spot and Disapparated.

I reappeared in Tottenham Court Road. Only just under a month later than Hermione and I had agreed but better late than never. I stumbled slightly when I re-materialised in a side alley off the street. I realised the burns on my chest and back were still sore. Knowing it wouldn't be safe to linger I looked around to make sure no one was about before thinking of a Thestral's invisibility. I disappeared into the shadows.

I wasn't sure if it would work but I needed to use another animal's ability while I was invisible. It wouldn't be safe to Apparate to Grimmauld Place when I knew there'd be Death Eaters gathered outside it. I needed something with wings but I didn't want to transform my whole body because it hurt so much.

_I need to fly_, I thought, trying to come up with a solution. _But how?_

As soon as I thought that I felt a pain on my shoulder blades. A pair of large wings began to grow from them. It hurt so much because of the burns. I looked back as they finished forming. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The wings were made of long, soft feathers, a warmth to their touch, red and gold mixed together. I had a pair of phoenix wings on my back.

'You're really kidding me now,' I said. Anyone would think I was mad, talking to myself, but I was talking as if Dumbledore was beside me. 'Talk about combining magic. Animagus with phoenix, huh? You really knew what you were doing, didn't you, Dumbles?' I flexed my shoulder blades. The wings gently flapped the ground. 'Well,' I shrugged, 'here goes.'

I braced myself. I closed my eyes tightly shut and bit my lip. I flapped the wings. The ground suddenly disappeared beneath my feet and I opened my eyes. I jumped slightly when I saw the ground rapidly disappearing below me. I halted the wings flapping and managed to slow my speed 'til I was hovering in the sky.

'OK,' I breathed. I was bloody terrified. 'Just, don't look down.' I closed my eyes briefly and got a grip on myself. I then looked out over London. 'OK, it's just like flying a broom,' I told myself. 'One flap at a time. Then you'll be at Grimmauld.'

God, if Dumbledore ever did come back like Fawkes thought he would, I was going to kill him myself for this! Still, though shaking like a leaf, I flapped my wings and flew towards Grimmauld Place.

I watched the ground pass underneath me as I flew over London, invisible to all. It wasn't too bad. Like I said, like a flying a broom. My heart leapt when I saw Grimmauld Place appear and I sped up. Below me I could see Number Twelve squeezing itself out. The Death Eaters gathered there were none the wiser. I passed through the Protection Charms on the house and I was concealed by them. I came to a stop, hovering over the roof. Now the only problem was getting inside. If I landed on the front step I risked going out of the protection boundaries. All the windows were closed. There was no way in.

'Oh, not again!' I groaned. I looked below me at the chimney. 'Bugger, there must be another way!' I couldn't see one. 'Oh, sod it!'

I cleared my mind and the wings disappeared. The invisibility also vanished. It took barely a second before I started to fall. I instantly thought of a raven and I transformed. I spread my new wings just in time as I plummeted through the chimney. Soot covered me and I became disorientated. I tumbled out of the chimney into the kitchen. I transformed back, covered in soot, coughing like mad.

'I'm never doing that again,' I coughed. '_Never_ again!'

I stood up and shook off any of the loose soot on me, using my wand to clean my face of it. My chest and back seared with pain from transforming and landing on the floor. My breathing had been restricted by the soot I'd inhaled. I suddenly had that dizzy feeling again. I ignored as best I could and left the kitchen. I climbed the stairs and opened the door at the top. The hallways was as dark and dank as it always had been. The only light was a lamp by the front door. Harry and the others must have been upstairs.

'_Severus Snape?_'

That was Moody's voice. I looked around but I couldn't see anything. I gagged as my tongue rolled up in my mouth, coughing even more than before when it released. That was Moody's Tongue-Tying Curse. That meant the "ghost" of Dumbledore would be next. Sure enough, a large ghost with a fleshless, sunken face and empty eyes appeared before me.

'I did not kill you, Professor Dumbledore,' I breathed, speaking to the ghost. It burst in front of me, dust falling to the floor.

At that moment I heard footsteps coming from above and a voice shouted, 'Who's there?' It was Harry. I took a breath to reply but nothing came. 'Show yourself.'

He came down the stairs, pointing his wand at me. I was about to answer …

-o-

The person in the hallway collapsed. Cautiously, Harry ran down the last few stairs. He kept his wand pointing on the intruder. He heard Hermione's voice asking who it was as she and Ron appeared on the stairs. Harry didn't reply. He slowly approached the intruder. He didn't move. Harry bent down and turned the person's face towards him. His heart skipped a beat at what he saw. He knew that face. Instantly he grabbed the hat and pulled it off.

'Jenna!' he gasped. Harry leapt forwards and turned her over. She was unconscious. 'Ron, Hermione, it's Jenna!' Harry shouted up to them. He heard their footsteps running down them and they joined him in the hallway. 'Quick, help me get her upstairs!'

'Harry, are you sure it's her?' asked Hermione worriedly

'I've known Jenna all my life, I know it's her,' snapped Harry. He lifted her up and held her round her chest and under her legs. 'Get her upstairs to the drawing-room.'

Harry carried Jenna upstairs and took her inside the drawing-room once Ron opened the door. He laid her down on the window seat. Harry tilted Jenna's head back and put his hand above her mouth. She was still breathing. That was some reassurance.

'Is she all right?' asked Hermione worriedly behind him.

'She's breathing,' replied Harry, 'that's the main thing at the moment.'

Harry continued to check her over. She didn't appear to be injured, just incredibly sooty. But then he saw a red mark on her neck. Curious, Harry touched his finger on it and ran it over the cut. Pushing back the t-shirt she was wearing, Harry saw it continued downwards under the shirt. He pulled out his wand.

'What are you doing?' shouted Ron as Harry pointed it at Jenna's chest and said, '_Diffindo!_'

The shirt ripped. Ignoring Hermione and Ron's objections Harry pulled the shirt apart revealing two long scars cut across Jenna's chest and stomach. Harry gasped when he saw them. They stretched across the width of her body, both bright red and blistered. They looked at least a month old. Neither had healed. Under closer inspection Harry saw the ends of more scars poking out underneath her body; there were more of them on her back. Carefully he touched the one of her stomach. The skin felt like it had been burnt off beneath it.

'She's been tortured,' breathed Harry, running his fingers over the scar. Behind him, Hermione gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. He looked down at Jenna's face. Her hair had been cut off and was now short and uneven, the red streaks gone. 'What did they do to you?' sighed Harry. 'Oh, Jen …'

'I know that curse,' said Ron. He walked over and stood beside Harry. 'The Flagrum Curse, a Punishment Curse. She's been Whipped by Dark magic. It burns the skin and leaves cursed marks which almost never heal. They need special treatment to heal fully.'

'Hermione, do you know anything that could heal them?' asked Harry hopefully.

'No,' she replied, shaking her head. 'Jenna knew all the Medical Spells. She would have already tried them when she turned seventeen. And dittany won't heal wounds like that.'

Harry looked back down at Jenna. He brushed back her hair, his fingers stroking her cheek. A small moan was the only response. _Least she's safe_, thought Harry. _Jenna …_

-o-

_Jenna? Jenna, can you hear me? Wake up … Jenna …_

I could hear a voice calling me. It sounded so familiar. I knew it. I also felt something touch my cheek, fingers gently stroking it. The soft tone in the voice, the way my name always sounded when it was spoken by him, the touch of his skin on mine … I knew who it was …

'Harry …' I opened my eyes to see a pair of green ones looking down on me. A small smile came to my face. Harry smiled back.

'Hey,' he said softly. It was so nice to hear his voice again. 'Welcome back.'

'I told you,' I said quietly. 'You're not getting rid of me that easily.' Harry laughed gently. I did so too then tried to sit up. I was in my pyjamas in a bed. Harry came and sat beside me and helped me up. I held on to him, his arm round my waist while his other hand held mine, and looked up into his eyes. My heart raced. 'I promised I wouldn't leave you.'

'And I know you keep your promises,' finished Harry. I nodded.

'I keep my promises.'

Harry sighed then wrapped his arms round my waist. I returned the hug, putting my arms round his neck. I rested my face on his shoulder. I held on to him tightly not wanting him to let me go. I was so happy to be back in his arms. I'd missed him so much.

'You're unbelievable, Jen,' breathed Harry. He gave me a gentle squeeze before pulling back. He gazed at me, an amazed look on his face. He removed one hand from my waist and brushed back my hair. 'You get taken by Bellatrix, look like you've been tortured for days and yet, here you are, right in front of me.'

'I had help,' I replied. I briefly thought of Draco and all the help he'd given me. I smiled as I remembered. 'From an unexpected ally.'

'I'm just glad you're back.' Harry's hand was still stroking my cheek as he fiddled with my short hair. 'I thought I'd lost you.'

'Never.' I shook my head, biting my lip. Harry would never lose me as long as I lived.

Our faces were mere centimetres apart as I sat in Harry's arms. My eyes never left his. I could feel my pulse race and the butterflies in my stomach he always brought when he was near.

I felt myself lean into him. I closed my eyes, Harry's closing too as he leaned down to me, his finger going under my chin to raise it. Our lips gently brushed each other for a second until … we kissed. It was only short but the effect it had on me was incredible. I opened my eyes to look into Harry's and saw a warmth in them I hadn't seen since the last time. A second kiss, this time a little longer before we broke apart. Then a third kiss and this time it didn't stop …

* * *

**AN: ok, just a little thing about this chapter. i know Jenna would be the last person Malfoy would ever fall in love with _but_ i had things to consider at the end of the book and i wanted to show that Malfoy would have done something to redeem himself by doing something against Voldemort though it was never shown. anyway, it adds a little twist to my story. when i first thought about it Malfoy didn't love Jenna but felt obligated to help her as she was part of his family but as i pointed out through Malfoy she was the only one who really stood up to/defended him without violence so he _might_ have started feeling something for her.**

**anyhow, hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review. thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	37. Undercover Jobs and Departure

Chapter 36

Undercover Jobs and Departure

_Every time I see him he makes my heart skip a beat. My pulse races, my legs turn to jelly, I get butterflies. I can't help but smile whenever I see him and I can't stop thinking about him when I don't. I've never felt like this for anyone. I'm pretty sure it's love._

My arms tightened around Harry's neck as his arms tighten round my waist. I held on to him as he lowered me back on the bed. Our kisses became more rapid, opening my mouth when Harry asked for entrance. My pulse raced, the butterflies in my stomach tingling. I'd missed him so much when I'd been captured. I tangled my fingers into his hair. I loved the feel of it gliding through them. Harry's hand that had been supporting my back moved from underneath me. It gently ran over my stomach, pushing up my pyjama top. It touched the scar and I gasped in pain, breaking the kiss.

'What is it?' asked Harry. I opened my eyes but didn't look at him. I'd been brought back to reality with a horrible jolt and now guilt swelled in my heart.

_You had your chance with him. Now it's my turn …_ _I've seen the way you look at him. The way you'd stare at him and looked away when you thought he'd noticed. Seen the glimmer of hope in your eyes_ …

I tried to block Ginny's voice from my head but I couldn't help remembering.

_Harry may have broken up with me but I will always be his girlfriend. You can't change that. Harry loves me and I don't care what crap you say, Harry will still love me after this fight …_

My heart started to ache. It hurt so much to recall it. Ginny was right, Harry didn't love me and never would. I'd missed my chance.

'This is wrong,' I mumbled. I sat up and pushed Harry off me. My eyes remained away from his. If I took one look into his eyes, those green eyes, I knew I would be lost in them. 'We shouldn't be doing this.'

I got off the bed and walked away from him. I winced slightly as the scars ached. In the corner was Hermione's bag. I walked over to it and pulled out my own, pulling out some clean clothes from it. I didn't care that I was changing in front of him, I had no embarrassment with him. I just couldn't bare to look at him, knowing it hurt so much to think of him in that way.

'You're right,' said Harry, breaking the silence. 'That shouldn't have happened.' I waited to see if he'd say anything else before pulling my top down over my scars. Harry got up and walked across the room to the door. 'I'll go tell the others you're up. They can fill you in on what we've been doing. I have somewhere I'm meant to be.'

I glanced back as Harry walked left. I made to follow but he closed the door behind him.

-o-

The first touch of their lips, quick and innocent. A second, holding it just that bit longer than the first. A third, his hand raising Jenna's face just that bit higher so that it didn't stop. He didn't want it to end; the taste of her lips, her arms holding him close, her fingers in his hair. Harry tightened his grip round Jenna's waist, wanting to feel her body next to his own in an attempt to make sure it wasn't a dream.

Never had Harry felt like this before. Never had he felt so much passion nor the feeling that he was needed by someone or that he needed them. What was this feeling? This feeling that seemed to consume his whole being. What was this power Jenna had over him which made his heart race whenever they were alone? Was this what it felt like to be loved? To love someone in return?

Their kisses deepened. Supporting her back he gently lowered her on to the bed. Harry brought his hand round from underneath her back and gently ran it up her stomach. Her skin was so soft under his fingers. However, the moment his fingers touched the burn crossing Jenna's stomach she winced, breaking the kiss.

Worried, Harry instantly asked, 'What is it?' Jenna opened her eyes but didn't look at him.

'This is wrong,' she said, almost inaudibly. 'We shouldn't be doing this.'

She sat up, a hand on his chest pushing Harry off her. She refused to look at him like he was some vile creature she loathed to be near and got off the bed. Harry watched her go over to Hermione's bag and pull out her own things to change. The creature in his stomach twisted horribly as a feeling of rejection threatened to take over him. Why had Jenna pulled away? Why was she still blocking him out? But he answered his own question as Ginny's face swam in and out of his thoughts and feelings of guilt bubbled in his stomach. He knew why Jenna had pulled back and rightly so, that kiss shouldn't have happened, yet he still felt disappointed.

'You're right,' Harry said finally, breaking the silence between them. 'That shouldn't have happened.' Jenna stopped briefly, then finished pulling down her top. Harry got up to leave. He headed straight for the door past where Jenna stood with her back to him. 'I'll go tell the others you're up. They can fill you in on what we've been doing. I have somewhere I'm meant to be.'

Harry left the room. He closed the door behind him and leaned back against it. He pushed back his hair as he sighed. Jenna or Ginny? He couldn't have both and he knew that but try as he might Harry couldn't choose between them.

He had been so jealous when Ginny had been going out with Dean last year. It just really got to him. But there had always been that issue that Ginny was Ron's sister and he valued Ron's friendship more than anything so he didn't act. Still Ginny was his first proper girlfriend and he really liked her. Their relationship had been like out of someone else's life and he had broken up with her so that Voldemort wouldn't use her to get to him. He wanted to go back to her after all of this had ended but now that idea had become hazy as old feelings returned.

Harry couldn't deny there had been something between them before him and Ginny. He'd just have to look in those eyes and he was hypnotised and every time they kissed … it made him feel invincible. Those feelings had lingered with him all through the year. But the moment he went to speak to her, he saw her with someone else and it felt like she'd been taken from him. They'd been distant all year but nothing compared to that moment. Feeling that Jenna no longer needed him.

When Lupin told them Jenna had been captured panic instantly started in him. All he could think of was Jenna lying dead somewhere. And when Harry saw her collapsed in the hallway Harry saw how much of a mistake he'd made by leaving Jenna behind. It hurt him to see those scars on her body, to see she'd been tortured while she protected them, and Harry saw while she didn't need him, he needed to keep her safe. Not for Sirius but for himself.

Harry ran his hands over his face, pushing back his hair in exasperation. He had more important things on his mind now than them. He needed to get to the Ministry. Harry headed downstairs to the kitchen and informed the other two she was up. He then left the house and Apparated away from the front step.

-o-

I stared at the door, then sighed and placed my head against it. I turned round and leant against it, my arms crossed over my chest. I wanted so much to tell him how I felt but I couldn't. I didn't want to ruin his relationship with Ginny. She was right, I'd missed my chance. But not having him just made me want him even more. Tonks' words suddenly rang through my head and the unhappiness I felt increased.

I lifted my hand and said, '_Accio_ wand.' Feebly, my wand zoomed across to me. Wandless magic was weaker than magic with a wand after all. I pointed my wand out in front of me and muttered, '_Expecto Patronum_.'

The familiar bright light burst from my wand and Hooves appeared before me. But something was wrong. She wouldn't form fully. I walked over to her and ran my hand over her muzzle. Her touch was cold. An eerie feeling started in me. I instinctively closed my eyes.

'_It's time you accepted it … I can't always protect you …_'

'_Don't leave me_.' The words left me without moving my lips. '_It hurts too much … I don't want to love him …_'

'_Don't be afraid … it will become clear to you … it takes time … you'll know what to do when the time comes … but first you need to accept it …_'

'_Will you come back?_' I asked. No answer came.

I opened my eyes as Hooves faded in front of me, Mum's voice also fading. I took a deep breath, trying to accept what she'd said. The silvery mist scattered and lingered for a moment before reforming. First a head and ears, a long neck and body next, followed by thin legs. The body was mottled slightly with grey spots on its back. I stared at the new Patronus before me.

'So I am in love with him,' I said dismally. The Patronus nodded. As much as I didn't want to, I had to accept it. But still I refused and I swiped my hand through the Patronus.

I walked away as the mist vanished. I stood opposite the chest of drawers and stared into the mirror. I looked pathetic, pining over him. Plus my hair was a mess from Bellatrix slicing half of it off. Well even if I couldn't do anything about Harry I could do something about my hair. I took my wand and began to neaten it. It now fell in messy layers to my shoulders with the front falling over my eyes. I then took small sections of it and dyed them blood red again with a tap of my wand. With that finished I tied my hair in two thin plaits, shook it so it fell about my face, and left the room to find the others.

I found Ron and Hermione in the kitchen and, to my surprise, Kreacher there as well. Harry wasn't there. The two of them were glad to see I was all right and greeted me happily. They said I'd been unconscious all of yesterday. It was nice to be back with them but Hermione was a bit shocked about my hair. She said it didn't suit me. I went and sat down with them at the table and Kreacher brought me a plate of toast.

'Kreacher is happy to see Mistress is safe and well,' he said before trotting off towards the cupboard. I stared at him in amazement before turning to Ron and Hermione.

'What's with the happy house-elf?' I asked them. 'He been inhaling Flitterbloom pollen or something? But more importantly why is he even here?' I hadn't forgotten what he did.

'We'll get to that in a minute,' said Hermione. 'There's something we need to ask _you_ first.' She and Ron looked at each other. Ron gave a nod. Hermione then turned to me. 'Jenna, we need to know if you gave Bellatrix any information which could jeopardise what we're doing,' said Hermione seriously. 'They managed to track us after we left the wedding and they've been watching Grimmauld for about two weeks or so.'

I'd expected this but not this quickly.

'It's pretty difficult to keep your thoughts straight when you're being tortured,' I began. My hand subconsciously ran over my chest. 'Bellatrix wasn't lenient on me because we're family. But I didn't tell her anything about the Horcruxes. That wasn't what she wanted to know.' Ron and Hermione let out relieved sighs. 'But I can explain why you were tracked.'

'Jenna, you didn't,' said Ron.

'I was being tortured,' I said in my defence. 'I could only fight the Cruciatus Curse for so long. I didn't even know you were going to Tottenham Court Road when I said it. It was the only place I could think of because Hermione and I agreed to meet there after my birthday. I didn't know you were going to be there.' Ron gave me a strange look. 'Didn't you wonder why I hadn't come with you?'

'Well I did ask Harry why we'd left without you and he said it was because of the Trace.'

'Hence why Jenna and I had agreed to meet up,' said Hermione.

'You've seen the scars on my back and stuff,' I continued. 'That was my punishment for false information. They hadn't found you.'

'Well, they did,' said Hermione, 'but we managed to Stun the two Death Eaters who'd cornered us and did a Memory Charm on them.'

'A little while later Bellatrix wanted me again. I was tortured for more information on where Harry was and I didn't have any. I kept telling her that. She didn't believe me. In my desperation for her to stop using the Curse on me I shouted that she already knew where he was, and she came up with Grimmauld Place. Don't worry, the Secret's safe,' I added when I saw their panicked looks, 'I didn't tell her where it was. She came up with it on her own.

'I then heard she wanted to kill me for all the false information I'd given and I escaped.' I thought about Draco again. 'With help from the last person you'd think of.'

'We're just glad you're all right,' said Hermione. She rubbed my arm. 'Harry didn't sleep at all when Lupin told us you'd been taken.' A surge of bitterness ran through stomach at the mention of Lupin. 'When you turned up, he wouldn't leave your side until you'd woken.'

'What?'

'He wanted to make sure you were all right. He felt so guilty for leaving you behind.'

My heart fluttered slightly. A small smile started in the corner of my mouth but I hid it by asking, 'So what have you been up to? Come any closer to one of the Horcruxes?'

Hermione told me that they found out who R.A.B. was. It was Dad's brother, my Uncle Regulus. He'd taken Voldemort's Horcrux and replaced it with the fake one Harry and Dumbledore had found. When they realised this Harry called Kreacher to him and they got the story from him of what happened. He'd been a guinea pig in one of Voldemort's tests and if it hadn't of been for Regulus, he would have died. Later Regulus stole the locket.

'So that's why he died,' I breathed. 'I always thought it was because he'd backed out from killing Mum.'

'According to Kreacher, Regulus was already being watched because of that,' said Ron. 'He'd refused to kill Tala when Malfoy ordered him to and was punished severely. He was lucky to get a second chance when most are killed the moment they disobey.'

With this new piece of information about Regulus, I asked, 'So what happened to the locket?'

'We found it when we were cleaning,' said Hermione, 'but Kreacher took it from us. We didn't realise and now Umbridge has got it.'

'She what?' I leapt up from my seat, wincing. 'Umbridge has got the Horcrux?'

'Dung sold it to her,' said Ron stiffly. 'He ransacked the house and took it from Kreacher.'

'We've been observing the Ministry over the last month to try and work out a time for us to steal it back,' said Hermione. 'We used the Invisibility Cloak to observe it and managed to work out schedules of maintenance and Ministry Officials, entrances and exits to and from the Ministry, plans of each of the floors. We've got it all here,' she gestured to piles of parchment on the table. 'Now we're just waiting to go undercover using Moody's Polyjuice Potion and get back the locket.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione had spent the whole of August since they got here observing the Ministry. Looking through the plans I saw they'd covered virtually everything. They had very detailed maps of each and every floor of the Ministry; they'd found out that Apparition to and from the Ministry had been stopped and the only way to get in or out was through the Floo Network; the most important information they had was on Umbridge, describing her daily routine, roughly where her office was, and who she communicated with.

Harry returned while Hermione and Ron were showing me the plans. I watched him apprehensively but there didn't seem to be any repercussions coming about the kiss. Instead he shoved a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ he scrounged announcing that Snape had been made Headmaster of Hogwarts. Two other Death Eaters, Amycus and Alecto Carrow had also been appointed to Defence Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. I was really glad I hadn't gone back now. Merlin knows what they'd be teaching in those subjects.

'"'_I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest wizarding traditions and values –_'" Like committing murder and cutting off people's ears, I suppose!' shrieked Hermione indignantly. 'Snape, Headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore's study _–_ Merlin's pants!'

'"Merlin's pants"?' mouthed Ron. He and Harry looked at each other completely bemused when Hermione leapt from her seat and ran out the room. I think I had an idea of what she was on about though.

Kreacher served us bowls of soup while Harry told us who the Carrows were. They'd been at the fight last June, on top of the Tower when Snape killed Dumbledore. But as Harry pointed out, least we knew where Snape was now and that he wasn't one of those outside the house.

'It's like they're hoping we'll march out carrying our school trunks and head off for the Hogwarts Express.' Ron glanced at his watch, then said, 'I've been thinking about that all day. It left nearly six hours ago. Weird, not being on it, isn't it?'

'It is a bit,' I said. 'Never going to see the warm Gryffindor common room again, are we?'

Harry didn't reply to this but I could see he too was thinking about Hogwarts. _Probably about Ginny_, I thought dismally. My mind suddenly turned to Noah; this time last year he kissed me on the train. I crushed those feelings. Now was not the time to mourn.

'They nearly saw me coming back in, just now,' Harry said, changing the subject. 'I landed badly on the top step, and the Cloak slipped.'

'I do that every time. Oh, here she is,' Ron said. Hermione had come back from where she'd just been. 'And what in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts was that about?'

'I remembered this,' panted Hermione.

She placed a large painting on to the floor before taking her bag and shoving it inside it. It was the painting which contained Phineas Nigellus, my great-times-three grandfather or something like that. There was a portrait of him at Hogwarts meaning he could have told Snape we were here. If he was in Hermione's purse then he wouldn't be able to report anything. We were safe.

While we ate we discussed what Harry had seen today at the Ministry. So that was where he'd been. Harry had seen Mr Weasley which reassured me that no one else had been hurt at the attack at the wedding. It reassured Ron as well. He hadn't seen Umbridge though. Hermione then asked about an old witch and little wizard in navy robes who was part of the Magical Maintenance according to Ron. She got rather irritated with him when he asked what the problem was for never mentioning it.

'Ron, it _all_ matters!' she snapped. 'If we're going to get into the Ministry and not give ourselves away when they're _bound_ to be on the lookout for intruders, every little detail matters! We've been over and over this, I mean, what's the point of all these reconnaissance trips if you aren't even bothering to tell us _–_'

I silently continued with my soup. I was nothing to do with this argument. I hadn't been here.

'You do realise, don't you, that there's probably no more dangerous place in the whole world for us to be right now than the Ministry of _–_'

'I think we should do it tomorrow.'

Hermione stopped talking; Ron chocked on his soup; I looked up from mine at Harry.

'Tomorrow?' repeated Hermione. 'You aren't serious, Harry?'

'I am,' he said. 'I don't think we're going to be much better prepared than we are now even if we skulk around the Ministry entrance for another month. The longer we put it off, the further away that locket could be. There's already a good chance Umbridge has chucked it away; the thing doesn't open.'

'Unless,' said Ron, 'she's found a way of opening it and she's now possessed.'

'Wouldn't make any difference to her, she was so evil in the first place,' shrugged Harry.

Only Hermione looked worried about this. Harry said we knew everything we needed to know and he already seemed to have a plan in mind for the things we needed to obtain. Hermione was still wary but Harry said, 'It's time to act.'

'Harry's right,' I said. They looked at me. 'I may not know everything you guys have been up to but I do know the longer we put this off, we give the Ministry a chance to better their defences against infiltration. They'd be expecting us to try and get in there at least once,' I glanced at Harry for support; he nodded, 'and the sooner we do it, the better.'

'All right,' said Ron slowly, 'let's say we go for it tomorrow … I think it should just be me and Harry.' And cue the arguments on sticking together.

'Oh, don't start that again!' sighed Hermione. 'I thought we'd settled this.'

'You saw what happened to me when I was left behind,' I added in protest.

'It's one thing hanging around the entrance under the Cloak, but this is different, Hermione. You're on the list of Muggle-borns who didn't present themselves for interrogation and Jenna's just escaped from being tortured!'

'And you're supposed to be dying of spattergroit at The Burrow!' said Hermione. 'If anyone shouldn't go, it's Harry, he's got a ten thousand Galleon price on his head _–_'

'Fine, I'll stay here,' said Harry. 'Let me know if you ever defeat Voldemort, won't you?'

Even I couldn't help laughing at that. But when I saw Harry put his hand to his forehead I looked at him worriedly. His scar was hurting again by the looks of it. He stood and, brushing off Kreacher's concern, left the room. I turned to Hermione.

'How often has Harry's scar been hurting?' I asked her quietly.

'This is the first time since we've been here to our knowledge,' replied Hermione, 'but I think he's hiding it every time it hurts. I swear it must have hurt the first night we were here because he shut himself in the bathroom.'

Learning this made me worried. Excusing myself to the others I left the kitchen and headed upstairs. I walked quickly through the hallway and up the stairs past my grandmother's portrait. As I got to the landing I could hear a muffled voice coming from inside the bathroom. I approached it cautiously. The door was locked. All of a sudden there was a shout of pain. Without even thinking of it fire bloomed around me and I reappeared in the bathroom to see Harry fall backwards from the sink. I ran forwards and caught him when he fell, falling to my knees behind him as I tried to hold him up.

'Harry?' I laid him on the floor and moved round to face him. He was pale, sweaty and panting. I placed my hand on his face and lifted it. A tingling started in my fingers and his panting subsided slightly. 'Harry, please, wake up.'

'Harry! HARRY!' Ron and Hermione's voices came from behind the door. Harry finally opened his eyes, looking dazedly up at me. 'Harry, open up!'

Harry jumped up when he realised Hermione was still shouting behind the door. I got up too when he let her and Ron in. She asked him what he'd been doing and he told us Voldemort had just killed a woman and her family when she didn't believe what he said first. Hermione was not impressed. I watched quietly as the same argument played out again about Harry letting Voldemort into his mind. But Hermione overstepped the mark.

'I don't get it, Harry,' she said, 'do you _like_ having this special connection or relationship or what _–_ whatever _–_' Hermione instantly shrank under Harry's angry look.

'Like it?' he said quietly. 'Would _you_ like it?'

'Harry, she didn't mean that,' I said. Hermione stuttered a reply but Harry stopped her.

'I hate it,' he said. 'I hate the fact that he can get inside me, that I have to watch him when he's most dangerous. But I'm going to use it.'

No matter how much Hermione and I protested Harry was adamant that he was going to use the connection. It was his choice. And because of it he was sure that Voldemort was after a second wandmaker, a man named Gregorovitch. Voldemort wanted to know why he still couldn't beat Harry even with a different wand. Hermione told him again it was his own power but Harry didn't believe her.

'Drop it,' Ron told her finally. 'It's up to him. And if we're going to the Ministry tomorrow, don't you reckon we should go over the plan?'

Reluctantly, Hermione let the matter drop and returned downstairs. Ron followed after her, Harry after him. I watched as they all left before calling Harry back. He turned round in the doorway, looking at me.

'About this connection,' I started but Harry cut me off by saying, 'Jenna, drop it.'

'I know I'm not going to change your mind about using it,' I said quietly. I didn't look at him, clutching my arms round my waist. 'Just promise me you'll be careful.' I looked at him. 'Don't let him take control again.'

Harry stared at me for a second, then said, 'I promise.'

We were up 'til the early hours finalising and learning the plan we'd come up with until we knew it word for word. While Ron, Hermione and Harry went and infiltrated the Ministry under different disguises, I was to remain in the Atrium because it would take too long for me to memorise the floor plans and stay on watch undercover.

The next morning I was up before the others. I had a little job to do. Leaving the house I Apparated to Diagon Alley outside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. I needed a few things for my undercover character. Turning invisible I removed the Locking Spell on the door. Knowing there were bound to be Protection Charms on the premises if I stepped over the threshold I stood at the doorway and Summoned as many products I could. They zoomed over to me at the door and I shoved them into my bag. I closed the door and reapplied the Locking Spell, then Apparated back to Grimmauld.

The four of us Apparated into a tiny alleyway at quarter to eight. While Ron, Hermione and Harry sorted out who they were going to turn into, I busied myself in changing my appearance. I made my hair grow in length past my shoulders before turning it blonde with several different coloured streaks in it. I then changed my eye colour to brown and some Make-up Spells to add eye makeup and whiten my complexion. Now I matched my clothes: a black top with silver writing saying "I'm in a witchin' mood", a short black skirt with a chain round it, knee-length red and black socks, and trainers. I looked like a Muggle punk.

'Jenna, you ready?' said a female voice I didn't recognise. I saw a woman with grey hair poke her head round the corner. 'Harry's just changing. We need to go.'

While Harry, Ron and Hermione in their various aliases went to the toilets where Ministry workers Flooed into the Ministry, I headed down a second street to a red telephone box. I got in it and dialled six-two-four-four-two. The cool female voice asked me my name and business and I replied, 'Astra Eliot, street performer, here to display talent.' I took the badge that appeared and pinned it on my shirt.

The ground began to lower and I vanished below street level. As it descended I saw the Ministry was much darker than before. The lights were duller and the golden statue had been replaced by a black stone carving of a wizard and witch sitting in thrones on top of clothe-less Muggles. It dominated the Atrium. Beneath it were the engraved words: MAGIC IS MIGHT. When the phone box had stopped I got out and made my way through the crowd to one of the fireplaces. I glanced round to see if the other three had appeared. I saw the head of the man Harry was impersonating over the top of the crowd. They were in.

I watched until they disappeared out of sight in the lifts. I made my way through the crowd to an small unoccupied area near to where a wizard in brown robes was selling copies of the _Daily Prophets_. I placed my bag down on the ground and pulled out some of the Weasley products. I'd taken them out of their boxes earlier so they weren't recognised. I stood straight and looked around.

Taking a deep breath, I said clearly, 'OK, wizards and witches, let's get the show on the road! Come on now, step right up! Step up and see some magic Muggles think they can do!' beckoned some passing witches over to me. 'Come on, madam, spare a couple of Sickles and I'll show you a trick! That's right, everybody!' I called as more people took interest in me. 'Muggles think they can do magic, I'll show you want silly tricks they do!'

I managed to keep my nerves as I performed one trick after another. I gained quite an audience of those who were not in a hurry to be anywhere but all seemed to be on the side of the Muggle repression. They had a right good chuckle. I did card tricks, spark-catch, disappearing tricks, and lots of fake magic which Muggles pretended to do. I even got a few Sickles thrown into my box of tricks. Every so often I looked round for any sign of trouble or of Harry and the others but nothing. But then I ran into some trouble.

'Come on, clear off!' shouted a man. He started to disperse the crowd. 'Haven't you got work to do? Back to your jobs!' The man then turned to me. 'What are you doing here, Squib? Got anything better to do than waste Ministry time with pathetic tricks?'

I swallowed as the man approached me. He was much taller than me with dark hair drawn back in a ponytail; his eyes were a dark black as he glared at me and he had the beginnings of a beard on his face; his shoulders were broad and square and he stood with a very straight back; he wore long black robes which stopped just above a pair of highly polished black boots. I knew this man. It was Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange.

'Who you calling "Squib"?' I asked back roughly. Well, I was dressed in punkish clothes, might as well act with attitude. 'I'll have you know I got five NEWTs at Hogwarts couple years back. Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration _and_ Arithmancy!'

'And so you take up street performing as a job?' sneered Lestrange. I glared at him. 'Performing cheep tricks which Muggles use instead of getting a proper job?'

'Yeah, what of it?' I asked. 'I ain't doing anyone no harm. Trying to make a livin', that's all.'

Lestrange looked down his nose at me, then said slowly, 'What's your name, girl?'

'Astra Eliot, and you are?'

'How dare you?' Lestrange drew out his wand and pointed it at me. I raised my eyebrows at him. 'Who are your parents? To my knowledge there are no records of any wizards or witches by the name of Eliot. What parentage are you?'

'Half-blood.'

'Your parents should be told they need to teach their daughter some respect!' spat Lestrange. 'Especially one whose blood is half besmirched by Muggles.'

'They're dead,' I replied bluntly. 'Died of dragon pox.'

'What house were they?'

'Dad, a Slytherin,' I said. 'Mum a Ravenclaw. I was a Slytherin too.' I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at Lestrange. 'Done with the questions? Can I go back to my act?'

So far so good. He seemed to be buying it. I could see Lestrange was slowly loosing his temper with me though. His eyes were so narrowed that his thick black eyebrows were almost touching and his nose wrinkled up in disgust. His wand was still pointing at me but he withdrew and put it back in his pocket.

'A Slytherin, eh? And a half-blood? An interesting mix. So … where do your allegiances lie?' he asked me slowly. 'With the Dark Lord or with Undesirable Number One?'

'Don't read the news,' I shrugged. 'Who's Undesirable Number One then? Is it you?'

'I believe you are familiar with the story of Harry Potter?' spat Lestrange.

'Oh, him,' I said, 'the boy who they said kicked You-Know-Who's butt last time, right?' Lestrange nodded. His glared had deepened. 'I'm familiar with it,' I said. 'Bit on the iffy side though. A baby defeating an old man? Some baby if it wiped out a "Dark Lord".'

'And your allegiance?' asked Lestrange again.

'This answer your question?' and I showed him my left arm. The Dark Mark was still prominent on it, the snake writhing about. He looked at it, touching it to check it's authenticity.

'You are lucky, girl, for the Dark Lord to consider you,' sneered Lestrange. 'Now get out of here. Take your cheap tricks somewhere else. You might get even luckier in Diagon Alley.'

'I think I'll stay here,' I said. 'More of a crowd.'

'Then don't expect any more audience.' Lestrange turned away, striding off to the lifts.

I let out a sigh when he'd gone. Talk about treading on thin ice.

Suddenly there was a shout from the opposite side of the Atrium to me. Everyone stopped. I looked up to see who'd shouted but I couldn't see anything behind the other wizards. But what I heard made my heart stop.

'Seal the fireplaces!' shouted a man. 'Intruders in the Ministry! Seal the fireplaces!'

Shit, we'd been discovered. Quickly I bent down and gathered up all my magic tricks. I had to go find the others. But then another voice from by the lifts bellowed, 'STOP!' I stopped and looked up. I could see the face of the man who Harry had been impersonating but I wasn't sure if it was him. I pushed my way through the crowd to see he was with Mafalda Hopkirk, Hermione. Behind them was a group of scared looking men and women. A second man I recognised then joined them. It had to be them.

'Harry!' I ran over to them. He turned to me. 'They know we're here.'

'I know. Get them to the fireplaces.' He indicated the people behind him.

'Seal the exit! SEAL IT!'

A Death Eater I knew to be called Yaxley suddenly burst out of another lift and was running towards us. Next moment he was thrown back as Harry punched him. He then shouted 'He's been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!'

While Harry blocked their path I started to get the crowd moving towards where Hermione was beside a fireplace. One by one they disappeared. A woman beside Ron was shouting at him as he tried to get her into a fireplace. Across the Atrium more wizards were appearing out of the lifts to stop us. I saw them draw their wands. A shower of red sparks suddenly came speeding towards us as the crowd of scared Ministry workers ran for cover.

I raised my hands up in front of me. My shield surrounded me and the people running for the fireplaces. The spells hit against it with such force that the shield faltered and I fought to keep it going. I felt my hand burn as a spell hit against it. I didn't know how long I could hold it. It was too big for me to handle and block this many of spells at one go. Behind me I saw the last of the people leave.

'Come on!' shouted Harry.

I dropped my shield when I heard Harry's shout. He grabbed my hand, then took Hermione's, and pulled us into one of the fireplaces. We shot out the other side in a toilet cubicle. On the other side was Ron. He was still arguing with the woman. Grabbing him, we managed to get out of the toilet as a noise from behind told us Yaxley had just appeared.

'LET'S GO!' yelled Harry.

I grabbed Ron's arm and Harry Apparated us out of the Ministry. Everything seemed to spin in the darkness until I saw Grimmauld Place coming into view. I heard a scream and a purple flash went over my eyes and I felt myself being pulled in another direction. When the pressure released on my chest I stumbled to the ground. I lay there for a moment coughing before pushing myself up. I need to improve my landings when Apparating.

We were in a forest. The sun shone down on us through a thin canopy of trees and the ground was covered with leaves and twigs. A few feet from me Harry was lying on the ground, Hermione was next to him. I heard a moan beside me and looked to my right.

'Ron!' I scrambled on to my knees and crawled over to him. 'Harry, Hermione! Ron's been hurt!' Half Ron, half the man he changed into, his shirt was slowly turning red as it soaked up the blood from a wound on his upper arm where he was missing a chunk of his shoulder. Harry and Hermione crawled over to us.

'What's happened to him?' asked Harry.

'Splinched,' said Hermione.

Hermione tore apart the rest of Ron's shirt where he'd Splinched. I took out my wand and began muttering various spells to try and ease the bleeding while Hermione told Harry to get the Essence of Dittany that was in her bag. I managed to stem off the bleed and I cleaned the wound, siphoning off the excess blood. Once Hermione had the dittany, she poured three drops on the wound and it began to close up.

'Wow,' said Harry, watching it.

'It's all I feel safe doing,' said Hermione shakily. 'There are spells that would put him completely right, but I daren't try in case I do them wrong and cause more damage … he's lost so much blood already …'

'He'll be fine,' I said, sitting back on my heels. I ran my hand over my cheek, wiping away some tears that had formed; it felt rough and I saw a small burn on it. It slowly vanished. Strange. 'I managed to stem the flow of blood so he won't lose anymore,' I then said. 'We need to make a Blood-Replenishing Potion so he can regain some strength. Ron,' I turned to him, 'Ron, groan if you can hear me,' I told him. 'Come on, just groan.'

Luckily he did which made us all feel very relieved about. With knowledge that Ron was all right Harry asked what had happened. It was a good question. What _did_ happen? Apparently though Yaxley had managed to get a hold of Hermione as we Disapparated and we took him inside the Fidelius Charm of Grimmauld Place, meaning he had the Secret now. We couldn't go back there any more. Hermione managed to get rid of him and then brought us here to the forest. She was so upset that she'd given the Secret but I told her it was more important we got away. Harry also said it wasn't her fault.

'If anything, it was mine …' and he showed us a small, electric blue eye. Moody's Mad-Eye. 'Umbridge had it stuck to her office door, to spy on people. I couldn't leave it there … but that's how they knew there were intruders.'

The subject was dropped by Ron waking up and asking where we were. Hermione had brought us to the forest we'd run into at the Quidditch World Cup. I thought it looked familiar. Since it was the safest place we were for now, Hermione and I set about putting Protection Charms round the area and Harry found the tent Hermione had borrowed from Mr Weasley. With a flick of her wand Hermione put it up and we got Ron inside to a bed.

'That's as much as we can do,' said Hermione. 'At the very least, we should know they're coming, I can't guarantee it will keep out Vol—'

'Don't say the name!' objected Ron. The three of us looked at each other, then back at Ron. 'I'm sorry,' he said, 'but it feels like a _–_ a jinx, or something. Can't we call him You-Know-Who _–_ please?

Hermione managed to stop the argument between Harry and Ron by giving him a warning look. She then started to make us a drink while I removed the Image Spells on me and rooted around in my bag for my book on potions I had to see if I could make a Blood-Replenishing Potion for Ron. I gratefully took the cup of tea Hermione handed me as I looked through the book. I managed to find the potion but it was quite complex. I just hoped we had the ingredients. Least some were Muggle plants so I might be able to find them in the forest.

'Blimey, I hoped they escaped,' said Ron when Harry asked if everyone got away. 'I didn't get the feeling Reg Cattermole was all that quick-witted, though, the way everyone was talking to me when I was him. God, I hope they made it … if they both end up in Azkaban for us …'

'Let's not think that,' I said bracingly. I now had a small cauldron in front of me and I was lighting a fire beneath it with my wand. 'You should be getting rest, Ron. You to conserve your energy until I've brewed this potion.'

'So have you got it?' Harry asked next Hermione. She didn't understand him at first so he said, 'What did we just go through all that for? The locket! Where's the locket?'

Ignoring Ron's comments of not telling him seeing as at the time we were running for our lives, Hermione pulled out the locket. I started when I saw it. That was an exact copy of the Black family locket I'd taken last year. She gave it Harry and he looked over it. It did look quite similar to my locket. That didn't mean what I thought it meant did it?

'Give that here,' I said to Harry. He tossed it over to me. Catching it I saw it _was_ exactly the same; it had the snake made of tiny emeralds engraved on the front and everything. And it clicked. 'This is a fake,' I said.

'You what?' burst Ron, sitting up a bit to look at me.

'It's a fake,' I repeated. Harry and Hermione was also looking at me with looks of disbelief on their faces. 'This isn't the real Horcrux.'

'Jen, tell me you're kidding,' said Harry reluctantly. 'That's got to be the Horcrux otherwise we just risked our lives as well as half a dozen other people's to get it for nothing.'

I shook my head and said, 'No, it's a fake.' I put my thumbnail in the join and flicked it open. Ron and Harry groaned. 'Because I have the real one,' I added.

Everyone looked at me startled. I bit my lip hesitantly and got up. I went over to my bag and put my whole arm into it. After a few minutes searching my hand touched something soft and I pulled out my toy stuffed dragon. I went back over to the others. They watched silently as I opened up the small slit I'd cut into him, put my hand inside and took out the locket. The real Horcrux. Harry's eyes widened when he saw it.

'I, sort of, stole it last year,' I said tentatively. 'It didn't click when Hermione told me. I'd picked this up and kept it safe when we found it cleaning. I thought it was the family locket so I hid it in my room. When I ran away last year I went back to Grimmauld and got it, placing a fake in its place that Kreacher must have found and so on. I was wearing it all last year and I didn't realise what it was.'

'So we just risked our lives for nothing then?' asked Harry. I nodded. Harry got up and took the locket from me. 'You know,' he said slowly, 'sometimes, Jenna, I don't know whether I want to kill you _–_' OK, he was angry or so I thought as next moment I'd been picked up and swung about, '_–_ or kiss you! You bloody star, Jenna! We had a Horcrux all along!'

'Ow, the scars, the scars.' I winced in Harry's arms and he put me down. He grinned as he looked at me. My heart skipped a beat. 'And I'll take a rain check on that kiss,' I added nervously. Harry laughed and ran his hand through his hair, still staring at me in amazement.

'Merlin, Jen, you just _–_ ' and he hugged me again. 'You're amazing! Still, I reckon Kreacher's right,' he then said, looking between us. 'We're going to have to work out how to open this thing before we can destroy it.'

I sat down again and started brewing the potion for Ron while Harry tried to open the locket but it remained firmly shut. Ron and Hermione couldn't open it either. What was weird though that Ron pointed out was that as we held it, it felt like there was a tiny heart inside it. You feel it beating as you held it. Since we couldn't destroy it straight away we had to keep it safe and Harry placed it round his neck under his shirt. Hermione and Harry then started to keep watch in the porch of the tent, Harry's Sneakoscope sitting on a table as a caution, and I got on with the potion.

After a few hours I finished the potion. Pouring the blood-red solution into a cup, I went over to Ron and gave it to him. He was still a bit peaky but looked a little better once he'd drunken the potion. Least he had some colour in his face now. I told him he just had to rest for the next couple of days and the blood he'd lost would be replaced. Meanwhile, Hermione had gone and searched for some food we could eat around the trees and Harry was keeping watch. Wild mushrooms didn't really fill you up though. In fact they tasted terrible but they were the only food we had.

Once I'd finished my mushrooms I took refuge in the area where Hermione and I would be sleeping. Closing it off I turned and looked at my hand. The burn had gone. All I'd done was run it over my face to get rid of some tears and it had healed. And it clicked. Phoenix tears. I had phoenix tears. That would save a lot of time brewing potions and spells to heal injuries. But I couldn't exactly start crying every time someone was hurt. I sat for the next hour or so trying to think of how to collect enough of them in case we had any serious injuries.

'Self harming seems to be the only solution,' I said to myself. I lay back on my bed and stared up at the canvas ceiling. Behind the curtain wall I could hear Hermione having another go at Harry for slipping into Voldemort's mind again. This time it was about some thief. I sighed. 'I wish she'd give him a break,' I muttered. I returned to my original train of thoughts. 'If I keep cutting myself, tears will be drawn from the pain,' I thought aloud. 'I could collect them in a phial and let some heal myself to do it again. At least we'd have a supply even if it's a drastic way to do it.'

It was the only way I could come up with to collect enough tears. Their healing properties meant that, if there was to be a war between us and Voldemort, then we'd have something to heal them on the spot. If we had a supply of phoenix tears they'd be easy to heal. And seeing as Fawkes was gone, I was the only one with that power. I groaned quietly in frustration and said, 'Sodding Dumbledore. Roll on the day when I'm normal!'

The next day we all agreed that it wasn't safe to stay anywhere for too long so we packed up the tent, making sure we'd removed any evidence of us being there, and Apparated to another location which had Ron's specification of being able to get a bacon sandwich. When we'd set up camp and made all the necessary precautions Harry went into the market town to get some food. He came back about half an hour later pale and shivering. We got him inside the tent and asked him what happened. His reply was a mouthed, 'Dementors.'

None of us could understand why Harry hadn't been able to produce a Patronus. He'd always been so good at it. He'd been able to do it since the third year, chased off nearly a hundred Dementors with it before, defended all those people with it yesterday, and yet he couldn't produce one now? What had happened?

'Of course!' cried Hermione. We all looked at her. 'Harry, give me the locket! Come on,' she said, clicking her fingers impatiently, 'the Horcrux, Harry, you're still wearing it!'

When Harry removed the Horcrux from around his neck he instantly felt much better.

'Of course,' I said out loud. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at me. Instead of answering I thought of a wolf and changed into it. When I transformed back they still were looking at me puzzled. 'Last year, I couldn't transform at all,' I said, 'and now it's back. It was because I was wearing the Horcrux. It was repressing my magic, not my wand magic but my Animagus ability. That's why I couldn't transform and now that I'm not wearing it, I can!'

Hermione was still anxious about the situation and said we shouldn't wear it in case the thing did try to possess us like the diary had possessed Ginny. She wanted to leave it in the tent but Harry refused point blank to leave it lying around so Hermione put it on.

'But we'll take turns in wearing it, so nobody keeps it on too long.'

'Hermione, I wore that thing for a year and nothing drastically bad happen to me,' I said.

'Because you weren't emotionally attached to it,' she replied, 'so it couldn't harm you. Now we know what it is, it might be easier for it to possess us.'

'Great,' said Ron irritably, stopping this conversations, 'and now we've sorted that out, can we please get some food?' I held in a groan. Him and his food.

'Fine, but we'll go somewhere else to find it,' said Hermione. She glanced at Harry. 'There's no point staying where we know Dementors are swooping around.'

We took refuge that night in a field near-ish to an old farm. Hermione went out under the Cloak and got us some eggs and bread, leaving some money behind so that it wasn't stealing. It tasted a lot better than those mushrooms at least and it felt good to go on watch that night with a full stomach. But when it wasn't my turn I started on my plan to collect phoenix tears.

I'd packed Dad's knife (the one he almost killed me with) in my bag. Taking deep breaths in between as I collected the tears in an empty potion bottle, I used it to cut my right arm (which no longer had the three crosses on it), it stinging every time. I didn't fight the tears but let the come, also holding in my gasps of pain, and when they stopped, I let a tiny drop of the store drip on to my arm and it healed leaving no marks. I had to stop when Hermione called me for my next watch. I only managed to collect a centimetre's worth of tears in the phial. This was going to take me forever.

After a week or so it became clear that neither Ron nor Hermione did well on empty stomachs. I was used to it having been almost starved before sixth year. And with the effects of the locket as well, it made the two of them worse. Harry was the least effected having endured small meals before at the Dursleys but he did get ratty when wearing the locket; Hermione's temper was much shorter these days and she sat in silences we learnt not to disturb for hours at a time simply reading; Ron, who had always been used to three square meals, became very irritable, especially when wearing the locket; as for me, I didn't get irritable as such but I did snap at the others when I was wearing it. Plus I found I couldn't produce phoenix tears while I was wearing it so that delayed getting a full phial of them.

We changed location every one or two days. And each day we discussed where the next possible location was where Voldemort could have hidden one of his Horcruxes. And with each day we came to the same answers, coming up with no new ideas and no leads. We came up with Hogwarts, the orphanage Voldemort had lived, Borgin and Burkes, Albania, but none of them seemed concrete places to look.

'Yeah, let's go to Albania,' said Ron tersely Monday night. 'Shouldn't take more than an afternoon to search an entire country.'

Conversations became very repetitive whether they be about Harry's latest trip into Voldemort's mind about the thief he was searching for, or to do with the Horcruxes, or how to destroy them. My only means of stopping myself from shouting at Ron to stop complaining was by reading the books I'd brought from Moonlake.

'So wandless magic can become stronger if the wizard has more self control,' I read to myself in _A Guide to Wandless Magic_ while the others discussed the same things again. 'But it takes a lot of magical energy and can exhaust the wizard. Well that explains why I get tired easily when I use my shield.'

'I still reckon he might have hidden something at Hogwarts,' said Harry angrily as Ron did a fake yawn in trying to get him to stop.

'Dumbledore would have found it, Harry!' sighed Hermione. How many times had we been through this? I'd lost count now!

'Dumbledore said in front of me that he never assumed he knew all of Hogwarts' secrets. I'm telling you, if there was one place Vol—'

'OI!'

'YOU-KNOW-WHO, then!' shouted Harry. I looked up at him cautiously; this was really getting to him. 'If there was one place that was really important to him, it was Hogwarts!'

'Oh, come on,' scoffed Ron. 'His _school_?'

'Yeah, his school!' snapped Harry. 'It was his first real home, the place that meant he was special, it meant everything to him, and even after he left _–_'

I watched as this argument played out. I didn't want to get involved when Harry was this angry. I hated it when Harry got like this. It just wasn't him and it made me want to shout at him that this wasn't him. Harry didn't get angry like this. It was moments like this that I worried about the connection with Voldemort, hoping that he wasn't becoming like him. And because of my feelings it made it harder to endure his rage.

With no other leads we travelled to London beneath the Invisibility Cloak, me hidden as an mouse in Hermione's pocket so to save room, to where the orphanage Voldemort lived at was only to find it was no longer there. Hermione managed to get a book from a library and we found out that it had been knocked down years ago and replaced with a tower block of offices. Another wild Crumple-Horned Snorkack chase gone fowl. That was the only way to describe it. I miss Luna.

With no new ideas we continued our journey over the countryside, pitching the tent in different places each night for security and to keep the Death Eaters off our trail. It was the same routine for the next couple of weeks: Hermione and I would set up the enchantments to protect us while Ron and Harry sorted out the tent; then the guys would remove any traces of us being in the area while Hermione and I packed the things back into our bags. So this is what it must have felt like for Dad when he was on the run. Least it beat being kept prisoner for Bellatrix to torture whenever she felt like it.

Speaking of Dad I thought a lot about him and Mum every night while I was keeping watch. And James and Lily. I wished so badly that I'd had more time with him. I wished I could have known my Mum considering my Patronus is her Animagus form, or was. It was weird not having Hooves to protect me any longer (I made sure I never got in the situation when I'd have to conjure one). As for James and Lily, I thought about what they'd say if they could see Harry now. They'd be proud of him for dealing with so much but I guess also regretful that he had to go through it. If only there was a way to bring them back …

I'd watched Harry silently whenever neither of us were on watch. His scar seemed to keep hurting and I felt sad at the fact I couldn't help him. Ron was the only one who demanded to know what was happening though I could see it caused him such pain every time his scar seared. And every time Ron seemed disappointed that nothing useful came from Harry's little trip into Voldemort's head. What was he hoping for?

Harry also seemed so lonely all the time when his scar was not hurting. He'd either sit on his bed or in a chair on his own and stare irritably into the distance. Was he getting angry with us? In the past he'd kept trying to get Hermione, Ron and I to turn back but we never did. We told him he didn't have to do this alone but that was just a factor of him. He wanted to do things alone. What was to say he'd had enough of us and wanted to go on alone?

'Hey,' I said to him one night. He was sitting in one of the chairs, turning his wand over in his hand. 'Thought you could do with some company.'

'Where're the others?' he asked.

'Ron's on watch and Hermione's reading. She's wearing the locket again so, do not disturb.'

I stood in front of Harry, waiting for the moment he'd tell me he wanted to be alone. Harry merely looked away from me. Plucking up the courage, I walked over to him. I gently sat on his lap and brushed his hair back. Harry looked at me.

'You don't always have to be so brave,' I told him. I took his hand and gripped it. 'You don't have to do this alone. Hermione, Ron and I, we'll always be here to help you but you've got to let us. We had a chance to go back but we decided to go with you for a reason.'

'Some things I have to do alone,' replied Harry bluntly. 'I can't _–_'

I placed my finger over Harry's mouth to shush him. My heart started to race as our eyes met. I tried to ignore it. Harry took my hand in his and removed it.

'You don't always have to protect us,' I said. 'For once why don't you let someone protect you. Stop shutting us out.'

'Not all of us have your bravery, Jen,' said Harry.

'And not all of us have your courage,' I replied. 'But as long as you're willing to fight, so will others. And I'm one of them.'

Harry sighed before looking up at me. He wrapped his arms round my waist and I was brought a little closer. I rested my head on his shoulder, Harry resting his own on mine. I felt his chest gently rise and fall beneath me. I swore if it remained as quiet as this I would be able to hear his heart beating. All I could think of though was that I knew Harry would never feel the same way for me as I do for him and I would never get a chance to tell him how I feel.

'Thanks, Jen,' he whispered to which I replied, 'No problem.'

The days of waiting slowly turned into weeks. As October approached the weather deteriorated, mists mixing with the chills made by Dementors, and I noticed Harry becoming more irate as he kept walking in on Hermione and Ron talking quietly together, stopping the moment they saw him. Ron was never subtle when it came to hiding their disappointment about the lack of leads we'd had on the Horcruxes.

I never joined these conversations. I refused to talk about Harry behind his back. Anything I had to say to him I would say to his face. Except for my feelings, of course. I kept myself preoccupied by trying to collect more phoenix tears and trying to work out why Dumbledore had left me with seven phoenix feathers. I'd gone through all known magical properties of the phoenix but I couldn't understand why I needed them. I also managed to read through all of the books I'd brought from Moonlake Cottage. They didn't inspire any guesses either.

It was the potions book I found the most interesting. It listed all these helpful potions we might need in any extreme or drastic situations but all were very complicated and my potion skills were only just above Exceeds Expectations at NEWT level. The other interesting thing I found was how many plants both magical and Muggle there were which had regenerating properties and could help the body restore itself and were said to bring "new life" to the drinker of any potions they were in. I even found some of them in some of the places we went to and collected a few Muggle ones in case of emergencies.

The strain of wearing the Horcrux became evident mid-October. Ron was getting increasingly infuriated with things whenever he was wearing it and remained in a bad mood when he wasn't. The person his moods had the most effect on though was Hermione and it was mainly the quality of food he complained about. Well, we couldn't exactly have brought Mrs Weasley with us, could we?

'Harry caught the fish and I did my best with it!' said Hermione indignantly when Ron said his mum could make food out of thin air. That was actually impossible; you could only increase, transform, or Summon food to my knowledge. Something about Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, you'd have to ask Hermione. 'I notice I'm always the one who ends up sorting out the food; because I'm a _girl_, I suppose!'

'No, it's because you're supposed to be the best at magic!' shouted Ron. Hermione jumped to her feet in anger.

'_You_ can do the cooking tomorrow, Ron, _you_ can find the ingredients and try and charm them into something worth eating, and I'll sit here and pull faces and moan and you can see how you like it!'

'Hermione, calm down for Merlin's sake,' I said. I was tired of all the fighting.

'No, Jenna, I'm sick of all of Ron's _–_'

'Shut up!' hissed Harry suddenly. 'Shut up _now_!'

'How can you side with him,' said Hermione outraged, 'he hardly ever does the cook—'

'Hermione, be quiet, I can hear someone!'

Sure enough when we were quiet I too could hear someone outside the tent. They were close to where we were. Harry glanced at his Sneakoscope but it wasn't moving. The reassuring thing was that, if it was Death Eaters, we couldn't be found because of all the charms round the tent. There were heavy footsteps and the breaking of twigs which told us there was more than one person. The voices steadily became louder but the sound of a nearby river was drowning them out. Hermione got up and pulled some Extendable Ears from her bag, chucking one to each of us. Carefully we threaded the ends out of the tent. The voices were much clearer now.

We managed to identify that at least two of the group were goblins as they spoke in Gobbledegook. There was also a weary sounding man there. My heart sank though when I heard a familiar voice; Ted, Tonks' dad, was with them. As their conversation about escaping continued we heard a fifth voice which all of us knew. Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor and roommate of Harry and Ron, was there. Dean was on the run because of his unknown status while Ted because of being a Muggle-born. As for the other man, Dirk, he'd met up with the goblins, Griphook and Gornuk, after he escaped from Azkaban.

As for the goblins, they weren't on either side in the war. It was a wizard's war according to them. The deeper voice one had refused duties he deemed worthy of a house-elf while Griphook had left because of Gringotts being overthrown from goblin rule.

'I recognise no wizarding master,' grunted Griphook. A second later he laughed after saying something in Gobbledegook to Gornuk. The four of us looked at each other.

'What do you suppose is funny about being on the run?' I asked. The others shrugged.

Dean too asked the same question about what was funny. Dirk replied, saying, 'He said that there are things wizards don't recognise either.'

'I had my small revenge before I left,' said Griphook in English.

'Good man _–_ goblin, I should say,' Ted corrected himself. 'Didn't manage to lock a Death Eater up in one of the old high-security vaults, I suppose?' he asked.

'If I had, the sword would not have helped him break out,' replied Griphook. Gornuk and Dirk both laughed. Ted and Dean were still missing the point. So were we. 'So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it,' said Griphook and the two goblins roared in laughter.

Harry, Hermione and I looked at each other before looking back at the entrance to listen carefully. Someone at Hogwarts had tried to get the Gryffindor sword out of Snape's office according to Dirk. Griphook had told him. Ginny had been one of those who'd tried to take it.

'She and a couple of friends got into Snape's office and smashed open the glass case where he was apparently keeping the sword,' said Dirk. 'Snape caught them as they were trying to smuggle it down the staircase.'

'Ah, God bless 'em,' said Ted. 'What did they think, that they'd be able to use the sword on You-Know-Who? Or on Snape himself?'

'Well, whatever they thought they were going to do with it, Snape decided the sword wasn't safe where it was,' said Dirk. 'Couple of days later, once he'd got the say so from You-Know-Who, I imagine, he sent it down to London to be kept in Gringotts instead.'

The goblins were still laughing. Ted still didn't get the joke.

'It's a fake,' rasped Griphook eventually. I held in a gasp. How could he tell?

'The sword of Gryffindor!'

'Oh, yes. It's a copy _–_ an excellent copy, it is true _–_ but it was wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armour possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts Bank.'

'I see,' said Ted. 'And I take it you didn't bother telling the Death Eaters this?'

'I saw no reason to trouble them with the information,' shrugged Griphook smugly and they all started to laugh.

Luckily none of those who'd been caught were punished too severely, considering Snape was in charge. Ted was surprised, and when asked about it, he was part of those who believed Snape to be responsible for Dumbledore's death and that Harry had nothing to do with it. Dirk, however, wasn't as sure and for good reason. Nobody knew where Harry was and like he said, 'Run for it, by the looks of things.' The _Prophet_ apparently had a good propaganda built against Harry but Ted said it was better to trust _The Quibbler_ these days.

'_The Quibbler_?' burst Dirk, choking slightly. 'That lunatic rag of Xeno Lovegood's?'

'It's not so lunatic these days,' said Ted. 'You want to give it a look. Xenon is printing all the stuff the _Prophet's_ ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they'll let him get away with it, mind, I don't know. But Xeno says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number one priority.'

'Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth,' said Dirk.

'Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet's one hell of an achievement,' said Ted. 'I'd take tips from him gladly. It's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?'

'Yeah, well, you've got a point there. With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him, I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already caught and killed him without publicising it?'

'Ah, don't say that, Dirk.'

Silence followed. Then there were footsteps retreating away from where we were camped indicating that Dean and the others had gone to hide in the trees. We drew in the Extendable Ears and looked at each other. Ron had gone a bit pale and Harry seemed to have a lump in his throat. _Probably thinking of Ginny_, I thought dismally. Hermione, on the other hand, sprang to her feet and dived into her purse, pulling out a large portrait a moment later.

'Here … we … are,' she said, hauling it up. 'If somebody swapped the real sword for the fake while it was in Dumbledore's office, Phineas Nigellus would have seen it happen.' She rested the portrait against the tent wall. 'He hangs right beside the case!'

'Unless he was asleep,' said Harry. He turned to the portrait. 'Er _–_ Phineas? Phineas Nigellus?' No reply.

'Phineas Nigellus?' said Hermione again. 'Professor Black? Please could we talk to you?'

'"Please" always helps,' said a cold, snide voice, and my great-great-great grandfather slid into the portrait.

The moment he appeared, Hermione pointed her wand at him and said, '_Obscuro!_' A blank blindfold appeared over Phineas's eyes and he bumped into the frame. He demanded for us to remove the blindfold but it was better he didn't see where we were.

'Remove this foul addition at once! Remove it, I say! You are ruining a great work of art! Where am I? What is going on?'

'Typical Black,' I sighed, looking at him. Phineas stopped moving and looked to where he thought my voice had come.

'Well, well, I recognise that voice,' he said smoothly. 'If it isn't my great-great-great granddaughter. I thought Bellatrix had captured you? Abraxas said you'd been tortured so much on the first night that he thought you had been killed.'

'I got away,' I said bluntly.

'Evidently. Of course, slipping from the tightest of situations has always been a specialty of yours because of your … _gift_.' I glared at him. 'Now, tell me where am I?'

'Never mind where we are,' said Harry. Phineas's head followed his voice and he asked if it was Harry he was speaking to. 'Maybe,' he replied. 'We've got a couple of questions to ask you _–_ about the sword of Gryffindor.'

'Ah,' said Phineas, still turning his head, 'yes. That silly girl acted most unwisely there _–_' Ron shouted his objections to that comment, and once he'd stop asking who else was here, he said, 'The girl and her friends were foolhardy in the extreme. Thieving from the Headmaster!'

'They weren't thieving,' said Harry. 'That sword isn't Snape's.'

'It belongs to Professor Snape's school,' said Phineas. 'Exactly what claim did the Weasley girl have upon it? She deserved her punishment, as did the idiot Longbottom and the Lovegood oddity!'

'Neville is not an idiot!' I said indignantly.

'And Luna is not an oddity!' added Hermione.

Every time Phineas insulted one of our friends one of us objected to it. Still, we managed to find out that Ginny and the others' punishment wasn't too bad; it was only going into the Forest with Hagrid, meaning they would have been safe with him. With the knowledge that Ginny and the others were safe, Hermione asked Phineas if anyone else had taken the sword.

'Maybe it's been taken away for cleaning or _–_ or something?'

'_Muggle-borns_,' sneered Phineas. 'Goblin-made armour does not require cleaning, simple girl. Goblins' silver repels mundane dirt, imbibing only that which strengthens it.'

'Don't call Hermione simple,' said Harry.

'I grow weary of contradiction,' said Phineas lazily. 'Perhaps it's time for me to return to the Headmaster's office?' Phineas got up and attempted to find the side of his frame when Harry suddenly asked if he could bring us Dumbledore from his portrait in the office. 'Evidently it is not only Muggle-borns who are ignorant, Potter. The portraits of Hogwarts may commune with each other, but they cannot travel outside the castle except to visit a painting of themselves hanging elsewhere. Dumbledore cannot come here with me, and after the treatment I have received at your hands, I can assure you that I shall not be making a return visit!'

In a last desperate attempt Hermione asked Phineas if he could just tell us when the last time the sword was removed from its case. Apparently it was when Dumbledore used it to break open a ring. Gaunt's ring Harry had told us about? He said Dumbledore had had it. Phineas finally made it to the edge of his frame and left. As soon as he'd gone, between us Hermione, Harry and I realised that we needed the sword in order to destroy the rest of the Horcruxes as the Basilisk venom had been absorbed by it. But the only problem was: where was the real sword if Snape had a fake? And we had no idea where it could possibly be.

'So, would he have hidden the sword well away from Hogsmeade, then? What do you reckon, Ron? Ron?'

Harry, Hermione and I looked up to see Ron lying on his bunk looking stony. He said, 'Oh, remembered me, have you?' which completely confused us. 'You three carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun.' Harry looked at me and Hermione questioningly but we shook our heads. We were as confused as he was.

'What's the problem?' he asked.

'Problem?' repeated Ron airily. 'There's on problem. Not according to you, anyway.'

Outside it began to rain.

'Well, you've obviously got a problem,' said Harry. 'Spit it out, will you?'

Ron swung his legs off the bed and sat up. His eyes were narrowed as he glared at Harry. Hermione and I shared a worried glance.

'All right, I'll spit it out,' he said. 'Don't expect me to skip up and down the tent because there's some other damn thing we've got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don't know.'

'I don't know?' repeated Harry. '_I_ don't know?'

'It's not like I'm not having the time of my life here,' said Ron, 'you know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every night. I just hoped, you know, after we'd been running round a few weeks, we'd have achieved something.'

Hermione quietly tried to intervene but the rising argument between Harry and Ron escalated before us in a matter of moments. While Hermione tried to stop Ron from saying something he could regret, I tried to stop Harry from saying something wrong as well. Neither of us had any success in stopping them.

'We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!'

'Ron!'

'Well, sorry to let you down,' responded Harry surprisingly calmly. 'I've been straight with you from the start, I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in case you haven't noticed, we've found one Horcrux _–_'

'Yeah, seeing as Jenna had stolen it in the first place but didn't think to tell us so we ended up risking our necks just to get another fake.' I had to stop Harry lunging at Ron as he said that, pushing him back on his chest. 'And we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them – nowhere fucking near, in other words!'

'Take off the locket, Ron,' said Hermione, her voice high. 'Please take it off. You wouldn't be talking like this if you hadn't been wearing it all day.'

'Yeah, he would,' said Harry.

'Harry, please,' I said. 'He doesn't mean it.'

'Sure he does, Jenna,' replied Harry, glaring at him. 'D'you think I haven't noticed the two of them whispering behind my back? D'you think I didn't guess you were thinking all this stuff?'

'Harry, please _–_'

'Harry, we weren't _–_'

'Don't lie!' Ron shouted at Hermione. 'You said it too, you said you were disappointed, you said you'd thought he had a bit more to go on than _–_'

As the rain pounded the tent tears began to fall down Hermione's cheeks as she tried to correct what Ron had said. I stood beside Harry watching all of them. I couldn't do anything because I hadn't been here. I didn't know what had happened before we left Grimmauld and I didn't know what had been said behind Harry's back.

'So why are you still here?'

'Search me.'

'Go home then,' said Harry.

'Yeah, maybe I will!' shouted Ron, striding up to Harry. Harry's arm pushed me behind him. I'd never seen him so angry. 'Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? But you don't give a rat's fart, do you, it's only the Forbidden Forest, Harry _I've-Faced-Worst_ Potter doesn't care what happens to her in here, cosying up with Jenna _–_'

'That's personal!' snarled Harry. 'That's between Jenna and me!'

'Well, I do care about Ginny, all right, giant spiders and mental stuff _–_'

'I was only saying _–_ she was with the others, they were with Hagrid _–_'

'– yeah, I get it, you don't care! And what about the rest of my family, "the Weasleys don't need another kid injured", did you hear that?'

'Yeah, I _–_'

'Not bothered what it meant, though?'

'Stop it!' I shouted as Hermione shouted, 'Ron!' and the pair of us stood between them.

'I don't think it means anything new has happened,' said Hermione desperately, 'anything we don't know about; think, Ron, Bill's already scarred, plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you're supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I'm sure that's all he meant _–_'

'Oh, you're sure, are you? Right then, well, I won't bother myself about them. It's all right for you three, isn't it, with your parents safely out of the way _–_'

'Our parents are _dead_!' bellowed Harry. By now I could feel tears starting at my eyes as well.

'And mine could be going the same way!' yelled Ron.

'Ron _–_!'

'Then GO!' roared Harry. 'Go back to them, pretend you've got over your spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up and _–_'

'Harry _–_!'

Ron made a sudden movement beside Hermione: Harry reacted and pushed me aside but before either wand was clear of its owner's pocket, I raised my hands and put my force field around me. The strength of my shield pushed Harry and Ron apart and Hermione out of the way while I stood in the centre of the fight. Harry and Ron glared at each other from either side of the transparent barrier I'd made. The longer I held it though the weaker it got.

'Leave the Horcrux,' Harry said coldly.

Ron wrenched the chain from over his head and cast the locket into a nearby chair. He then looked at Hermione.

'What are you doing?'

'What do you mean?'

'Are you staying, or what? _She_ obviously is.' He pointed at me.

'I …' Hermione looked at me for help; I had nothing I could say to help her. 'Yes _–_ yes, I'm staying. Ron, we said we'd go with Harry, we said we'd help _–_'

'I get it. You choose him.'

'Ron, no _–_ please _–_ come back, come back!'

'Ron!'

I dropped my shield and Hermione chased after him. I made to do so to but I saw the look Harry was giving me. I stopped and watched as Ron stormed out the tent, Hermione after him, sobbing and calling his name in the trees. A few minutes later she returned, her sopping hair plastered to her face.

'He's g _–_ g _–_ gone! Disapparated!'

She threw herself into a chair, curled up and started to cry. I stood numbly beside Harry. Ron had gone. I looked at Harry behind me to see him staring at me. I gave him a saddened look and shook my head, before walking over to Hermione to attempt to comfort her. All that stuff about us sticking together, all of what I'd said to Harry weeks ago now just seemed a bunch of lies as Ron had departed.

* * *

**AN: woo, new chapter up. one thing: i know it says "effing" in the book but as this is my story and i assumed whenever "effing" was used the full mean was the swear word and i thought Ron deserved being able to swear properly for once. anywho, hope you enjoyed, leave a review and thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	38. Past or Present Stories

Chapter 37

Past or Present Stories

The aftermath of Ron's departure was a mixture of silences and awkward moments. The next day Hermione stalled as long as possible in packing up the tent and things in a vain hope that Ron would come back. I tried as hard to comfort her but I could understand how hard it was for her and so left her alone when she asked. I kept an eye on her for the rest of the day just in case. The moment came when we had to leave and Hermione had no choice but to accept he wasn't going to come back. We took hands and Disapparated to another hillside.

Ron was not discussed over the next few days though it was more than evident Hermione missed him. During the day she'd shut herself away when she wasn't on watch with a book, turning the pages idly but not reading them, and at night I'd lie awake in my bunk over hers to hear her crying. Harry was not much better. He'd started to watch the Marauder's Map each day as if he was watching for Ron's dot to appear in Hogwarts. But these days walking into Hogwarts after being missing for months would not be a wise decision. I'd contemplated it before while wearing the locket but always knew it was a bad idea. Ron's departure had also effected me and whenever I was on watch I kept looking up hopefully for him when there was a rustle of leaves or a snap of a twig. But every time … nothing.

As time passed we began our discussions again of the possible locations for the Gryffindor's sword but we had the same results as we had for the Horcruxes, getting nowhere. When we weren't discussing these I was either collecting more phoenix tears (I now had about a third of a phial full) or reading up again and again on wandless magic. I thought it would be useful in case I lost my wand or something. Then again it took a lot of self control of which I didn't have. And it was certainly tiring, and frustrating!

The only other thing that now became a regular occurrence in the tent was the appearance of Phineas Nigellus' portrait. He did not uphold to his threat on not appearing again and became a source of information to the goings on inside Hogwarts. He agreed to appear blindfolded but we had to be careful with what we asked him, making sure we weren't rude about Snape or his methods at Hogwarts or he'd leave straight away. It seemed that another rebellion, albeit much smaller than last time, was going on at Hogwarts led by Ginny, Neville and Luna. Phineas himself too found these meetings helpful as he tried many times to get us to let slip where we were and he was unceremoniously shoved back in Hermione's bag whenever he did. He would never reappear for a good few days after these goodbyes.

The weather got colder as the weeks progressed; as we headed north, settling in any possible place, we got sleet, rain and a flooded tent, hard frosty grounds to sleep on, and buried by snow as winter set in. Soon we were seeing Christmas trees in the homes we passed by in order to get food. It certainly seemed to come quicker this year but I guess that was due to the fact we had not much knowledge of what day it was while we were out here. Least the supply of food was getting slightly better.

It was the middle of December when we finally got a lead. Hermione had been reading her book, _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, when she found an odd symbol above one of the titles. She showed it to me and Harry but neither of us knew what it was because we hadn't done Ancient Runes. It was a hand drawn triangle with a small circle inside it, like an eye, and a line going vertically down the middle. I had no idea what it was.

'No … no, wait a moment,' said Harry, taking a closer look. 'Isn't it the same symbol Luna's dad was wearing round his neck?'

'Well, that's what I thought too!' said Hermione.

'Then it's Grindelwald's Mark.'

Hermione and I looked at him and both said, '_What?_'

'Krum told me. At the wedding he said that Grindelwald use to go to Durmstrang and there was a drawing of that mark on one of the walls there.'

'_Grindelwald's_ mark?' Hermione looked between him and the symbol. 'I've never heard that Grindelwald had a mark. There's no mention of it in anything I've ever read about him.'

'They don't put everything in the history books,' I said. 'I mean, some parts of those goblin wars we learnt about in History of Magic are bound to miss information that only goblins knew.'

'Still,' said Hermione, unsure.

'Well, like I said,' said Harry, 'Krum reckoned that symbol was carved on a wall at Durmstrang, and Grindelwald put it there.'

We lapsed back into silence after we couldn't figure out why Grindelwald's mark was in a kids book. I returned to trying to improve my non-verbal spellwork while Harry spoke up again. He wanted to visit Godric's Hollow but we'd been through this before. It wasn't a good idea. However, to my surprise, Hermione said we should go, saying the more likely it would be there. Harry and I looked at each other and he asked her what was likely to be there.

'Well, the sword, Harry! Dumbledore must have known you'd want to go back there, and I mean, Godric's Hollow is Gryffindor's birthplace.'

Harry couldn't believe it when Hermione told him that. He never had opened his _A History of Magic_ had he? Anyone who'd read it knew that Gryffindor had been born there and Godric's Hollow was named after him. But the reason Harry wanted to go was because Bathilda Bagshot, the author of _A History of Magic_, lived there. That set off Hermione's radar and she gasped, causing Harry to leap up and draw his wand. He had a go at her afterwards but she explained that Bathilda might have the sword if she was a friend of Dumbledore's. So it was decided. We were going to Godric's Hollow.

We agreed it was best to learn how to Disapparate together and that a good disguise through use of Polyjuice Potion would be best. I disagreed on the Polyjuice Potion, saying why waste it on me when I could transform into an animal. Though averse about the idea, Hermione agreed it would be better. Over the next week Harry and Hermione gathered hairs for their disguises while I tried to come up with a dog to change into which I hadn't changed into before in front of anyone. I settled for a golden retriever as I thought it was a common breed. Harry and Hermione were to call me Pepper because I added little black freckles on my muzzle so they'd know it was me.

Late on Wednesday night the three of us Apparated to Godric's Hollow, Harry and Hermione already transformed and me hidden in Hermione's pocket with our miniature bags. Harry swung the Invisibility Cloak over us and we vanished. There was one floor though; our footprints would give us away because of all the snow that was there. I felt Hermione's hand pick me up and place me on the cold ground so I could change into Pepper. When changed Harry took the Cloak off us and put a leash round my neck. We continued onwards.

Fur really doesn't keep you warm, even thick fur. The icy air was freezing and my paws sank into the snow easily. We carried on down the street in silence. It was strange seeing all the decorated insides of houses and to think we couldn't be anywhere further than that. I padded slowly in front of Harry and Hermione looking around until I felt a jerk at my leash. They had stopped.

'Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve!' said Hermione.

'Is it?' he asked.

'I'm sure it is,' said Hermione. I looked up at them then across to the church which Hermione was facing. 'They … they'll be in there, won't they? Your mum and dad? I can see the graveyard behind it.'

Harry seemed to agree as he gently tugged my leash and said, 'Come on, Pepper.' and we headed for the graveyard.

Hermione led Harry and me inside the gate. We walked up the path towards an old war memorial. As we passed it slowly changed to a statue of a man with unkempt hair and glasses, and a woman with a kind face holding a baby. It was James and Lily. I felt a lump in my throat. I looked up at Harry to see him staring up at his parents' faces. He then turned away. I had to follow as he had my leash in his hand. Singing could be heard coming from the church as we proceeded deeper. I followed him as they went from grave to grave, pointing out this one and that.

'Harry, here!' said Hermione. We went over to her beside another grave. At first Harry thought it was his parents' but it wasn't; it was of Kendra Dumbledore, Dumbledore's mother, and his sister Ariana. I'd heard about what had happened from reading copies of the _Daily Prophet_ at Malfoy's. It was hard to believe some of the stuff Rita Skeeter wrote but there was always that chance it was true.

'Are you sure he never mentioned –?' began Hermione.

'No,' said Harry curtly, then, 'let's keep looking,' and he turned away, me following.

We looked at more and more graves. We didn't find anything until Hermione came across one with the symbol we'd found in the book. It belonged to some man called Ignotus Peve—, the last name was obscured. Harry and I went on to look for his parents' grave; coming across many names we recognised from Hogwarts. Harry let me off the lead I went and looked round myself. I scrapped my paws over graves to remove the moss, looked at the name, then went to the next. But then I found it. The grave bearing James and Lily's names.

_James Potter born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981  
__Lily Potter born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981  
__The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death_

I felt a strong sadness as I looked at it, remembering my own parents' graves. Then I let out a bark and drew Hermione's attention. She came over and looked, then calling Harry over. I watched him as he took in the inscription on the grave, reading out the last line aloud. I gently nudged his hand with my muzzle to comfort him, him then stroking my ear. Hermione said it meant living after death … living after death …

_The premonition included the death of herself, the death of her friends, James and Lily Potter … her daughter displaying magic not that of an ordinary witch … Miss Lupin returned with news of another premonition … caught the glimpse of a future fight where the above mentioned and herself were alive … the powers will leave when they are used for what they're intended for …_

Used for what they're intended for … Mum and Dad, James and Lily … alive after a fight …

I was drawn from my thoughts by my leash being attached and tugged to leave. I took one last at their grave before following Harry and Hermione. My mind was a jumble of thoughts as I padded along behind them. Something had stirred in my memory and I had a feeling I knew what to do with those feathers. But if I was right … how was I to do it?

I didn't realised the other two had stopped until I felt my head knock Hermione's leg. I looked curiously up at them, lifting an ear in question. They just stood there so I followed where they were looking. There was a rustle but nothing appeared.

'It's a cat,' said Harry, 'or a bird. If it was a Death Eater, we'd be dead by now. But let's get out of here, and we can put the Cloak back on.'

We left the graveyard and Harry put the Cloak back over us. I transformed back into a mouse. Hermione picked me up and put me in her pocket. It was a bumpy ride as they walked onwards and I couldn't hear clearly what was being said. After a short walk I felt Hermione stop. We remained still for at least another ten minutes before I felt movement again. We were walking slowly and downhill slightly. I wondered where we were going and poked my head out of Hermione's pocket. We were following some old lady into a house.

The house was quite rundown and stank of old age, damp and stale food. It was disgusting. Harry pulled off the Cloak and stepped away from Hermione to talk to the woman. It was Bathilda Bagshot. I watched quietly from Hermione's pocket. Harry came over to her and said Bathilda was going to show him something. Once they were gone I jumped out of Hermione's pocket and changed back.

'What's going on?' I asked. 'Where's Harry going?'

'Bathilda's showing him something,' replied Hermione nervously. 'I don't like it, Jenna. There's something wrong with her. I could hear her hissing when she spoke but it didn't seem to phase Harry.'

'Hissing?' I repeated. 'She didn't sound like she was saying anything normal?'

'No.' I stood there and thought this through for a moment until –

'Harry's in trouble!' I gasped. 'What he could hear that you couldn't was a snake! Something's possessing Bathilda!'

Hermione and I took out our wands and ran out the living room. We slowed down as we approached the stairs and quietly climbed them. We couldn't hear anything. That couldn't be a good sign but neither was the sudden yell we heard at the end of the landing. Hermione and I ran forwards and tried the door but it was locked. We shouted for Harry but he didn't reply.

'Stand back,' I told Hermione, standing back from the door. She did so too. I pointed my wand at the door. '_Confringo!_'

The door exploded from its hinges and we ran inside. Harry was lying on the floor, a huge snake wrapping itself round his torso. It was going to kill him. It saw us and began to rear up. It was hissing and spitting at us, its fangs bared. Both of us threw Stunners at it as the snake lunged at us. We leapt out the way behind the bed. The snake uncoiled itself from Harry's body. Hermione threw another curse at it but it rebounded against the window showering glass over us. I raised my shield to protect us. From behind my hand I could see the snake slithering over to us. It bared its fangs.

'_Stupefy!_' I yelled and the snake was flung into the air.

'He's coming!' yelled Harry's voice. '_Hermione, he's coming!_'

Harry pulled the pair of us back over the bed. Hermione screamed in pain from her foot being caught under some broken wood. I ran back and freed it in time as the snake started to rear up again. Harry shouted at me to duck as the snake lunged. Its teeth sank into the bed where I'd just been. Behind me I heard Hermione scream another spell and it ricocheted through the entire room, destroying everything. Harry grabbed my hand and the three of us leapt out of the window. Hermione was screaming beside us. I thought of a hill near Moonlake Cottage Lupin had taken me training once and we Disapparated, reappearing seconds later with a thump on the ground.

'Hermione? Harry?' I sat up and lit my wand. 'Are you guys all right?'

Hermione was fine albeit a little shaken, same as me. As for Harry he was lying on the ground writhing and panting. We tried to wake him up but he was completely out of it. His left arm was bleeding.

'Hermione, set up the tent,' I said calmly. I picked up my wand from the grass and pulled my bag out of my pocket, enlarging it. 'Harry's been hurt. We need to hide.'

Hermione started to set up the tent while I set about healing Harry's wounds. The cuts were simple enough but the snake had bitten him. I didn't know any spells which could heal snake bites. If I didn't heal him soon, he could die if it was poisonous. Then it hit me. I dove into my bag and pulled out the phial of phoenix tears I'd been collecting. It was nearly half full. I took out the cork and carefully let a drop fall on Harry's arm. The two small holes slowly began to heal but two small marks were left. I guess tears couldn't eliminate all marks.

'The tent's up,' said Hermione behind me.

'Let's get him inside.'

Between us we dragged Harry inside. Hermione placed a Hover Charm on him and we got him into his bunk. He was still twitching and panting in his unconscious state. Hermione went back outside to finish putting up the Protection Charms. I remained by his side. I'd never seen Harry like this. It hurt me to see him in such pain. I got a damp cloth and placed it on his forehead to try and cool him. He was sweating like mad. His breathing seemed to ease slightly when my fingers touched his skin. I ran my hand over his hot cheek.

'Jenna.' I started and looked up. Hermione was making some tea. 'How is he?'

'Better than he was,' I mumbled. She handed me a cup of tea and sat beside me. 'Here, let me heal those,' I said, seeing Hermione's cuts.

We sat for a few minutes in silence beside Harry's bed. I healed Hermione's cuts before healing my own.

'What was that stuff you used on Harry?' Hermione asked after a few minutes.

'Phoenix tears.' Hermione gasped.

'How on earth did you get those?'

I sighed and said, 'It's a _long_ story.'

'Well, it's not like we're going anywhere in a hurry,' said Hermione.

So I told her about the letter from Dumbledore and what Lupin had told me and about what had happened to my Mum and how I had some phoenix powers and used them to collect the tears. Hermione was speechless when I told her about the premonitions she had had. Who could possibly believe them? I then told her about what I'd thought about in the graveyard, about the writing on James and Lily's grave. She didn't completely understand what I was saying and repeatedly asked me if I was sure.

'Hermione, it's the only answer I've got,' I said. 'All the premonitions I've ever had have come true. Cedric's death, Dad's, the fight last year … Maybe I'm the one who's got to make Mum's premonition come true.'

'But how are you going to make people come back from the dead?' asked Hermione. 'No spell can reawaken the dead. Everyone knows that.'

'I know,' I said. I looked over at Harry. He was still out of it, breathless and restless. 'But if there was a way to give Harry his parents back, to get mine back … I would risk everything to do it.' I swallowed hard as a lump rose in my throat. 'I've been given phoenix feathers and powers for a reason and if it's to bring them back –'

'Jenna, you could die trying to do something like that,' said Hermione, aghast. 'It takes lots of magical power to pull off some of the hardest spells. How much it would take to do something like that –'

'I know, Hermione,' I said, stopping her. 'I know I'm not as powerful as someone like Dumbledore or any of the other great wizards in history. But you don't understand. You don't know what it's like to long for your parents all your life when they were stolen from you. And to have the possibility, the opportunity, of being able to get them back …' I looked at her desperately, 'then it's worth risking my life to do so.'

We lapsed back into silence. I glanced at my watch to see it was half past three in the morning. The pair of us were shattered. Every so often we took turned on watching Harry and the outside of the tent. Nothing stirred outside but Harry continued to moan and shout things out in his state. To try and stop the pain Hermione tried to remove the Horcrux. She had to use a Severing Charm in order to get it from his chest. It seemed to help Harry slightly but not that much. He was still out of it.

The sun was slowly starting to rise when he finally woke.

'No …' Hermione and I looked behind us. She got up and came inside the tent. 'No …' moaned Harry again. He was tensing, moaning, gripping the bed in pain. I sat beside him and ran the cloth back over his forehead. 'No …'

'Harry, it's all right,' I said softly. 'You're all right!'

'No … I dropped it … I dropped it …'

'Harry, it's OK,' I said again. 'Wake up,' I gently squeezed his hand, 'wake up!'

Harry opened his eyes and stared above him. The tightness in my chest released. Harry turned his head to see Hermione and I sitting beside him.

'Harry,' breathed Hermione. 'Do you feel all – all right?'

Though Harry said he was fine I could see he wasn't. He asked what happened and Hermione explained to him while I made him something to drink. Once it was all explained Harry apologised for making us go to Godric's Hollow but we said it wasn't his fault. None of us knew what would happen if we'd gone there.

'What happened, Harry?' asked Hermione afterwards. 'What happened when she took you upstairs? Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?'

'No,' said Harry. '_She_ was the snake … or the snake was her … all along.'

'W – what?'

'Bathilda must've been dead a while. The snake was … was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric's Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I'd go back.'

'The snake was inside her?' Harry nodded.

Harry told us how he'd realised it was a snake when it sent a message to You-Know-Who when he felt it in his head. Felt his happiness. Harry stopped talking and made to get out of bed but Hermione and I stopped him, telling him he needed to rest. Harry insisted he was all right and said he'd keep watch. But when he asked for his wand, Hermione and I looked at each other. When he demanded to have it, Hermione picked up the broken wand from by his bed. It had got broken by Hermione's spell. Harry's face fell when he saw it. He asked us to mend it but when he used it after we tried it sparked feebly and fell apart again.

'Well,' he said, in a supposedly strong voice, 'well, I'll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep watch.'

Harry took her wand and left the pair of us in the tent. I stared sadly after him as he walked away. I couldn't stop the tears in my eyes from falling. It was too hard. Besides feeling homesick knowing Moonlake Cottages was so near, I couldn't keep pretending nothing was wrong and couldn't keep watching him get angrier because it hurt me to watch. And along with all the stuff I'd thought of about our parents … it just made me want to leave as well.

Somehow I managed to get some sleep as morning set in. I'd returned to my bed after Harry had gone on watch while Hermione remained in the main tent. I lay there for a while with tears falling from my eyes as I couldn't drown the thoughts of Voldemort taking Harry over again. It was a miracle that I fell asleep. When I woke it was nearly eleven o'clock. I got up to see Hermione and Harry in the entrance of the tent. I didn't disturb them, instead curling up in a chair to watch. Neither had noticed I was up. I listened as Harry shouted at her and, after a few minutes, she re-entered the tent.

'What was that about?' I asked her quietly so Harry couldn't hear.

Hermione explained to me that she'd taken a copy of _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_ from Bathilda's house and shown it to Harry. She opened the book at a chapter called "The Greater Good" and told me to read it. She turned away and started on some lunch. I took the book and started to read; I did not like what it said about Dumbledore, his treatment of his family, and his relationship with Gellert Grindelwald. Even he, at one point in his life, had been in favour of Muggle repression. The great Albus Dumbledore who I'd always had respect for seemed nothing better than one of those supporters of Voldemort today. But it made me ask the question, what made him change? What happened that made him the great wizard we knew today?

The next day we packed camp and, under the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione took us to the Forest of Dean where she'd been camping once with her parents. I put my green coat on with the hood pulled up so as to keep warm in the cold weather while Hermione and I set up the tent. For the rest of the day we stayed inside the tent, keeping warm next to Hermione's blue fire she was adept at making. It was the only warmth we had. The wind was cold, there was snow everywhere, and food was once again a problem.

Harry was the only one of us who hadn't gotten any sleep since the incident at Godric's Hollow. None of us admittedly had got much sleep. Harry, however, though it was obvious he was tired, stayed up to keep watch. I watched as he dragged a cushion into the entrance and sat with his back to the inside. I sighed and returned to my book. Reading seemed to be the only thing worth doing nowadays.

Eventually I began to doze in my chair but was stirred again when I heard movement in the tent mouth. I placed my book on the floor and got up quietly so as not to arouse Hermione in our bunk area. I walked over to the opening to find Harry had gone. I heard a rustling outside and pulled back the tent door. Lighting my wand I saw Harry walking into the forest following a strange silver light. I was half tempted to go after him but I remained where I was. This, I guessed, was one of those things Harry had to do on his own.

I was woken by a voice calling our names. I jumped out of my chair to see Harry standing in the entrance with Ron by his side, a sword held in his hand, both soaking wet. Hermione came out of our sleeping area and stood beside me, her shock mimicking mine when she saw Ron. She went straight over to him and, to my surprise, started hitting him?

'Ouch – ow – gerroff!' said Ron, trying to protect himself. 'What the –? Hermione – OW!'

'You – complete – _arse_ – Ronald – Weasley!'

I just smiled, half laughing, as I watched them. My eye caught Harry's and he smiled at me. I returned it, not helping but gaze at the old Harry I knew. It was good to see him smile again.

'You – crawl – back – here – after – weeks – and – weeks – oh, _where's my wand?_'

Harry, who still had her wand, cast a Shield Charm between Ron and Hermione while I took a step back from the warzone. Inside I was trying to stop myself laughing as Hermione let rip into Ron. I sighed quietly and shook my head; people really did show love in strange ways. Even when Harry said Ron had just saved his life (that was news to us) Hermione didn't stop.

'I don't care!' she screamed. 'I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, he could have been _dead_ for all we knew –'

'I knew you weren't dead!' shouted Ron over her. 'Harry's all over the _Prophet_, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumours and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead, you don't know what it's been like –'

'What has it been like for _you_?' asked Hermione, her voice shrill. Sort of like the old Hermione.

'I wanted to come back the minute I'd Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere.'

Snatchers, according to Ron, were wizards trying earn gold from the Ministry by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors. In other words, all four of us would be on the top of a Snatcher's list to capture. We'd bring them the most gold. Ron only just managed to get himself out of the situation by saying he was Stan Shunpike of all people. Hermione, who had sat down and crossed her arms and legs staring at Ron, gave him a stony expression.

'Anyway,' he said, 'they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me and they'd taken my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while they were distracted I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed the bloke holding mine and Disapparated. I didn't do it so well, Splinched myself again –' Ron showed us his right hand; two fingernails were missing, '– and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been … you'd gone.'

'Gosh, what a gripping story,' said Hermione loftily. 'You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile, we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed the three of us and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by a second.'

'What?' Ron gaped between the three of us. I nodded in confirmation.

'Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our suffering into perspective, doesn't it?' Harry tried to get her to stop but she continued. 'One thing I would like to know, though. How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see.'

I shot Hermione a look as Ron glared at her. She ignored both. Ron then pulled out a small silver object; his Deluminator. Even Hermione was surprised by it and forgot her anger.

'It doesn't just turn the lights on and off,' said Ron. 'I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio, really early on Christmas morning, and I heard … I heard you.'

Ron had heard part of the conversation we had had about Harry's wand that it couldn't be repaired. Hermione turned scarlet when he told us he'd heard her. When Ron had clicked the Deluminator the light in his room had gone out but another appeared outside his window. He'd followed it but then it went inside him. All three of us were completely bemused by this but he continued.

'It sort of floated towards me,' said Ron, demonstrating with his finger, 'right to my chest, and then – it just went straight through. It was here,' he touched his chest near to his heart, 'I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it would take me where I needed to go.'

Ron had Disapparated to the hill I'd taken Harry and Hermione too after leaving Godric's Hollow. He'd been calling for us but couldn't find us and we hadn't heard him. Harry thought he had but didn't tell us because he wasn't sure. He waited 'til morning for us but hadn't seen us leave because we'd Disapparated under the Cloak. Ron stayed there the rest of the day before following the Deluminator again and coming here when he found Harry following a doe. So that had been what he'd seen.

'But it must have been a Patronus!' said Hermione. 'Couldn't you see who was casting it? Didn't you see anyone? And it led you to the sword? I can't believe this! Then what happened?'

Ron explained how he'd watched as Harry jumped into the pool to get the sword and waited for him to resurface. He'd realised something was wrong and gone in after Harry and saved him. With the sword in hand, they took the locket and Ron destroyed it with the sword. Harry showed us the Horcrux confirming it had been destroyed. He also removed the Shield Charm separating Ron and Hermione. He turned to Ron.

'Did you say you got away from the Snatchers with a spare wand?' he asked, changing the subject. Probably a good idea on the whole.

Ron pulled out the spare wand and gave it to Harry. He was shocked when he saw Harry's was broken before he glanced back at Hermione with a nervous look on his face. Hermione merely put the Horcrux in her bag and climbed back into her bed. I glanced back at the others to see Harry mutter something to Ron.

'About the best you could hope for, I think.'

'Yeah. Could've been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?'

'I still haven't ruled that out,' said Hermione's muffled voice.

I smirked as Ron pulled his pyjamas out of his rucksack to go to bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was asleep. I glanced behind me to see Harry placing Gryffindor's sword against one of the tent poles before turning back to the tent opening to go on watch. I walked over to him.

'You look terrible,' I said, kneeling in front of him. Harry smirked and glanced at me. I grinned back, eyebrow raised in a teasing way. 'Why don't you go get some sleep?' I then suggested. 'You've been up for hours, let me take the next watch.'

'Nah, I'm fine,' said Harry. He then let out a rather loud sneeze. It was all I could do to keep myself from bursting into laughter. He sort of threw himself forwards making his hair go back and forth and now look even more messy than usual. 'Well … as can be expected.'

'Here,' I said gently. I pulled out my wand and Transfigured a leaf into a blanket. I handed it to Harry. 'At least try and keep warm or you'll catch a cold. That'll be the last thing we need. The mighty Chosen One trying to defeat You-Know-Who by sneezing at him.'

We both laughed; Harry wrapped the blanket around his shoulders.

'You know, Muggles say body heat is a good way to warm up,' Harry said. He was shivering slightly having now realised perhaps just had cold he was. 'Sure you've got some to spare.'

I hesitated. I knew perfectly well body heat was a good way to warm up but … it was that awkward situation thing again which I always tried to avoid now. When I looked back at Harry though, he held out his arm open and I conceded. I crawled forwards and sat in front of him. Harry wrapped his arms round my waist so I was pulled into him and the rug covered both of us. My heart started to race slightly as I leaned against him. I could feel his chest rise and fall as he breathed gently in and out.

'You're so warm,' Harry breathed. I glanced up at him, my face resting in the crook of his neck. I felt his grip tighten. 'It's like you've got a … a fire or something burning in you.'

Harry smiled contently as he said that. One I'd seen before when Fawkes helped us get out of the Chamber of Secrets. I looked away and smiled. I then rested back in his arms. A phoenix had always been a source of comfort for Harry. I bet Ginny didn't know that.

'You have no idea.'

Ron kept a very low profile in Hermione's presence the next day and spent most of the morning with Harry searching for food in the forest. Hermione had buried herself into _Beedle the Bard_ again and seemed deeply involved with it so I took the quiet opportunity to collect a few more phoenix tears. The more I did it the easier it was to bear the pain. We had a quiet lunch before Harry and Ron wandered off again and met again when darkness fell. Harry and Ron were on one side of the tent with Hermione and me the other side when she got up. I glanced up from my book at her but kept silent.

'If it's annoying you, I'll stop!' said Ron. He dropped his wand and held up his hands. He'd been tapping a radio for the last hour muttering under his breath. Hermione just walked past him to Harry. Ron and I shared a glance.

'What?' he asked.

'I want to see Xenophilius Lovegood.' Three of us looked at her.

'Sorry?' asked Harry.

'Xenophilius Lovegood. Luna's father. I want to go and talk to him!'

'Er – sorry if this is an obvious question,' I said slowly, 'but why do want to go see Luna's dad? How can he help us?'

Hermione shoved the copy of _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_ under Harry's nose. I got up and went over to them. I looked over his shoulder at the open page. It was of a letter Dumbledore had written to Grindelwald. But there, replacing the 'A' of Albus was a tiny triangle with a circle and line inside it, exactly like in her book. The reason why Hermione wanted to go see Mr Lovegood was because of the mark?

'It keeps cropping up, doesn't it?' she said. 'I know Viktor –' I saw Ron's eyes darken, '– said it was Grindelwald's mark, but it was definitely on that old grave in Godric's Hollow, and the dates on the headstone were long before Grindelwald came along! And now this! Well, we can't ask Dumbledore or Grindelwald what it means – I don't even know whether Grindelwald's still alive – but we can ask Mr Lovegood. He was wearing the symbol at the wedding. I'm sure this is important, Harry!'

Hermione had good reasoning behind going to see him but, as Harry pointed out, if Dumbledore had wanted us to know about it he would have surely told him, not just leave him secret signs and clues which had so far got us nowhere. I, however, was on Hermione's side. Dumbledore had always known what he was doing or at least in my eyes he had. So maybe Hermione was right and we needed to find out exactly what this mark was and why it kept appearing everywhere. Even Ron agreed, adding Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he gave him the Deluminator and he assured us Mr Lovegood was on our side.

'I'm sure this is important!' said Hermione earnestly.

'But don't you think, if it was, Dumbledore would have told me about it before he died?' said Harry.

'Maybe …' I said. He glanced at me. 'But maybe it's something you need to find out for yourself.' Harry was about to object but I added, 'You knew from the start not everything was going to be laid out in front of you. This is just another one of those things we've got to figure out in case it helps us.'

Harry was still sceptical so we had a vote on whether or not to go. Hermione, Ron and I all voted to go and so Harry had no choice but to agree. A bonus about this trip was that Luna lived near where The Burrow was so we'd be able to have a, albeit pretty distant, check on the rest of the Weasleys. And it meant seeing as it was Christmas we'd get to see Luna. Bonkers as she was she certainly came out with good conversation stoppers.

We Apparated under the Invisibility Cloak to the top of a hill overlooking Ottery St Catchpole the next morning. There was a gentle cool breeze, the sun shining brightly and the hills and house were covered in snow. To think the Weasleys and their welcomes were only a stone's throw away but we couldn't visit. It'd be too dangerous. After looking down on it for a few minutes Ron led the way up the hill to look for Luna's house. It took a good few hours before we found it, Disapparated a little more north, before coming across the house in the shape of a giant rook.

'It's nothing like a bird,' said Hermione, looking up at the strange house Ron had pointed out. I had to agree. It was a great, black cylindrical house rising up as tall as The Burrow with a large white moon hanging on the top. You had to admit though, the moon was a bit of a giveaway to whose house it was.

Once we'd reached the top of the hill a hand-painted sign told us it was the right house. We walked through the gate and up the path through a overgrown garden with the largest variety of strange plants I'd ever seen. We took of the Invisibility Cloak when we got to the door and Hermione stowed it in her bag. She then knocked on the door. Barely seconds later the door flew open to reveal a slightly cross-eyed man with white hair that looked like a cloud had settled on his head dressed in a nightshirt.

'What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?' he cried looking between us. When he saw Harry his mouth fell open in a perfect comical 'O'. I bit back a snicker. I didn't meet him at the wedding. You could tell it was Luna's father though.

'Hello, Mr Lovegood,' said Harry, holding out a hand. 'I'm Harry, Harry Potter.' Like with everyone who met him, Mr Lovegood's eyes went straight o Harry's scar. He ignored it and said, 'Would it be OK if we came in? there's something we'd like to ask you.'

'I … I'm not sure that's advisable,' said Xenophilius quietly. He looked round his garden. 'Rather a shock … my word … I … I'm afraid I don't really think I ought to –'

'It won't take long,' insisted Harry.

'I – oh, all right then. Come in, quickly. _Quickly!_'

We had barely got ourselves inside before Mr Lovegood had shut the door behind us. Looking around the house was as crazy and full of stuff as the outside was weirdly shaped. Everything fitted into the circular shape of the house and there was a tall metal staircase spiralling up the centre. Mr Lovegood led us upstairs to a first floor, slightly smaller but that was due to the amount of objects gathered in the room. In the corner was a large printing press issuing more copies of _The Quibbler_.There was barely any room to move. As I looked round I noticed Luna was not here. Strange … I would have thought she'd want to come and greet us.

After covering the printer with a grubby tablecloth Mr Lovegood asked why we were here. But before Harry could reply Hermione let out a small cry of shock.

'Mr Lovegood – what is that?'

She was pointing at a large grey spiral horn mounted on the wall. I visibly stepped back from it when I saw it. Mr Lovegood said it was the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack but both Hermione and I knew what that was. It was the horn of an Erumpent and it was highly dangerous. I knew about it from reading _Fantastic Beasts_ many times. One touch and that horn would explode. Mr Lovegood though was convinced it was a horn of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and wouldn't listen to mine and Hermione's contradictions.

'I bought it,' he said bluntly, 'two weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew of my interest in the exquisite Snorkack. A Christmas surprise for my Luna. Now,' he turned to Harry, 'why exactly have you come here, Mr Potter?'

I glanced worriedly at the Erumpent horn again before turning my attention back to the matter in hand and Harry asked for help. According to Mr Lovegood thought it was dangerous to help him. He was caught up by Ron saying he'd been supporting Harry in his magazine and Mr Lovegood hastily stopped talking. In a bid to change the subject I asked where Luna was but that only unsettled him even more. He told us she was down by the river but his voice was oddly shaky and he quickly went down the staircase. Something wasn't right.

'Cowardly old wart,' said Ron when he'd gone. 'Luna's got ten times his guts.'

'Luna may have guts,' I said, 'but she didn't exactly ask to come to the Ministry with us in fifth year, remember? We got her involved by using her as a lookout when we tried to get into Umbridge's office.'

'He's probably worried about what'll happen to them if the Death Eaters find out I was here,' said Harry.

'Well, I agree with Ron,' said Hermione. 'Awful old hypocrite, telling everyone else to help you and trying to worm out of it himself. And for heaven's sake keep away from that horn.'

Mr Lovegood returned about ten minutes later with a tray of cups and tea as Harry pointed out a very weird looking object on a stone bust of a severe-looking woman. He said it was an invention of his and explained the various parts of it. To me it looked like a load of bits and bobs glued together on a metal frame. He then bustled us to sit down on what chairs were available and poured us each a couple of beetroot purple tea which tasted disgusting.

'Now,' he said, settling himself in an armchair, 'how may I help you, Mr Potter?'

'Well,' said Harry. He glanced at Hermione, who nodded. 'It's about that symbol you were wearing around your neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding, Mr Lovegood. We wondered what it meant.'

Mr Lovegood raised his eyebrows.

'Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?'

The four of us looked at each other.

'The Deathly Hallows?'

'That's right,' said Xenophilius. 'You haven't heard of them? I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckle-headed young man at your brother's wedding,' he nodded at Ron, 'who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-know Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows – at least, not in that crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers, in the hope that they might help one with the Quest.'

'I'm sorry,' said Harry after a sip of his tea, 'I still don't really understand.'

'Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows,' said Xenophilius.

'But what _are_ the Deathly Hallows?' I asked.

'I assume that you are all familiar with "The Tale of the Three Brothers"?'

Ron, Hermione and I all replied that we did while Harry had never heard of it. I'd never heard it before but I'd heard of it. It was one of the stories in _The_ _Tales of Beedle the Bard_. But it was a kids' story. How could it help us?

Mr Lovegood got Hermione to read out the story from her copy of _The_ _Tales of Beedle the Bard_. It was about three brothers (surprisingly enough) who'd conquered Death after coming across him on the other side of a deep river they made a bridge to cross. It had angered Death and, being cunning, said they could each ask for something for being able to evade his strike. The oldest brother asked for the most powerful wand in existence; Death created the wand from a branch of an elder tree. The second brother asked for a stone to recall others from Death; he chose a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the brother, saying it had the power to bring back the dead. The third brother asked for something that would allow him not to be followed because he did not trust Death; he received Death's own Cloak of Invisibility.

'Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?' Harry interrupted.

'So he can sneak up on people,' said Ron. OK, Death was a real person? Ooh, shivers ran down my spine. I then changed my mind about it when Ron added, 'Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking …'

The three brothers then separated. The oldest brother being a combative man fought many opponents and bragged of his wand's power. It lead to his downfall when a thief took the wand and slit the brother's throat. Death got the first brother. The second arrogant brother used the stone to bring back a girl he had loved but he could not bare to see her unhappy and so, driven mad with hopeless long, killed himself to join her. Death claimed the second brother. As for the third, Death could never find him until he took off the Cloak and gave it to his son, gracefully greeting Death as a friend and leaving this world.

Hermione, Ron and Harry were still a little confused but thoughts were rushing through my head. A stone to bring back the dead. Was it really possible? To clear up the confusion Mr Lovegood drew the symbol of the Deathly Hallows on some paper. First the Elder Wand, a straight vertical line, then the Resurrection Stone, a circle on top of the line, and the Cloak of Invisibility, a triangle enclosing the two. The Deathly Hallows.

'But there's no mention of the words "Deathly Hallows" in the story,' said Hermione.

'Well, of course not,' said Xenophilius smugly. 'That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters, however, recognise that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death.' Mr Lovegood glanced outside, then said distractedly, 'Luna ought to have enough Plimpies soon.'

Hermione was the only one sceptical about the whole thing. Mr Lovegood recognised her closed-mindedness having been told about her by Luna but it didn't stop her. He only managed to catch her out when he told us that normal Invisibility Cloaks lost there power over the years but only Death's Cloak could keep a person completely concealed and endure time. So Hermione tried to get proof of the Resurrection Stone but again, Mr Lovegood dared her to prove it wasn't.

'But that's – I'm sorry, but that's completely ridiculous! How can I _possibly_ prove it doesn't exist? Do you expect me to get hold of – of all the pebbles in the world, and test them? I mean, you could claim that _anything's_ real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's _proved_ it doesn't exist!'

'Yes you could,' said Xenophilius. 'I am glad to see that you are opening your mind a little.'

'So the Elder Wand,' said Harry quickly, 'you think that exists too?'

'Oh, well, in that case there is endless evidence,' said Xenophilius. 'The Elder Wand is the Hallow that is most easily traced, because of the way in which it passes from hand to hand.'

'Which is what?' asked Harry.

'Which is that the possessor of the wand must capture it from its previous owner, if he is to truly be master of it,' said Xenophilius.

'But wands only obey their first master,' I said, confused. 'The person the wand chooses.'

'A wand can still be passed on to another,' said Xenophilius plainly.

'Which is what?' asked Harry.

'Surely you have heard of the way the wand came to Egbert the Egregious, after his slaughter of Emeric the Evil? Of how Godelot died in his own cellar after his son, Hereward, took the wand from him? Of the dreadful Loxias, who took the wand from Barnabas Deverill, whom he had killed? The bloody trial of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of wizarding history.'

That was all well and good but there was no evidence of where this legendary wand was now. But then Hermione asked about a family with the name Peverell. It was the surname that had been on the grave Hermione had seen. Mr Lovegood was taken aback, saying the Peverells were said to have everything to do with the Hallows. Ignotus and his brothers, Cadmus and Antioch were the brothers in the story.

'Will you stay for dinner?' he said suddenly. He got up and hurried down the stairs. 'Everybody always requests our recipe for Plimpy soup.'

'Probably to show the Poisoning Department at St Mungo's,' muttered Ron.

When Mr Lovegood had disappeared Harry asked us if we believed the story. Part of me was saying it was true, the other part was agreeing with Hermione's sceptical view of it. Ron said it was merely a wizard superstition. The conversation was briefly interrupted by a terrible smell from downstairs.

'It's a morality tale,' said Hermione. 'It's obvious which gift is best, which one you'd choose – the Cloak –'

'– the wand,' said Ron

'– the stone,' said me and Harry, all of us at the same time. We looked at each other.

'You're _supposed_ to say the Cloak,' said Ron, 'but you wouldn't need to be invisible if you hand the wand. _An unbeatable wand_, Hermione, come on!'

'Which you can be killed for by anyone who wants it,' I said.

'We've already got an Invisibility Cloak,' said Harry.

'And it's helped us rather a lot, in case you hadn't noticed!' said Hermione. 'Whereas the wand, like Jenna said, would be bound to attract trouble –'

'– only if you shouted about it,' argued Ron. 'Only if you were prat enough to go dancing around, waving it over your head and singing, "I've got an unbeatable wand, come and have a go if you think you're hard enough." As long as you keep your trap shut –'

'Yes, but _could_ you keep your trap shut?' said Hermione. She had a point. 'You know,' she continued, 'the only true thing he said to us was that there have been stories about extra-powerful wands for hundreds of years.'

Hermione was right but none had ever been called the Elder Wand. They all had more macabre names like the Deathstick or the Wand of Destiny. Hermione was convinced it was nonsense but, as begrudgingly I was to admit it, I had to agree there was that possibility that it was the wands in those stories were the Elder Wand.

'So why would you have taken the stone?' Ron then asked Harry and me. We looked at each other.

'That's pretty obvious, Ron,' I said quietly. Harry nodded.

'Well, if you could bring people back,' said Harry, 'we could have Mad-Eye … Dumbledore … our parents …'

'We never knew them,' I muttered, 'not properly at least, and they were taken from us. And the idea of a stone being able to bring them back …' I saw Hermione give me a worried glance. I knew what she was thinking, 'well, I don't know about Harry, but I'd choose that over a powerful wand or invisibility any day. To see them, just once, just to know they're OK.'

Neither Ron nor Hermione smiled. I looked away and got up. I never liked talking about my parents like this. It always got to me. I walked over to the window and looked out of it to the river while listening to the rest of the conversation. It was about Harry's Invisibility Cloak but my mind was somewhere else. I couldn't see Luna at all by the river. Where was she? I only looked back at the others when I heard Harry climb up the staircase.

'Harry, what are you doing?' I asked. 'I don't think you should look around when he's not here. That's Luna's room. It's personal.'

Hermione, Ron and I gathered at the foot of the staircase and looked up. We could just see Harry standing on the floor of Luna's room. He was looking upwards as well. I followed his gaze to see he was looking at the ceiling. His face was on it but not just his. All of ours. Luna had painted copies of mine, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville's faces on her ceiling. I smiled when I looked at them. Luna really was a good friend.

All of a sudden, Harry ran down the stairs. At the same time, Mr Lovegood appeared again.

'Mr Lovegood,' said Harry. 'Where's Luna?'

'Excuse me?'

'Where's Luna?'

Mr Lovegood stopped on the top step. He looked between us then said, 'I – I've already told you. She is down at Bottom Bridge, fishing for Plimpies.'

'Mr Lovegood, there's no one down by the river,' I said.

'She's probably moved further down then.'

'So why have you only laid that tray for five?' asked Harry. Mr Lovegood tried to reply but nothing came. Something was wrong. 'I've don't think Luna's been here for weeks,' said Harry slowly. 'Her clothes are gone, her bed hasn't been slept in. where is she? And why do you keep looking out of the window?'

Mr Lovegood dropped the tray in his hands. The four of us drew our wands. The printing press behind us suddenly let out a large bag and loads of copies of _The Quibbler_ fell on to the floor. Hermione picked one up and showed it to us. There was a reward going for the capture of Harry.

'_The Quibbler's_ going for a new angle, then?' Harry asked coldly. He glared at Mr Lovegood. 'Is that what you were doing when you went into the garden, Mr Lovegood? Sending an owl to the Ministry?' I looked at Mr Lovegood. He was shaking.

'They took my Luna,' he whispered. 'Because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her. But they might give her back to me if I – if I –'

'Hand over Harry?' I asked.

'No deal,' said Ron flatly. 'Get out of our way, we're leaving.'

'They will be here at any moment,' said Xenophilius. 'I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave.' He blocked our way to the stairs. Harry pointed his wand at him.

'Don't make us hurt you,' he said. 'Get out of our way, Mr Lovegood.'

'HARRY!'

Outside the window I saw several broomsticks circling the house. We were trapped. In front of Xenophilius drew his wand and sent a Stunner at us which we barely missed as Harry shoved us out of the way. It flew behind us and hit the Erumpent Horn on the wall creating a massive explosion. I put my shield round Hermione and myself. I had no idea where Ron or Harry were but I could hear their yells. Fragments of wood and paper and rubble flew in all directions, along with an impenetrable cloud of thick, white dust. I heard a series of metallic thuds; Xenophilius had been knocked down the stairs. I had to give up the shield after a few minutes and Hermione and I were buried slightly beneath some fallen wood. Luna's bedroom above had virtually been destroyed.

Below us I could hear voices. Beside me Hermione put her finger to her lips to tell me to be quiet. A voice was telling Mr Lovegood he'd better have valid information this time for calling them. There was a series of bangs as well telling me they were cursing him in some way. Mr Lovegood swore he was telling the truth and told them we were upstairs. I glanced worried at Hermione.

'I swear … I swear … Potter's upstairs!'

'_Homenum revelio_,' said one of the voices. Hermione gasped and I felt something press down on my back. 'There's someone up there all right, Selwyn.'

'It's Potter, I tell you, it's Potter!' cried Xenophilius. 'Please … please … give me Luna, just let me have Luna …'

Carefully so as to not disturb any of the fallen wood on us I reached for my wand and pointed it at myself, and said, '_Vices_.' I felt a slightly tingling feeling in my body and took Hermione's hand. I pulled us both up and out of the wood, phasing through it. Just across from us Harry pulled himself out from underneath the rubble. We then carefully tried to get Ron out; he was buried deepest and I had to use the Phasing Charm again to help him out.

'We've got to get out of here,' whispered Harry.

'All right,' breathed Hermione. She looked at me and I could see in her eye what she intended to do. I nodded and raised my wand ready. Sometimes being on the same wavelength as Hermione wasn't always a good thing. 'Do you trust me, Harry?' she asked. He nodded. 'OK then, give me the Invisibility Cloak. Ron, you're going to put it on.'

'Me?' he asked shocked. 'But Harry –'

'Just do it, Ron!' I hissed.

'_Please Ron!_' said Hermione. 'Harry, hold on tight to my hand, Ron, hold on to Jenna, Jenna, grab my shoulder and get ready.'

Harry held out his left hand. Ron vanished beneath the Cloak and I felt him take hold of my green coat and grip it. I placed my left hand on Hermione's shoulder and faced away from her, pointing my wand at the floor behind us. Below us I could them trying to move the debris.

'Hold tight,' breathed Hermione. 'Hold tight … any second.' Xenophilius' face appeared at Hermione's feet. '_Obliviate!_' cried Hermione, pointing her wand at his face. Then, pointing it at the floor, Hermione and I shouted, '_Deprimo!_'

A hole blasted beneath us and we began to fall. I gripped tightly on to Hermione and took hold of Ron's wrist in my wand hand to make sure we didn't get separated. There was a shout from below as the two men tried to avoid the falling rubble. I felt Hermione twist in mid-air and we Disapparated before we fell to the ground and the upper floor completely collapsed on us, disappearing into darkness. My body connected with the hard ground and the darkness left. I still wasn't very good at landing. I could hear Hermione already muttering the protective spells.

'That treacherous old bleeder!' said Ron angrily. I sat up to see him throw off the Invisibility Cloak. I just looked at him. 'Hermione, you're a genius, a total genius, I can't believe we go out of that!'

'_Cave_ _inimicum_ … didn't I say it was an Erumpent horn? Didn't I tell him? And now his house has been blown apart!'

'Serves him right,' said Ron.

'Shut up!' I shouted suddenly. The others looked at me. I didn't realise until then that I was shaking and there were tears in my eyes. 'Just … shut up …' I said rather feebly. I got up and went inside the tent. I walked straight over to my bed and climbed on to it, shutting it off from the rest of the tent. I lay on it with my head in my pillow, clutching it. I wasn't crying but I could feel myself shaking. Outside I could hear the others talking but I ignored them.

It was over an hour later when I heard the curtain be pulled back. I could hear them talking all the while about the Deathly Hallows but I didn't want to join in. All I could think about was Luna's dad. I was still lying on my bed when the curtain was pulled back. I didn't turn round to see who it was.

'Jenna?' It was Harry. I glanced behind me at him, sitting up a bit on my bed to look at him properly. 'Hey, are you all right?'

'Peachy,' I said. I then laid back on my bed, my messy hair hiding my face.

Silence. Harry didn't leave though. I remained still on my bunk. Still Harry didn't leave. Instead, I felt my bunk dip down as he climbed on to it. Next moment I felt something brush back my hair. I opened an eye to see Harry looking over me. I then stuck my tongue out at him and flipped my hair forwards again. Harry snickered.

'Someone's grumpy,' he said and he attempted to tickle my waist. Harry knew I was ticklish there but my arms were wrapped round it so Harry couldn't tickle me. A smile briefly flicked on my face nonetheless. Harry always knew how to cheer me up. 'So, you going to tell me what's up? Why did you snap at Ron like that?'

I sighed and sat up, my head bowed and hair covering my face. That didn't last long as Harry lifted his arm under my fringe to look at me beneath it. I could see him leaning on his arm and his green eyes looking up at me. He wasn't going to quit, was he? So I gave in and looked at him properly.

'It's just,' I started, 'what he said about Luna's dad … it just got to me, that's all.'

'How d'you mean?' asked Harry. I bit my lip and rubbed my arm. I didn't want to say. It had become a habit of mine to bite my lower lip when I was nervous or hesitant or didn't want to say or explain something. Harry though was persistent. 'Come on, Jen, don't start keeping secrets from me again.'

I still was hesitant but after a few minutes later, I said, 'It just made me think of Lupin. The number of times he told me I was the one important thing in his life … And seeing Mr Lovegood be willing to jeopardise everything we'd been doing to stop You-Know-Who just to get back Luna …' I stopped and took a breath; I blinked and a tear slid down my cheek. I hadn't really spoken about Lupin since the day he let me go; I'd refused to because of how much it hurt me to do so. But what happened at Luna's just brought it all up. 'It made me think … did Lupin care at all when Bellatrix took me?'

'Jenna, of course he cared,' said Harry.

'But you didn't see him,' I said bitterly. 'He said he didn't have a choice. He just willingly let me go, did the whole "I, Remus John Lupin" spiel he does and gave up his claim on me – to the woman who killed my Dad! His best friend!'

'Jenna, life is made up of hard decisions.' Harry moved round next to me. He put his arm round my waist and pulled me closer. My heart skipped a beat as I fell lightly against his chest. 'Lupin cares about you and you can bet that that decision was a hard one to make. Probably the hardest one he's ever had to make.'

I looked away.

'It didn't seem too hard. I begged him not to.' I ran my hand over my chest. The scar still burned and was as red as it had been when I first got it. 'I begged Lupin not to leave me with her. But still he did. If that's showing he cares it's a pretty poor way of doing so.'

'It was between watching you die in front of him or watching you get taken and the chance of you not dying.'

'And what would make him so sure that Bellatrix wouldn't kill me?' I asked. I looked straight at Harry. 'What could possibly make him think I'd be safer with her? She's mad. She killed Dad, almost killed my Mum when she was pregnant with me, tortured Neville's parents to insanity! You've seen what she's done! You've seen what she did to me!'

'I know,' said Harry gently. He raised his hand and placed it on top of mine on my stomach over the second scar on my front (I had five on my back, all still sore). Harry gripped my hand. I glanced at him, then our hands, then back at him. They looked so right being held in each other. 'But maybe he had to take that risk in order to save you.'

I closed my eyes, another tear falling from them. I'd been in situations in the past where I'd found myself wondering whether Lupin did care for me as much as he said he did. To just willingly give me up without even trying to stop Bellatrix … Did he even try to find me again? It just made me doubt it and those feelings of no longer belonging in Lupin's life come back. He was all I had left … Then again, sometimes it's better to be alone because then no one can hurt you and I'd had enough hurt to last me a lifetime.

'Jen?'

Harry placed his hand on my face and turned it; I found myself looking up at him into his eyes. I just gazed into them, their deep colour mesmerized me. My eyes flicked away from his briefly then back at them. I could barely feel myself breathe while I could feel Harry's warm breath tickling my neck; I could smell the scent that was completely his own; my heart was in my throat. I swallowed and looked away, his hand falling from my cheek.

'I think I'm just going to go to bed,' I mumbled. 'Tell Ron I'm sorry for shouting at him, yeah?'

'Yeah, I will,' said Harry.

He gave me a gentle squeeze round the waist. Then, totally unexpected, Harry brought me close and kissed my cheek. Harry slid off the bunk and pulled back the curtain. I watched as he went. Harry glanced back at me, gave me a smile, and walked away, the curtain falling down as he vanished. My hand instantly went up to my cheek and touched the place he'd kissed. My heart was racing and a strange smile was turning up the corners of my lips. I lay back on my bed. A contented sigh escaped them as the kiss span in my thoughts.

But then I remembered ... it would never happen ...

* * *

**AN: wow, Deathly Hallows has got to be the easiest book to do so far. either that or i just have too much free time on my hands during the summer (shrugs) anyway, enjoy, please leave a review, thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter (especially awpotdc, Sakura 12, literate angel and JErosion) and do read my other stories and oneshots. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	39. Secret Pains, Clear Torture

Chapter 38

Secret Pains, Clear Torture

For the next couple of weeks I was very subdued. Whenever conversations struck up about the Deathly Hallows or the Horcruxes I half-heartedly put my opinion in. Harry seemed to be convinced that the Hallows were real and that Voldemort was after the Elder Wand while he had the Cloak and the Stone inside the Snitch he'd been left but Hermione and Ron weren't so sure. They just knew we had to keep looking for the Horcruxes. But Harry was certain and when he had an idea in his head, he wasn't going to let it drop. It slowly begun to isolate him again from the rest of us. I had other thoughts on my mind though.

I couldn't stop thinking about Lupin. Ever since the incident at Luna's home he was forever on my mind. I didn't want to think about him but everything I did reminded me of how he would tell me to try again if I didn't get it or not give up. It was driving me crazy. That and the fact I kept questioning whether Lupin really did care. Harry said he did so that must mean he does … then why do I feel like this? Why do I feel like the day Lupin let me go was the day he left my life? The day I left his …

Over the coming weeks Ron began to take charge of things like helping Hermione cook or packing the tent whenever we changed location. Every so often you could hear him mumbling about the remaining Horcruxes, pacing the tent, and trying to think where they were. That was all well and good but we still didn't know what two of them were. We knew we needed Hufflepuff's cup but we didn't know where it was and Merlin only knows what the last two Horcruxes Voldemort made were. With his insistence we slowly continued our journey to ever more unlikely places to look, getting the same result from all: nothing.

The snowy weather of January made way to the rain of February and we soon found ourselves remaining in the tent to stop ourselves from falling ill. My knowledge of Medical Spells didn't cover colds. We didn't talk much as we'd once again exhausted all possible conversation about the Hallows or the Horcruxes and we each resorted to doing our own thing. Harry returned to sitting by himself; Hermione was in her books; Ron kept tapping and muttering things to a radio; and I started my investigation on phoenix powers. I was shown to have them in Mum's premonition so I might as well learn about them.

I was glad I'd brought my copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ with me. On virtually all the pages there were little notations and additions I'd made about the magical creatures listed that I'd found out when I transformed into them. For some creatures there was no free space around the original edits. Other ones I'd underlined certain lines and written my own opinion. Newt Scamander didn't know everything seeing as he hadn't actually _been_ the animals.

The edit listed all the phoenix's basic powers such as being able to regenerate itself, the healing properties of its tears and it being able to carry immensely heavy loads. The phoenix could also disappear and reappear at will. That the was the flame teleportation I could do. And I knew that their tail feathers were used in wands. But there were other powers I'd never even heard of like being able to combust their feathers, fly at high speeds and even produce flames around them to protect themselves. Well, I didn't have any feathers to blow up and it probably wouldn't be a wise thing to do inside a tent and I couldn't practice flying with wings (not that I'd want to) in the wet weather. But I could try the fire production.

I put the book open on my bed. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and thought of fire. I waited a few seconds … Nothing. I opened my eyes and looked back at my book. It didn't state how phoenixes did it.

'Maybe it's like wizard's magic,' I mumbled. I lifted my hand and looked at it. 'Maybe it needs something to direct it.'

But I couldn't use my wand because it was phoenix magic, not mine. So I'd have to do it wandlessly. Taking a deep breath, I held my hand in front of me and tried again. Nothing came. I tried several more times but still nothing happened. What was I doing wrong? The other phoenix magic had come naturally to me. Why was this more difficult? Frustrated I slammed the book shut and shoved it back in my bag.

As March set in I found myself constantly re-reading again and again the passage on phoenixes to see if there was anything I'd missed as well as collecting more phoenix tears. It said nothing about how to they generate fire. I guess that was actually a good thing. On the plus side I'd managed to collect almost a full phial now of tears. They were certainly a handy thing to have seeing as Ron still Splinched himself at least once every five times we Disapparated to somewhere new on his somewhat now ridiculous hunt for the Horcruxes.

'Well, it didn't do us any harm,' said Ron when we'd returned from yet another dead end in this trail.

'No, course it didn't,' I said, 'apart from the fact we had to yet again try and escape being seen by the Snatchers.'

'Least they weren't poking around as much,' said Ron. 'Some of them are supposed to be as bad as Death Eaters. The lot that got me were a bit pathetic, but Bill reckons some of them are really dangerous. The said on _Potterwatch _–'

'On what?' asked Harry.

So that was what Ron had been trying to pick up on that old radio of his. All those things he mumbled at it and the different rhythms he tapped out were to try to tune into a radio show called _Potterwatch_. What was that then? Every so often we caught snippets of various shows or catching the snippet of a song but nothing about Harry. Apparently the show was password protected and it was usually Order related. After weeks of trying on Friday night Ron shouted that he'd found the right password. Harry came inside the tent from being on watch while Hermione and I got up and sat beside him.

'… apologise for our temporary absence from the airwaves, which was due to a number of house-calls in our area by those charming Death Eaters.' It was Lee Jordan, Fred and George's mate and old school Quidditch commentator. God, it felt good to hear a friendly voice again. 'We are pleased to say we have now found ourselves another secure location and I'm pleased to tell you that two of our regular contributors have joined me here this evening. Evening, boys!'

'Hi.'

'Evening, River.'

I gasped, shuddering slightly. That was Lupin. I couldn't believe it. Lupin was on the radio. But he wasn't talking, Lee or "River" was. I got a grip on myself to listen again. In my head though I was praying that Lupin would say something again, just to hear his voice.

Lee spoke first about the recent deaths and I was shocked to hear Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell had died. We'd spoken to them only a few months ago and now they were dead as well as one of the goblins they'd been with but there was no news of what had happened to Dean or the other goblin. Lee said his mum and sister were desperate for news. They weren't likely to get any if he was still on the run.

I listened silently with the others. It felt nice to hear familiar voices again but the news they brought was not that encouraging. Muggles were being killed by the Death Eaters and others were being found dead like Bathilda Bagshot. Kingsley, alias Royal, spoke after him about the Muggles still being ignorant to what was going on and the bravery of some wizards to help them. He wanted everyone to try and protect as many lives as possible. I sat crossed-legged next to Hermione on the floor and listened closely, the radio in the middle of us. I stared at it, waiting for the moment Lupin would speak again. But in truth part of me didn't want to hear anything he had to say.

'Excellently put, Royal, and you've got my vote for Minister for Magic if we ever get out of this mess,' said Lee. 'And now, over to Romulus for our popular feature: Pals of Potter.'

'Thanks, River,' said Lupin's voice. At that moment I almost got up and walked out the tent. But I remained where I was and listened to him.

'Romulus, do you maintain, as you have every time you've appeared on our programme, that Harry Potter is still alive?'

'I do,' said Lupin firmly. 'There is no doubt at all in my mind that his death would be proclaimed as widely as possible by the Death Eaters if it had happened, because it would strike a deadly blow at the morale of those resisting the new regime. The "Boy Who Lived" remains a symbol of everything for which we are fighting: the triumph of good, the power of innocence, the need to keep resisting.'

I found it increasingly hard to breathe as I listened to Lupin's voice. I closed my eyes as I listened and it felt like he was right beside me. I knew he wasn't because as I imagined him there I could feel the distance that separated us. It was tearing me apart.

'And what would you say to Harry if you knew he was listening, Romulus?'

'I'd tell him we're all with him in spirit,' said Lupin. He then hesitated. 'And I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right.'

Lupin continued for a little while longer about Harry's supporters. Apparently Mr Lovegood was now in prison while Hagrid had gone into hiding for holding a Support Harry Potter party. At that point it was too hard to listen to him anymore. I got up and headed for the tent entrance to get some air when I heard his voice speak again.

'One last thing, River.' I stopped. I glanced back through my fringe at the radio. 'I just want to say that, if she's listening – she'll know who she is – that I hope she's all right. That I hope she can forgive me for what I did and know that I never gave up hope for her or praying she'd be all right. I never wanted these things to happen and, if she's listening to this, I miss her greatly. Never a day passes when I wish I could go back on what I did and I hope she'll come back and forgive me.'

I blinked and a tear fell down my cheek. I brushed it away and walked out of the tent. I heard Harry call after me but I ignored him. I walked away from where the tent was pitched and down the small slope we were on to a raised bank beside a brook. I sat down on the grass. The tears were now flowing from my eyes and I brushed them away. I pulled my knees up to my chest and put my head on them. I cried quietly into them, shaking with sobs. I just wanted to go home.

After a few minutes I managed to get a hold of myself. I sat up and brushed away any stray tears from my face. Moving on to my knees I got some water from the brook in my hands to splash in my face. However, before I did so I froze as I saw a face reflected in the water above me. I span round to see a man with grizzled grey hair standing over me. I screamed as he grabbed me and put his hand over my mouth.

'We've been looking for you,' Greyback snarled quietly. 'Bellatrix put a good price on your head for your capture.' I tried to scream again but his hand muffled my voice. He was too strong and I couldn't pull away. 'Told all us Snatchers that anyone who captured the girl with black and red hair would get a huge reward. I can see why …' I felt a rough hand run down my cheek, then my neck. It continued lower as Greyback groped my body. I tried to pull away but he just laughed. 'Ooh, such a fiery spirit … and with such a body, such curves and soft skin … almost arousing …'

'You sick bastard,' I breathed.

I pulled against him again. Greyback wouldn't let me go. His foul breath was choking as he laughed at my attempts to escape. I glared back at him and rammed my foot hard on his. Greyback howled in pain and let me go. I stumbled forwards and fell to the ground. I made to get up and run but I felt ropes wrap around my body and a gag went round my mouth.

'Nott!' shouted Greyback. 'Take this one straight to the Malfoy's. Bellatrix is expecting her.' A second man approached me, broad shouldered but on the rather stringy side. He pulled me to my feet by the rope wrapped round my arms and waist. 'I'll go deal with the others. Where there's one, others are bound to be nearby.'

The man Nott pulled me up so I was flush against him. He held on to the ropes tightly and we Disapparated. As the darkness surrounded us all I could think of was it would be seconds until Harry and the others were discovered. We reappeared outside a pair of dark wrought-iron gates. I was pushed inside them by Nott and up a long drive. I looked up at the looming house in front of me. The Malfoy Manor. Thoughts of Draco suddenly ran through my head and what his reaction would be to see I had been captured again. Then my thoughts turned to Bellatrix. This was the third time I'd been captured and I bet Bellatrix would make sure I never escaped again. Now I was going to find out if three times really was a charm.

Nott pushed me up the front steps. He walked round me, ropes still in his hands, and banged on the door. The porch was then flooded with light.

'Who's there?' said a woman's voice. It was Narcissa.

'I'm here to see Bellatrix on Greyback's orders,' shouted Nott. 'We've got the Black girl.'

The door opened and I saw Narcissa. I looked up at her from behind my hair to see her staring at me disdainfully. She ordered Nott to take me to the study while she fetched Bellatrix. Nott shoved me forwards over the threshold. I glared at him and walked without a fuss to the room Narcissa indicated. It was the same room as last time. The same furniture, the same lighting, the same feeling of domination pressing on me. I was shoved to the ground in the centre of the room. Nott stood back from be by the door. Now I just had to wait for Bellatrix to get here.

I didn't have to wait long. In no time at all Bellatrix strode into the room. She smiled manically when she saw me knelt there. She cackled in delight. I watched as she walked over to me. She drew out her wand. _Here it comes_, I thought but no curse was said. Instead I felt the ropes loosen and the gag vanish. I looked up at her cautiously.

'Well, well, well,' she laughed, 'look who's here. You didn't honestly think you'd get away with escaping me a second time, did you?' Bellatrix swung at me and hit my face. I recoiled back and put my hand on my reddening cheek. Bellatrix grabbed my t-shirt and pulled me closer. 'But this time, I swear, you won't,' she sneered. 'This time I'm going to make sure you're emotionally _and_ physically broken and you'll beg me to kill you.'

'I highly doubt that,' I said quietly. 'You didn't break me last time with your torture. What makes you think you'll manage this time?'

Bellatrix glared at me and shoved me back to the floor.

'Because I knew Sirius. A compassionate fool, always caring for those around him. Just like you. Too caring for a Black's good. Always placing others before yourself. Just like him.'

I stood up and watched as she paced around me. My eyes followed her every movement. I saw that we were within a few inches of each other's height. Her dark eyes were focused directly on my blue ones, her black hair wild and pinned back, mine straight and loose. It felt like I was looking at my reflection in a mirror, Bellatrix as my complete opposite.

'I know things about your father which would make even your hair curl,' spat Bellatrix. I glared at her. 'Things which he'd never dare tell you. Wouldn't want to harm his precious little blood traitor daughter. His little half-breed.'

'Shut up,' I snapped. I went to take out my wand when I realised it was in my bag. And my bag was back at the tent. Bellatrix laughed.

'Oh, this is priceless,' she cackled, 'the little witchling hasn't got her stick to wave. _She's unpwotected_.' My glare deepened; I clenched my fists by my side as my anger rose. 'And already I'm pushing her buttons. See? I know you better than you think.'

'You know _nothing_ about me!' I snarled. 'You don't know anything!'

'Oh, I know a lot more than you think,' said Bellatrix. She walked round behind me. I stayed still, listening for her footsteps instead of turning to look at her. 'I know what you fear,' whispered Bellatrix. I felt her breath tickle my neck as she whispered in my ear. 'What you pray isn't true. What you dream in your nightmares.' Bellatrix continued round me. 'What you see happening in front of you that you wish wasn't there.'

'Shut up.'

'Who you long to be with again.'

'Shut up,' I told her again. I could feel myself start to shake with anger. By my sides I could feel my hands getting hotter. Like they were starting to burn. 'You don't know anything.'

'Who you want out of your life.' I froze and looked startled at Bellatrix. What was she talking about? She saw my startled look and smiled, licking her pale lips with her tongue. 'Hit a nerve, have I?' Bellatrix stepped round to my left again and whispered a single word in my ear, 'Nymphadora …'

I stared straight in front of me as my heart stopped. My breathing was raspy and I was shaking. What mind tricks was Bellatrix playing on me? What was she trying to do? Bellatrix noticed my reaction. She knew she had gotten to me.

'You may have wondered why I came after you, am I correct?' said Bellatrix. I followed her as she came round in front of me again. 'Besides the fact you've escaped me twice … I wanted to teach my little niece a lesson.'

'So why did you want me if you wanted to get back at Tonks?'

'Well, you see, it's very disgraceful to marry a half-breed, even more so than marrying a Mudblood. Especially a werewolf.'

'Leave Lupin out of this,' I breathed, my voice shaking.

'But he is very much part of it,' said Bellatrix. 'In fact, he became part of it when his little brat of a sister married Sirius. He didn't know to let sleeping dragons lie and just had to go and find you. Bring you into this little mess. Then he just made things worse when he accepted little Nymphie's proposal of marriage. His sister had already learnt her lesson for getting involved with Blacks, now it was his turn. And what was more precious to him than anything in his life, can you answer me that?'

'Me,' I breathed.

'Oh, ten points to Gryffindor,' said Bellatrix sarcastically. 'You're as bright as your daddy. Who says you don't get credit for right answers?

'Well, as you can see,' Bellatrix continued, 'you're the most important thing in the werewolf's life. His niece, his flesh and blood, his little cub, the only remaining thing to remind him of his baby sister.' How did Bellatrix know all this? It was like she'd listened in to every conversation I'd ever had with Lupin. 'So the question was … who was he going to save? His wife or his cub?'

As I stood there my heart was racing and it felt like I couldn't breathe. I was shaking with both fear and anger but I couldn't tell which was more prominent.

'You see, people always choose the one they want to protect most.'

'Stop it.'

'They always pick the one they love more.'

'Stop it,' I said again, my voice shaking badly.

'And the werewolf picked his wife over you, just like I knew he would.' I closed my eyes, trying to block her out. I felt tears stream down my face. 'He doesn't love you.'

'Shut up.' I clenched my hands tightly. The burning sensation in them increased. 'You're lying!'

'He never wanted you,' whispered Bellatrix. 'Getting rid of you was the best thing he ever did, handing you over to me. '

'No! It's not true! You're lying!'

'And now he's replaced you. No more wittle Jennifer in his life.'

'SHUT UP!'

I lashed out at Bellatrix, trying to hit her to make her shut up about Lupin. She dodged it easily so I lunged at her again. A ball of flame burst from my hand and flew towards her.

'_Protego!_' Bellatrix shrieked.

A shield appeared around Bellatrix and blocked the fireball from hitting her. It rebounded against the shield. It pounded back towards me and hit me square in the chest. I was thrown back against the wall. I let out a choked gasp and crumpled on the floor. I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like it had a metal band round it as the scar on it seared and the pressure of being hit by my own spell took effect. I heard Bellatrix's footsteps approach me and I saw her standing over me.

'_Aww, poor baby_,' she cooed. 'Everything she's ever loved … lost forever …'

At that moment the door opened. Bellatrix turned to see who it was.

'Greyback's here,' said the voice of Wormtail. 'H-he's brought some more prisoners.'

'This is not a rest home for every prisoner they capture,' snapped Bellatrix. Wormtail squeaked in fear. 'Bring the girl,' ordered Bellatrix. 'This time she's not leaving my sight.'

I saw Wormtail approach me. I curled up in a ball, closing my eyes. Ropes tied themselves around my arms and waist and Wormtail pulled me to my feet. I was dragged from the study into another room, a larger one with a chandelier hanging in the centre, a fireplace and chairs on the other side. Lucius, Narcissa and Draco were all gathered there. Wormtail threw me to the ground in the middle of the room. I fell on to my side unable to get up as my arms were bound. I lay there completely still, my hair covering my face.

'What is this?' demanded Bellatrix. She entered the room after Wormtail. 'What's happened, Cissy?' She saw the others on the floor. Bellatrix moved closer to get a better look. 'But surely,' she said quietly, 'this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?'

I looked up to see a group of people and a goblin all tied together. It was Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean and that goblin he'd been with. I saw Harry look across at me; his face was all swollen. I looked away.

'Yes, yes, it's Granger!' cried Lucius. 'And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends caught at last!' I guess helping me was a short lived thing; the prospect of redeeming himself with the capture of Harry was too good a opportunity to let pass.

'Potter?' shrieked Bellatrix. She moved back to take a better look. 'Are you sure? Well, then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once.'

Bellatrix tore back her sleeve to touch her Dark Mark but Lucius stopped her. She had no authority to summon him in his house. They argued over who had the right to tell him when Greyback intervened saying that he had captured them and that he'll get the gold. Bellatrix laughed. She didn't care about the gold.

'I seek only the honour of his – of –'

Bellatrix stopped. I looked up at her to see her eyes staring widely at something one of the other Snatchers had. I followed her gaze to see he was holding the sword of Gryffindor. Beside her Lucius was about to touch his Mark.

'STOP!' shrieked Bellatrix. 'Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!'

Lucius stopped. Bellatrix moved forwards to the Snatcher with the sword.

'What is that?' she asked him.

'Sword,' grunted the Snatcher.

'Give it to me.'

'It is not yorn, Missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it.'

I flinched as a bang and a flash of red light streaked passed me. The Stunner hit the Snatcher. Some of the others objected and one drew his wand.

'What d'you think you're playing at, woman?' he growled.

Bellatrix sent more Stunners at them and they dropped like weights to the ground. Greyback dropped to his knees in front of her. Bellatrix demanded to know where they had got the sword and Greyback told her they'd found it in our tent. We were done for now. This did not please Bellatrix.

'Draco, move this scum outside,' ordered Bellatrix. 'If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me.' I looked up to see Draco move hesitantly from behind his mother. Our eyes met and I knew right then he'd been suspected for helping me escape. Narcissa objected to having her son treated like this but Bellatrix shouted, 'Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!'

She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at the others.

'If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed,' she muttered. 'The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself … but if he finds out … I must … I must know …' Bellatrix turned back to Narcissa. 'The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!'

'This is my house, Bella,' snapped Narcissa, 'you don't give orders in my –'

'Do it!' shrieked Bellatrix. 'You have no idea of the danger we are in!' For once she actually looked frightened. Fire issued from her wand tip and burnt a hole in the carpet.

Narcissa finally turned to Greyback and order him to take us to the cellar. Bellatrix stopped her though, saying that the Mudblood and I were to be left with them. She wanted to keep a close eye on me. He grunted in pleasure. Ron shouted for her to take him instead but she hit him across the face to silence him.

'If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next,' she sneered. 'Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book, half-breeds first though.' I saw Bellatrix's cruel eyes turn on me. 'Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them – yet.'

Greyback took hold of the others and took them away. I saw Hermione look at me desperately but I avoided her eye. I had nothing left in me to fight. Like Bellatrix said, she knew what would get to me and she'd broken me. She knew what I had feared for ages and had used that to her every advantage and got the reaction out of me she had wanted. I had nothing left to fight for. Greyback came back moments later with a pleased look on his face. I could just hear shouts coming from down the corridor.

'Now, which one of you is going to tell me where you got this sword?' asked Bellatrix.

She looked between Hermione and me. I just closed my eyes and shrunk away from her. She'd already won over me. I wasn't going to say anything else.

'No?' I heard her footsteps approach me and I was pulled up. I kept my eyes closed but could feel her breath on my face; I knew she was leering at me. 'Not willing to say anything more, are we, Jennifer?' I turned away. She let go and I fell back to the floor. 'Then I guess I'll try the Mudblood. See how long she can endure my power.'

I just lay there listening as Bellatrix questioned and tortured Hermione. It hurt so much to hear her screams but I couldn't do anything. I didn't move, didn't react, didn't beg Bellatrix to stop. Inside I was crying and pleading that she would stop but I knew Bellatrix would not do so until she had gotten what she wanted.

'We found the sword!' cried Hermione. She must have been in such pain never having felt the pain of Bellatrix's curses before.

'You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it!' shouted Bellatrix. 'You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, _tell the truth!_'

I curled up even further to try and block out Hermione's screams. They cut through me like a knife but I was powerless to do anything. I didn't have my wand. I couldn't use my magic. I gripped at the ropes holding me in an effortless try to break them. As I listened to Hermione's screams I felt angry at myself for letting Bellatrix do this to her because I refused to stop her. My hands felt like they were burning again.

'What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!'

'We didn't steal it! We haven't taken anything!'

'Lying, filthy Mudblood!'

'It's the truth, I swear!'

'What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!'

More screams. I couldn't take it!

'_Stop it!_' I screamed. 'Let her go!'

'You're next, half-breed!' snarled Bellatrix. I felt a curse hit my side and I let out a shout of pain as I felt something slice over my arm. 'It's your fault she's being tortured. You're the one to blame for the Mudblood's torture.' Bellatrix walked over to Hermione and pulled her up by her hair. I glared at her. 'See the pain in her face? It's all because of you.'

'No!' I pulled against the ropes, them feeling like they had been loosened slightly; my hands felt like they were on fire again. 'Hermione – let her go!'

'_Silence!_' I felt another curse hit my face and I was thrown back slightly. 'You're already next on my list! One more word and you'll be moved to the top of the it.'

She turned back to Hermione and continued to torture her. I cried silently and helplessly as I heard her screams. Hermione didn't have the strength to fight Bellatrix's power. She gave in so easily to all her questions. I heard Bellatrix question her about the goblin then order him to be brought up here. Draco was sent to get him and came back a few minutes later with him. I watched as Bellatrix took the sword and shoved it into the goblin's hands. There was a slight disturbance after Draco came back and Wormtail was sent to see what was going on.

'Well?' she demanded. 'Is it the true sword?'

I watched the goblin, it was Griphook, worriedly. He would know whether the sword was real or not. Hermione would be killed if he said it was. After what was mere minutes but seemed forever, Griphook said, 'No. it's a fake.'

'Are you sure?' asked Bellatrix. 'Quite sure?'

'Yes,' said the goblin.

'Good.' Bellatrix casually flicked her wand, cutting a deep gash into the goblin's face. He dropped to his knees at her feet and she kicked him aside. Then she drew back her sleeve revealing her Dark Mark. 'And now,' she said, in a voice that burst with triumph, 'we call the Dark Lord.'

She pressed her finger to the snake writhing on her arm. I felt my own burn and I gripped the ropes tighter. To my surprise I felt the rope wither beneath my fingers. I started slightly when I felt it but not so much to draw attention. I'd burnt them apart, just like I'd created that fireball earlier. I'd found that other phoenix power. I remained still on the floor.

'And I think,' said Bellatrix, removing her finger and shaking down her sleeve, 'we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want.'

'_No!_' I shouted, trying to shake the rest of the rope off me.

'NOOOOOOOOOOOO!'

Ron and Harry burst into the room. When Bellatrix saw him she turned her wand on him but he was too quick. He Disarmed her and her wand flew into the air and Harry caught it. Greyback, Lucius, Narcissa and Draco all reacted but Harry's yell of, '_Stupefy!_' sent Lucius to the floor. While spells and curses flew at each other I managed to get the rest of the ropes off me. I had to get to Hermione. However, before I even got a chance to move, Bellatrix had got a hold of an unconscious Hermione and was holding her knife to her throat beside me.

'STOP OR SHE DIES!'

I froze. If I made one move, Hermione would die.

'Drop your wands,' she whispered dangerously. 'Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!' Neither Ron nor Harry made a move to drop the wands they were holding. 'I said, drop them!' screeched Bellatrix. She pressed the knife into Hermione's throat making drops of blood trickle down it.

'All right,' shouted Harry and he threw Bellatrix's wand to the floor. Ron did the same.

'Good,' leered Bellatrix. 'Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!'

Slowly so as not to draw attention to me, I brought my wand hand forwards through the loose ropes. I moved it so I had a shot at Bellatrix, aiming it hopefully away from Hermione. I only had one shot.

'Now,' said Bellatrix softly, 'Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight. You could even dispose of my little cousin here too.'

At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. Bellatrix looked up. Instantly I drew on my anger and hatred for her and a fireball blasted from my hand. It hit Bellatrix in the chest and she was thrown back from Hermione. Above us I saw the crystal chandelier that had been hanging there shake ominously before – it began to fall. Without thinking I swung my legs round and kicked Hermione away from it. The chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, falling on top of Hermione, the goblin and me. I felt one of its metal spikes dig into my side.

I couldn't move. I was trapped. Beside me I saw Ron drag Hermione and the goblin clutching the sword out from underneath wreckage. I could hear shouts nearby. The metal spike dug further in my side as I tried to move. I couldn't get free.

'Dobby!' screamed Narcissa's voice. 'You! _You_ dropped the chandelier –?'

I turned my head enough to see the small house-elf run into the room. He glared at Bellatrix and Narcissa, shaking his finger.

'You must not hurt Harry Potter,' he squeaked.

'Kill him, Cissy!' shrieked Bellatrix. I heard another bang followed by the clattering of a wand landing on the floor. 'You dirty little monkey!' screamed Bellatrix. 'How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?'

'Dobby has no master!' squeaked the elf. 'Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!'

'Ron, catch – and GO!' yelled Harry's voice. They were leaving and I couldn't get free. Harry had to leave now if he wanted to escape. He didn't have time to get me. But then I heard his voice shout, '_Reducto!_'

I screamed as I felt the spell hit the chandelier. The metal spike broke off and I was pulled from underneath the rest of it by Harry. I winced in pain when he picked me up in his arms. I grabbed on to him just in time as he took Dobby's hand and we Disapparated. I held on to Harry as tightly as I could. Harry's feet hit the ground and I let go. I lay on the grass panting as the spike dug into me. I could feel the blood on my waist. I could hear Harry somewhere beside me but his voice was all muffled. I couldn't hear him. Above me I saw the night sky. I didn't have a clue where we were.

'Dobby – no – HELP! HELP! Dobby, no, don't die, don't die –'

I listened to Harry's cries and I knew Dobby had been killed. Another life had been taken as I felt mine was soon going to be. I was bleeding badly at my waist, I could feel it, and I didn't have my bag which had the phial of phoenix tears. But I had one last chance.

'H-Harry,' I stuttered. I had to get his attention. 'Harry, h-help …'

I closed my eyes and swallowed. The pain was getting worse. Next I felt my hand get taken and something touched my face. I opened my eyes. I could just see Harry leaning over me in the darkness.

'Jenna, hang on,' he told me. 'I'll go get help –'

'No,' I said. 'No, you have to help me …' I moved my other arm up and grabbed on to Harry. I pulled myself up, gripping on to him tightly. I had to pause and take a few deep breaths before I continued. The pain was immense. Harry helped me up and knelt beside me, his arm supporting my back. 'I n-need you t – to pull the s-spike out of me.'

'Jenna, you'll bleed if I do that,' said Harry. 'I have to get someone, I can't –'

'Just do it, Harry,' I said firmly or as firmly as I could. 'T – trust me.'

Harry looked worriedly at me but I nodded. Harry removed his hand from supporting my back, the other gripping mine, and placed it around the metal spike. I winced slightly as it moved. Harry hesitated and said, 'I can't, Jenna.'

'You can, Harry, I know you can. Please … please, just do this …'

I looked up at him. His eyes met mine and I nodded again. I braced myself. Harry took a firm hold of the spike.

'On three,' he said. 'One – two – three!'

Harry pulled the spike out of my waist. I screamed as he did so, gripping on to him tightly, my nails digging into his arm. Instantly I felt more blood spill over my waist; the spike had formed some sort of stopper to halt the flow. I placed a hand over the wound to try and stem it again.

'Harry, my eyes,' I breathed harshly.

'Jenna, now is not the time to think about your eyes,' said Harry.

'No, the tears!' I shouted. 'The tears!' The tears were rolling down my cheeks from the pain, the phoenix tears. Because I was wounded the phoenix tears had been activated and I needed to use them. 'Wipe my tears away with your hand and put it over the wound.'

'What use will they be?'

'Just trust me!' I looked desperately at him this time. He had to heal me now or I'd bleed to death. The tears were streaming down my cheeks. I could see the doubt in Harry's eyes. 'Trust me!'

Harry ran his hand over my cheek and brushed away my tears. Then, he took away my hand and placed his own on the wound. I waited, hoping that the tears would heal me. I felt a tingling start around the wound and slowly the bleed began to ebb away as new skin began to grow over it. Harry took his hand away and watched as the wound healed itself.

'How –?'

'Phoenix tears,' I breathed. Harry looked at me. 'It's a long story …'

'Harry!'

Harry and I looked behind us to see Bill, Fleur, Dean and Luna gathering around us. Just to my left I saw the body of Dobby lying still in the grass. He had died. Died saving us. I felt a rush of sadness when I saw it. Harry asked instantly where Hermione was and Bill told us that Ron had taken her inside. Then, while Dean and Luna helped me inside, Harry remained outside to bury Dobby.

Once in the house Fleur sat me down and conjured a potion box beside her. She cut off the rest of my t-shirt and checked over my wound, amazed to see the one on my side had gone. She then healed the cut on my arm and wrapped them both in bandage. When she was finished I carefully got up and walked to a window where I could see out to the garden. I watched as Harry worked, Dean and Ron joining him, and buried Dobby's body. All of us joined him outside when he was finished.

'I think we ought to say something,' said Luna brightly. 'I'll go first, shall I?' She looked down into the hole at the body. 'Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die, when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now.'

She turned to Ron. He hastily cleared his throat and mumbled, 'Yeah … thanks, Dobby.'

'Thanks,' muttered Dean. Next, Hermione said something, then I did.

'To the bravest house-elf I knew,' I muttered. 'Rest in peace.'

Harry was last, saying a quiet, 'Goodbye, Dobby.' Bill raised his wand and made the pile of earth beside the grave float up and fall neatly upon it. 'D'you mind if I stay here a moment?' Harry then asked us.

'We'll be inside,' said Bill. 'Come on, you lot,' he said to the rest of us. 'I think you're all in need of some Butterbeers. And you and Hermione need rest,' he added pointedly at me and Hermione. Bill led us back inside. I glanced back at Harry to see him standing there. Dobby had died because I had been trapped and he'd waited for Harry to get me out.

I sighed. He should have just left me. Bellatrix had already destroyed me like she wanted. I would be no use to them now. I had no wand and … I'd lost the one other hope I had: that I'd be able to return to Lupin when this was over. I couldn't even protect Hermione. Everything seemed so pointless now. And what she said about Lupin, it was like she'd known all along what I had felt, and her saying it made it a reality. I didn't want to believe her. But everything I felt was telling me that what she said was true.

We all took seats in the living room and while we waited for Harry, Ron asked how the rest of the Weasleys were. They'd been moved from The Burrow to his Aunt Muriel's. They'd only just managed to get Ginny before the Death Eaters had come after her. Plus they knew Ron didn't have spattergroit now. But I was in a world of my own. When Harry came in I felt a lump rise in my throat and I excused myself from the room. I went upstairs to the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I'd been wanting to cry for ages and, with the door locked, I slid down against it and finally let out my tears. I'd let Bellatrix win.

Ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. I jumped slightly when I heard it. Hermione's voice spoke through the door.

'Jenna? Are you in there?'

'Yeah,' I replied. I couldn't hide the shaky tone in my voice.

'Is everything all right?' Hermione asked.

'Yeah, everything's fine,' I said. I got up and started the tap running so she'd think I was washing my hands. 'Just girl problems, you know? Can't escape those when on the run.'

I heard Hermione laughed quietly through the door.

'Yeah, pain, aren't they?' she said. 'When you're done we'll be in Griphook's room. Harry needs to speak to him and wants us there.'

_What use am I?_ I thought. I ran my hands under the cold water and splashed it in my face to erase the tears. _I have no wand and I bet all my magic's weakened because of Bellatrix's stunt. What can I do now?_

'OK,' I called through the door. 'Be there in a sec.'

I picked up the hand mirror and looked into it. My eyes were slightly red but least it didn't look like I'd been crying anymore. I then held it beside me to inspect my arm and in front of me to look at my waist. My arm was still bleeding slightly from Bellatrix slicing it while my stomach was just a bit sore. I knew questions from Harry were going to come about the phoenix tears thing. But now was not the time. Taking a breath, I put down the mirror and left the room. Bill was just down the landing in front of another door.

'Harry's in here,' he told me. 'He's talking to the goblin. You better go in.'

Bill walked down the landing and downstairs. I turned to the door. I honestly didn't want to do this anymore. I'd had enough. Still, I put my hand on the handle and opened the door to walk in. I saw Griphook lying semi-conscious on the bed with Harry, Ron and Hermione standing round it. They all looked up at me.

'Hey, how you feeling?' asked Harry instantly. 'You really scared me with what you did outside.'

'I'm fine,' I said briskly. 'It's not the time, we're here to talk to the goblin, right?'

Harry stared at me for a moment, then nodded, turning to Griphook. I saw Hermione giving me a weird look but I avoided her eye. I felt so ashamed for what I let her go through but she didn't know what Bellatrix had said to me.

'Well,' said Harry, 'I need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to me.'

Harry wanted to break into a Gringotts vault. To be more precise, Bellatrix's vault. Was he mad? No one could break into Gringotts, everyone knew that. But someone had done so before. Griphook did not believe it could be done and recited the warning people were given when they entered the bank. That didn't stop Harry though.

'But I'm not trying to get myself any treasure,' he said irritably, 'I'm not trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?'

Griphook eyed Harry warily.

'If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain,' said Griphook, 'it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection, or the respect, that you have shown this night. Not from wand-carriers.'

'Wand-carriers,' repeated Harry.

'The right to carry a wand,' said Griphook, 'has long been contested between wizards and goblins.'

An argument between Ron and Griphook began about the rights of magic and the sharing of magical knowledge. Harry said that this had nothing to do with what he wanted to do but Griphook gave a nasty laugh to that. He said that while the Dark Lord grew stronger who really cared for the lesser beings such as elves and goblins so why he should help us? To convince him Hermione told him that Bellatrix chose to torture her because of her being a Muggle-born while Harry said it was him who'd set Dobby and wanted the rest of the elves at Hogwarts free. Griphook stared between us carefully.

'What do you seek within the Lestranges' vault?' he asked. 'The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one.' I saw he was still holding the sword from earlier. 'I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there.'

'But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it?' asked Harry. 'Perhaps you've seen the other things in there?'

'It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers.' He stroked the sword with his knobbly fingers, then looked back at us. 'So you,' he said, 'to be fighting so many.'

'You have no idea,' I said quietly.

'So will you help us?' asked Harry. 'We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's help. You're our one chance.'

'I shall … think about it,' said Griphook. Ron was about to complain but Hermione nudged him in the ribs. Griphook's black eyes glanced at them.

'Thank you,' said Harry.

The goblin bowed his head in acknowledgement.

'I think,' he said, 'that the Skele-Gro has finished its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me …'

'Yeah, of course,' said Harry.

Hermione, Ron and I headed for the door. Looking back I saw Harry reach forwards for the sword. Surprisingly the goblin let him take it but there was a definite look of resentment in his eyes as Harry closed the door behind him.

'Little git,' whispered Ron. 'He's enjoying keeping us hanging.'

'Harry,' whispered Hermione urgently. She led us away from the door. 'Are you saying what I think you're saying. Are you saying there's a Horcrux in the Lestrange's vault?'

That was exactly what Harry thought. And in some ways he seemed right. Bellatrix had been terrified when she saw we had the sword, saying they were in danger. Something had spooked her at the thought of us having been through her vault. And logically, when Harry suggested it, it seemed feasible that a Horcrux could possibly be there. Bellatrix was one of You-Know-Who's most loyal Death Eaters. So he could have entrusted her with a Horcrux but just not tell her what it was, like with the diary and Lucius.

'He probably told her it was a treasured possession and asked her to place it in her vault,' said Harry. 'The safest place in the world for anything you want to hide, Hagrid told me … except for Hogwarts.'

'You really understand him,' said Ron, amazed.

'Bits of him,' said Harry. 'Bits … I just wish I'd understood Dumbledore as much. But we'll see. Come on – Ollivander now.'

Harry led the way to Ollivander's room and knocked on the door. A tired voice replied and we went inside. The wandmaker was lying on the twin bed furthest from the window. He looked withered and pale. I couldn't imagine how long he'd been in the cellar. Had he been there when I first got captured? His body was emaciated and there was a yellowish tinge to his skin while his silver eyes were enlarged in their sunken sockets. He looked a bit like Dad did when he escaped from Azkaban.

'Mr Ollivander, I'm sorry to disturb you,' said Harry politely.

'My dear boy,' said Ollivander feebly. 'You rescued us. I thought we would die in that place. I can never thank you … _never_ thank you … enough.'

'We were glad to do it.'

Harry's first question was to do with his wand and Ollivander confirmed that it could not be fixed. He then went on to ask about the two wands he and Ron had managed to obtain from Draco and Bellatrix. I stared at her wand; that had been the wand that had killed my Dad. Harry was surprised when Ollivander said it was Draco's wand.

'Was?' he repeated. 'Isn't it still his?'

'Perhaps not,' replied Ollivander. 'if you took it –'

'– I did –'

'– then it may be yours. Of course, the manner of taking matters. Much also depends upon the wand itself. In general, however, where a wand has been won, its allegiance will change.'

'You talk about wands like they've got feelings,' said Harry, 'like they can think for themselves.'

'The wand chooses the wizard,' said Ollivander. 'That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore.'

'A person can still use a wand that hasn't chosen them, though?' asked Harry.

'Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand.'

'So, is it possible for a wizard to find their wand if it has been lost?' I asked.

'Presumably,' said Ollivander, 'if the connection between wizard and wand is strong enough.'

So there was a chance that I could find my wand again. Well, that was a bonus, albeit a bit of a small one.

To check both Harry and Ron checked that they could use the wands they had won, Draco's and Wormtail's. Ollivander believed it to be possible.

'So, it isn't necessary to kill the previous owner to take true possession of a wand?' asked Harry unexpectedly. I looked at him. He wasn't seriously going to ask Ollivander about the Elder Wand, was he?

That was exactly where it turned out that Harry was heading. He asked Ollivander about the wands that had been handed from wizard to wizard by murder, wanting to know if it was necessary. He knew of only one wand. He was very shocked when Harry asked if Voldemort was interested in it.

'He wanted you to tell him to overcome the connection between our wands,' said Harry.

Ollivander paled even more than he already was.

'He tortured me, you must understand that! The Cruciatus Curse, I – I had no choice but to tell him what I knew, what I guessed!'

'I understand,' said Harry. 'You told him about the twin cores? You said he just had to borrow another wizard's wand?' Ollivander nodded slowly. 'But it didn't work. Mine still beat the borrowed wand. Do you know why that is?'

Ollivander had no idea what had happened. Harry persisted.

'We were talking about the other wand, the wand that changes hands by murder. When You-Know-Who realised my wand had done something strange, he came back and asked about that other wand, didn't he?'

'How do you know this?' Harry didn't reply. 'Yes, he asked,' Ollivander than said. 'He wanted to know everything I could tell him about the wand variously known as the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny or the Elder Wand.'

So You-Know-Who was after the Elder Wand and was after it to conquer Harry's. But like he said, it would only be a matter of time until he realises Harry's wand was beyond repair if the Malfoys performed Priori Incantatem on Hermione's wand. You-Know-Who wanted the wand to kill Harry and according to Ollivander was determined to get it. That was not a good thing.

'You – you really think this wand exists, then, Mr Ollivander?' asked Hermione.

'Oh yes,' said Ollivander. 'Yes, it is perfectly possible to trace the wand's course through history. There are gaps, of course, and long ones, where it vanishes from view, temporarily lost or hidden; but always it resurfaces. It has certain identifying characteristics that those who are learned in wandlore recognise. There are written accounts, some of them obscure, that I and other wandmakers have made it our business to study. They have the ring of authenticity.'

'So you don't think it can be a fairy tale, or a myth?' I asked.

'No,' said Ollivander. 'Whether it _needs_ to pass by murder, I do not know. Its history is bloody, but that may be simply due to the fact that it is such a desirable object, and arouses such passions in wizards. Immensely powerful, dangerous in the wrong hands, and an object of incredible fascination to all of us who study the power of wands.'

Harry surprised Ollivander even further with the knowledge of him telling You-Know-Who that Gregorovitch had the wand. According to him Gregorovitch had used its history to boost his business by making wands with similar qualities to the Elder Wand's, hence why he thought he had it. Harry had one last question about the Deathly Hallows but Ollivander knew nothing of them, ending his investigation. We said our thanks and left the room.

Harry led us back downstairs and out into the garden. I followed silently though I wondered why he was going back there. He stood in front of Dobby's grave which now had a gravestone and inscription lying over the mound. After a few minutes, he spoke.

'Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand, a long time ago,' he said. 'I saw You-Know-Who trying to find him. When he tracked him down, he found that Gregorovitch didn't have it any more: it was stolen from him by Grindelwald. How Grindelwald found out the Gregorovitch had it, I don't know – but if Gregorovitch was stupid enough to spread the rumour, it can't have been that difficult.' He paused for a moment, then continued. 'And Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to become powerful.' I couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. How did Harry know all this? 'And at the height of his power, when Dumbledore knew he was the only one who could stop him, he duelled Grindelwald, and beat him, and took the Elder Wand.'

'_Dumbledore_ had the Elder Wand?' said Ron. 'But then – where is it now?'

'At Hogwarts,' said Harry.

'But then, let's go!' said Ron urgently. 'Harry, let's go and get it, before he does!'

But I could tell from Harry's pained expression that even if we did go there, we'd be too late. He appeared to be having trouble staying conscious which meant he was slipping in and out of You-Know-Who's thoughts. He was clutching his head and leaning forwards slightly.

'It's too late for that,' said Harry. 'He knows where it is. He's there now.'

'Harry! How long have you know this – why have we been wasting time? Why did you talk to Griphook first? We could have gone – we could still go –'

'No,' said Harry. He sank to his knees in the grass. I instantly moved to his side, worried. I knelt beside him to hold him up. I tried to get him to look at me but he wouldn't. He gripped my arm and I could see he was fighting to keep control. I remained beside him, I couldn't let him slip away. 'Hermione's right. Dumbledore didn't want me to have it. He didn't want me to take it. He wanted me to get the Horcruxes.'

'The unbeatable wand, Harry!' moaned Ron.

'Some things are more important than a wand, Ron!' I snapped. 'If Dumbledore had wanted us to get it he would have told us, even given it to us in the first place!'

'We can still get it!' he insisted.

'I'm not supposed to …' breathed Harry. 'I'm supposed to get the Horcruxes …'

Harry's grip suddenly released from my arm and he collapsed. Hermione instantly ran back indoors and fetched Bill while Ron and I tried to wake him but I knew it would be no use. Harry had slipped into You-Know-Who's head again and we wouldn't reach him again 'til what he was seeing ended. Bill came out into the garden and Levitated Harry back into the house. The three of us followed, saying nothing about the Elder Wand and the fact it was too late to get it now.

Over the next few days I watched as Harry became more and more solitary again. He'd spend countless hours in the garden staring out over the sea trying to avoid Ron's constant questions about not going after the Elder Wand or Hermione's opinions on the Wand. I couldn't blame him and so I was not part of these conversations. While we were there I made it my main priority though to explain to Hermione why I acted like I did when Bellatrix was torturing her. I didn't tell her what Bellatrix had said to me but I did say I was so sorry for letting her do that. Hermione told me it wasn't my fault and that she was just glad that we'd all got out of there alive.

On Tuesday night, one of the rare times Hermione and Ron had managed to corner Harry, we were informed that Griphook wanted to speak to us and we went to see what he wanted. Griphook had decided that he would help us break into Gringotts but on one condition. We had to give him the sword of Gryffindor in return for his help. Hermione didn't like the situation at all and neither did Harry but ultimately, Harry agreed to hand over the sword. The only loophole was that he did not specifically say when Griphook would get the sword. All we had to do was hope that Griphook kept his word. With this piece of news we spent the next few days planning what to do in order to break into the Lestranges' vault. None of us liked the idea of working with him but if we wanted to get in, we needed his help.

The weather at Shell Cottage as April set in was better than the weather we'd experienced in the tent but still it was windy and there was the odd shower of rain. The wind seemed much harder here but we were on the coast on a cliff so that was the reason. And it was on a particularly blustery night that we got a visit from someone I hadn't seen in over six months. Someone who I didn't want to see.

On Saturday afternoon Ollivander was to leave for Ron's Auntie Muriel's with Bill so he could also return the tiara Fleur had borrowed for their wedding. I was with Hermione and Luna setting the table for dinner and listening to their conversation about that horn that had blown up Luna's home. Poor Dean just looked bemused at the whole thing. When Ollivander and Bill appeared downstairs we all wished him well and the pair of them left the cottage. After half an hour or so when we had finished dinner, Bill returned and told us everything was all right.

At that point I left the room because I was in desperate need for the toilet. I didn't even hear someone else arrive at the house. When I came back downstairs a few minutes later I heard excited voices coming from the living room. Curious, I walked down the hall towards the living room. As I reached the door though I stopped as I recognised the voice speaking. My heart plummeted at what I heard.

'To Teddy Remus Lupin, a great wizard in the making!'

A strange pain went through my chest. It felt like something was wrapped around it, pressing down on my heart.

''Oo does 'e look like?' asked Fleur.

'I think he looks like Dora, but she thinks he is like me,' said Lupin. 'Not much hair. It looked black when he was born, but I swear it's turned ginger in the hour since. Probably be blond by the time I get back. Andromeda says Tonks's hair started changing colour the day that she was born.'

OK, I had to find out what was going on. I pushed open the door and walked into the living room. No one noticed me as they were all focused on Lupin.

'Oh, go on then, just one more,' said Lupin, holding out a goblet. 'I just – I can't believe it. I can't believe I have a son.'

'What?'

They heard me and looked up. My heart was thumping in my chest. It felt like a lead weight had been dropped in my stomach. Lupin … had a – a son? It – it wasn't possible.

'Jenna!' gasped Lupin.

He handed Bill his goblet and instantly walked over to me. He pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly. I didn't return it, merely resting numbly against his body. Lupin let go and held me in front of him. His eyes went up and down me.

'Jenna, you –' breathed Lupin. He seemed to be completely taken over by shock. He was shocked? His fingers were holding one of my plaits. 'You look so different, what've you done to your hair?'

'What have I done to my hair?' I repeated. I could hear the sceptical tone in my voice. I just stared at him. 'What have I done to my hair? Is that all you can say!'

I pushed Lupin away from me; my shield burst from my hands and he was thrown backwards over the sofa. I raised my hand and thought of the Levitation Spell to stop him (Fleur would kill me if I broke one of her ornaments). Lupin stopped short of the mantelpiece and I guided him back over the sofa. I then removed the spell and he dropped to the floor. I didn't even flinch.

Lupin sat up, staring bewildered at me. 'Jenna, what –?'

'I spent a month locked up,' I said slowly, 'and all you ask me is "what have I done to my hair"? What about "Jenna, are you all right?" or "Did that _bitch_ do anything to hurt you?" or even "Jenna, I'm so happy you're alive". But no, it's a question about my hair because all you seem to care about is that my hair is not as long as it used to be.'

'Jenna,' began Lupin, standing up, 'of course, I'm happy to see you. I was just surprised to –'

'To what?' I asked. 'To see me alive?'

'Jenna, what has gotten into you?' Lupin walked over to me. I moved back.

'What has gotten into me? Oh, I don't know,' I shrugged sarcastically. 'Maybe the fact that my so called Uncle handed me over to the woman that killed my Dad. Or maybe that I got tortured for a month. Or even, and this is a _really_ wild guess, the fact I now find out that my Uncle has a son?'

'Jenna, I would have told you,' said Lupin, 'but it's not like I –'

'You didn't even love her!' I shouted over him. I didn't care that everyone was staring at me or that Lupin was looking at me as if I'd lost my mind. 'You married her but you never loved her! You said your vows at your wedding but never once did you mean them! You only did it because you didn't want to end up dying alone!'

'That is not true,' said Lupin firmly. 'I _do_ love Dora. I married her because I love her and I care for her, just like I care for you.'

'Oh yeah, sure you do,' I said bitterly. I was shaking as I spoke and once again tears were brewing in my eyes. 'That's why you chose your new little wife over me!'

Lupin appeared lost for words so I continued. In the living room everyone gathered there seemed to have froze as I took out all my anger, my rage and my hatred and bitterness about what Bellatrix did to me on Lupin. I wanted him to know how he'd hurt me, how much I was still hurting.

'You want to know why Bellatrix took me?' I asked, my voice shaking. 'You want to know why she wanted me? Revenge. It was all revenge. Revenge on dear little Nymphadora for marrying you. Because of you, I paid the price for her tainting the name of Black. She wanted to see if you'd choose me over her niece and you acted just like she knew you would. She knew you would choose your wife over me from the minute she grabbed me.'

'But did she say why?' asked Lupin. I didn't reply. 'Because she knew I couldn't bear to watch you die in front of me.'

'So you'd rather I died at her hands sometime later?'

'No, never!'

'Then why didn't you stop her?'

'Jenna, I didn't want to let her take you,' insisted Lupin, 'but I had no choice. Seeing you being held in her grip and tortured at her wand tore me apart. She was going to kill you if I didn't let you go. I didn't want you to get hurt.'

'But I did!' I unzipped my jacket and revealed the scars on my chest just hidden under my camisole, turning round to show him the ones on my back. 'Bellatrix did this to me,' I said, facing him again. 'Tortured me with the Cruciatus and Flagrum Curses all because _you_ handed me over to her! You let Bellatrix take me and you didn't even stop her! You let her win! You let her take me! You didn't even try to find me!'

'Bill, do zumthing!' said Fleur. 'Stop 'er!'

'Jenna, just calm down,' said Bill. 'If you just calm down, I'm sure Remus will explain to you what happened.'

'You don't know him like I do,' I snarled, glaring at Lupin. 'He always hid things from me. Thought it always better I just find these things out for myself. Isn't that right, Lupin? Didn't tell me about Dad or what happened to Mum and when I'm taken from you, you find it easier to just sit back and wait for me to turn up again like I did last time.'

'That is absolutely not true,' implored Lupin. 'I wanted to find you, more than anything. But Kingsley refused to let me join in the search for you. He said my participation could put you in more danger. If Bellatrix knew I was coming after you, she would have killed you with no hesitation. He wasn't going to let me risk it!'

'That never stopped you before!' I cried. 'So why was it different this time? Why didn't you disobey Kingsley and try to find me?' I held back the tears in my eyes. 'Or did you not want to find me? Because your life was better without me there!'

'Never one minute passed when I didn't wish I could go back on what I did,' said Lupin. 'If I could do it over, I would have let her kill me instead. Nothing was worse than watching my niece being taken from me, not even when Tala died.'

'Don't you dare bring my Mum up,' I snarled.

'I was only trying to illustrate a point,' said Lupin calmly. He took a step towards me. 'I am so sorry about letting you go but I didn't want to see you die in front of me. If she had killed you, I would have lost everything I've ever held dear. Making that decision was the hardest thing I ever had to do but Bellatrix left me no choice but to let you go.'

Lupin took another step closer. My shield instantly surrounded me and blocked Lupin from getting any nearer. I glared at him from behind it. He stopped.

'Jenna, please,' he said slowly. 'I told you I am sorry but I had no choice.'

'Don't lie,' I replied. 'You had a choice and you've made it. You picked your _new _family over me and nothing feels worse than seeing your only family give you up. Now let's see how you like it.'

'Jenna, please just listen to me.' I didn't respond. Lupin sighed then took out his wand and flicked it. My shield disappeared. I jumped when it vanished. 'Don't be so surprised, Tala used that on me all the time. You generate that shield when you're scared, I know how to counter it. Now, I know you're hurting and I know you're scared of what you will hear but will you please listen to me?'

Lupin took another step closer. I stepped back and opened my hands by my sides. Flames started around them. Lupin hesitated.

'I burnt you once, Lupin, I'm not afraid to do it again.' Lupin stepped back warily. I saw shocked looks from everyone else in the room. 'Contrary to what you may think, I can handle these powers and I'm not afraid to use them on you again.'

Lupin took my warning as he didn't attempt to move closer. I watched to see if he would do anything. Lupin just looked back. I could see the sadness in his eyes but nothing compared to how much he'd hurt me when he left me to Bellatrix. I had felt so alone, so scared, when I was in the Malfoy Manor. I thought about him every day wishing that he'd appear and rescue me. The number of times I came close to Apparating home to Moonlake whenever tensions between Harry and Ron while wearing the Horcrux got too high, I'd lost count. But every time the thought of seeing Lupin had held me back because I knew this would happen. But now, I didn't care. I wanted him to see how much I'd been hurt and I was going to do to him exactly what he did to me.

'Jenna, I'll ask you one more time,' said Lupin. 'Listen to me.'

'I don't have to anything you tell me to do,' I said. 'You lost your right over me when you handed me over to Bellatrix. And I'm never going to forgive you.'

'Jenna –'

'Go back to your little family. The little wife you chose over me and your little cub. Because I want _nothing_ more to do with you.'

'Jenna, please –'

'I – have – no – family.'

The moment I said those words everything changed. I'd just thrown everything I'd ever known and loved away and there was no going back. Lupin stared at me unable to say a word. I looked back at him standing still opposite him though inside I felt like I was going to burst into tears. No one spoke. Then, after a few minutes, Lupin sighed and looked away. He lifted his wand and conjured a small glass bottle in his other hand; Lupin placed the tip of his wand to his temple and a long silver thread was drawn from it which he let flow into the bottle, tapping his wand on the top so it was released from his wand. He did this a few more times until it was full.

'If you ever change your mind, my door is always open,' said Lupin quietly. He placed the bottle containing his memories down on a table. He then looked up at me. 'I've always loved you, Jenna, as if you were my own daughter, and I've always been proud of you. Never forget that.' I didn't reply, knowing if I did I wouldn't be able to respond without crying. 'And if you still don't believe me about what happened, just look at my memories.'

Lupin turned away from me to look at the others.

'I must be getting back,' he said formally to them. Bill nodded. Lupin took his travelling cloak and pulled it around him. 'I'll try and bring some pictures in a few days' time – everyone will be so glad to know that I've seen you –' Lupin took one last look at me. 'Goodbye, Jenna.'

I remained where I was as Lupin left through the front door. It closed behind him and I heard the _crack_ of him Disapparating away. Everyone turned and looked at me. I looked away from them, hiding behind my hair. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I closed my eyes, trying as hard as I could not to cry. Quickly I grabbed Lupin's memories, stuffing them in my pocket, then headed for the back door, out into the garden. The sun was beginning to set in the distance. I ran as far as I could away from the house until I stumbled when the ground below me dipped. I remained on my knees, my head bowed and arms wrapped around my waist, shaking badly.

I heard footsteps approach me. A pair of hands took hold of me under my arms and I was pulled to my feet. I tried to fight against whoever it was but I didn't have the strength. I raised my hand in a fist to hit whoever it was away from me but I couldn't. Instead I let it fall against his chest and I gripped his shirt. I seemed to know who it was because I kept my eyes closed and the tears finally fell. I moved forwards and buried my face in his shoulder, gripping on to him, fearing what would happen if I let go. His arms went round my body and pulled me closer to his own.

'I've lost him,' I breathed shakily. 'I've lost him forever.'

'Ssh,' said Harry softly. 'Lupin would never abandon you.'

Harry gently lifted my face. I turned away but Harry lifted it again. I closed my eyes so as not to look at him.

'Come on, Jen, look at me.' I refused.

'You shouldn't have saved me,' I cried. 'You should have let Bellatrix kill me.'

'Don't say that,' said Harry, this time firmly.

'I'm better off on my own. Then no one can hurt me.'

'Jenna, look at me.' Again Harry tried to turn my face but I wouldn't let him. 'Look at me!' He tried a third time more forcefully and managed to raise my face. This time I looked at him. 'I don't want to hear you say that again. You don't deserve to die, no one does.'

'Everyone I love always leave me. It hurts too much. I can't do this anymore. I don't want anymore pain.'

'I will never leave you and I will never hurt you.'

'You don't know that!'

'No, I do!' I looked up at Harry. He was staring straight back at me, right into my eyes. He brushed back my fringe, his hand travelling round to hold my face. 'I would never let anything happen to you for as long as I live and I won't let you beat yourself up for this. Lupin knows he hurt you when he had to give you up but he had to save your life. He didn't want you to die so he did what he thought was right. And making the right choice isn't always the easiest one.'

'It hurts so much though,' I cried, looking away again. 'I can't keep doing this, I can't keep pretending it doesn't hurt …'

'Then stop.'

'I want to … I can't.'

Harry brought me even closer if that was possible. I put my arms around him and held on to him tightly. I rested my face in the crook of his neck. As we stood there, I caught his scent as I breathed. It felt so comforting to me. I didn't want him to let me go. We stayed like this for a while, standing silently in the garden. I finally managed to calm down and my tears stopped. My guilt though remained.

I could feel Harry's hand gently stroke my hair as he held me. Then, I felt Harry kiss my forehead. I pulled back enough to look at him. He was gazing down on me. There it was again, that strange warmth in his eyes that always released those butterflies in my stomach. What was it? Why did I always feel so safe in his arms? I soon found myself staring into his green eyes unable to look away. Hesitantly, I raised my hand to touch his face; my fingers trailed lightly over his cheek, his hair just tickling them. It was so soft. My pulse quickened.

It was then I realised how close our faces were. I could feel his breath on my neck. I looked once more into his eyes then moved closer, touching my lips to his. They were so soft. I closed my eyes and the kiss continued, matching Harry's rhythm. Long and slow, subtle but full of passion. I felt like I was dreaming. But when I realised what I was doing I pulled back and broke the kiss. What was wrong with me? Was I addicted to hurting myself like this? I knew I couldn't have him and yet I go and kiss him whenever I needed him. Instantly I moved back, breaking Harry's grip around me, and walked away.

'Jenna, no – Jenna!'

'Harry, don't,' I said firmly though I didn't really believe it.

'Jenna, I won't let you do this,' said Harry. He grabbed my wrist and stopped me. 'Every time – _every_ time this happens, you pull away from me. It's just a kiss. One kiss.'

I pulled my wrist free and continued to walk away from him. I couldn't handle this, not right now, not after what had just happened. Harry followed.

'Jenna, come on. You're acting this like this is something bad. It's not like we're attached.'

It had nothing to do with that but he didn't get it. He just didn't get it! He couldn't see what this was doing to me.

'You said yourself it was just messing around, that it didn't mean anything. Friends having a laugh, joking around.'

'Joking around?' I turned round to face him. 'You think that's what this is? A joke between friends?'

'It was one kiss!' said Harry. 'Are you going to let one kiss change everything between us?'

'It's more than one kiss, Harry,' I said, staring at him in disbelief. 'It's a whole lot more … and you can't see it.' Harry gave me a confused look. I let out a short laugh at how ignorant he was being towards my feelings. It was all I really could do. 'You are just – so blind – that you can't see the things that are right in front of you.'

'So what am I not seeing?' asked Harry angrily. 'Enlighten me, Jenna, what can't I see?'

I didn't answer straight away but looked at him hopelessly. It defeated the whole situation if I told him what he was missing. When I saw he had no answer himself I looked away and closed my eyes. I sighed, shaking my head.

'If you can't work it out … then I'm not telling you.'

'That's not an answer, Jenna, and you know it!'

'I don't have to answer to you!' I shouted, turning round.

'Jenna, what is going on?' shouted Harry. 'Why the hell do you keep acting like this? What happened to the girl I met when I was eight? The one who was open and didn't hide things?'

'Believe it or not, Harry,' I countered, 'I've changed since then! I'm not the same girl!'

'Just tell me what's going on! Why have you let things change between us?'

'It's none of your business!'

'I want to know!'

'I'm not telling you!'

'What are you hiding?'

'Nothing!'

'Then why are you doing this?'

'Because I have feelings for you!'

I gasped when I realised I'd said those words. My heart felt like it had stopped. I stared at Harry in fear as he looked back, his eyes wide with shock. I didn't mean to say that. Those words had just come from me without even thinking. I watched as the words slowly sunk in.

'You have feelings for me?' asked Harry slowly. I didn't reply. I was like a startled unicorn foal in the presence of a man. I just froze. 'You have feelings for me?'

Harry moved closer; I automatically stepped back. My heart was racing. I'd just let slip that I had feelings for him, something I swore to myself never to do! And the moment Harry took another step closer to me, I did what I always did and turned to walk away. Harry was too quick though and grabbed my arm. He pulled me round, not roughly, but hard enough to make me face him.

'Jenna, do you have feelings for me?' he asked. I tried to free my wrist and get away but Harry wouldn't let me go. His grip was surprisingly strong. 'No, don't walk away from me!' snapped Harry. I jumped slightly at the tone in his voice. 'Stop running from me and tell me the truth! Do you have feelings for me?'

'I –' I didn't know what to say. I honestly had never thought through what I would say if Harry ever found out about my feelings. But my gut reaction was to deny it. I tried to pull away again and said, 'No, I – I haven't –'

'Jenna!'

'No –!'

'Do you have feelings for me?'

'So what if I do?' I shouted, finally releasing my wrist from his grasp. I stepped back from him so there was a good distance between us. I had to get away. My heart was thumping hard against my chest. 'It doesn't change anything! You've got Ginny!'

'Doesn't change anything,' repeated Harry, 'Jenna, it changes everything! How long have you had feelings for me?'

'I – I don't know, I –'

I tried everything to avoid saying anything else but Harry wouldn't let it drop.

'When, Jenna?'

'Harry, please,' I begged, 'please don't do this. It's not important.'

'Jenna, it is!' said Harry incredulously. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'I'd already lost you once, I wasn't going to let it happen again!' I said, avoiding the question.

'What? When did you lose me?'

Harry took another step closer; I took another step back.

'When you saw me kissing Noah.' I swallowed, a lump rising in my throat. 'When you saw me kissing my ex-boyfriend last year.'

Harry stared at me. I kept my face neutral, hopefully not letting him realise anything else.

'You've had feelings for a year?' he said slowly, trying to take it in.

'More than a year.' I looked away. 'Since our kiss at Christmas.'

'Christmas?' repeated Harry, shocked. 'Why didn't you tell me? How could you keep this from me for so long?'

'Very easily,' I replied. 'Because I swore to myself that I wouldn't act on them. I didn't want to fall for you.'

'But you did.' I didn't reply and bit my lip. 'You fell for me.' I closed my eyes and turned to walk away. 'Jenna, please,' said Harry seriously, almost frantically, 'tell me if you have feelings for me. I need to know.'

I took a moment to think through my answer. I looked up to see Harry looking at me almost desperately. I could see both pain and hope in his eyes. But I couldn't do it. No matter how much my heart was telling me to admit the truth now he knew, I couldn't do it. I couldn't let Harry ruin his relationship with Ginny when I ruined mine with Noah all because of my feelings for him. I wasn't going to let him. This was my problem, not his.

I had only one option.

'I can't.'

'What?'

Harry stared at me and took a step closer. I took another step back.

'I can't admit those feelings. And I won't.'

Harry seemed to know what I was going to do from the moment I took that step. I just stared back at him. He knew me too well.

'Jenna, please …' He held out a hand to me.

'I won't let you throw away from your relationship with Ginny because of me.'

'Jenna, don't,' warned Harry. 'Don't.' I shook my head and took another step away from him so I had a clear distance. 'Jenna, no!'

I span on the spot as Harry ran forwards to stop me and I Disapparated away from Shell Cottage.

* * *

**AN: this had to be the hardest chapter i've ever had to write because i hated writing the fight between Jenna and Lupin but it was going to happen sooner or later. well, hope you enjoyed it and please tell me what you think. i really appreciate everyone who reviews my story or puts it on their favourites and thank you so much! BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	40. Searching for Refuge

Chapter 39

Searching for Refuge

Harry stared at the spot in front of him where Jenna had just been standing. He'd been wrong. All this time Harry had thought Jenna had never seen him more than as a friend, that all those kisses they'd shared had meant nothing to her, and he'd been wrong. Jenna, his best friend, had feelings for him. And now she was gone. Part of him was screaming go after her while the other part was saying there's no point. If he went after her then Jenna would just deny it again. That was something about Jenna that had always annoyed him. Whenever she knew she had to explain something, she'd always hide from it. It had been the same when they were younger.

Harry let out an angry shout and kicked the nearest thing to him, a driftwood bench Bill and Fleur had in the garden, swearing in frustration. Why did she always do this? Why did she keep running from him? And why now? Just when he finds out that their feelings for one another were mutual. She always does this! A dull pain throbbing in his chest was slowly getting worse as the creature in his stomach roared it's protests.

Why did it hurt so much? What was this pain he was feeling? Jenna had just left the moment he learns of her feelings and it felt like someone had ripped out his heart. Why did it feel like he'd just lost everything?

'Harry!' Harry looked up to see Ron and Hermione running over to him. 'Harry, what happened? We heard you shout!'

'Where's Jenna?' asked Ron.

Harry didn't reply. A lump was rising in his throat stopping him from speaking.

'Harry, where is she?' asked Hermione worriedly.

'She's gone.'

'What?' asked Ron.

'I said, she's gone,' said Harry, louder this time. The pain in his chest was getting worse.

'What d'you mean she's gone?' said Ron. 'You were just with her.'

'I mean, she's gone!' shouted Harry this time. 'She's left! Flown the coop! Disappeared! Vanished! Disapparated! Made like a tree and leaved! Made like a banana and split! How many more ways do want it spelled out in front of you, Ron? Jenna's gone!'

Harry stared between the two of them, his heart racing. He didn't realise he was breathing heavily nor that he was shaking slightly. Neither Ron nor Hermione said anything. They were as shocked as he was.

'Jenna's gone, and I don't know where,' said Harry more calmly.

'But you were with her here minutes ago, we could hear you,' said Hermione. 'Why would she just leave?'

'Because she always does,' said Harry, biting back his anger at her.

He was not about to tell Ron or Hermione what he'd just discovered. Ron would flip if he knew that Jenna had feelings for him, or that the feelings were mutual. The moment he was to see her again though, Harry was not going to let her leave until he knew the truth. He'd just have to lie about the reason she left, not that it would be a complete lie. He wasn't the only reason she left; losing Lupin was part of the equation too.

'Jenna is terrified of being alone. She always has been since she was an orphan. It scares her and so when the prospect of someone leaving her, ever since Sirius died, becomes more of a reality and she can't fight it. That's why I didn't give up on her in the sixth year. And Bellatrix got to her before Lupin could to make things right.'

'Do you think she'll come back?' asked Ron.

Harry took a moment to think, then shook his head.

'No, she won't. Jenna won't come back, not now she thinks she's lost Lupin as well.'

_And she doesn't want to face me_, thought Harry. Jenna always ran from the things she feared. Did she fear him? Why did she have to leave, just when he finds out those feelings he'd had the previous year weren't unreciprocated. And now those feelings were returning, what was he going to do?

Harry may have said they weren't attached after that kiss but he knew perfectly well he was, even if they had broken up for now. He'd only said that to stop Jenna feeling guilty about the kiss. He had Ginny waiting for him at Hogwarts. He wasn't about to give up on her. But what was to say Ginny hadn't given up on him? They hadn't seen each other for nearly a year. Would she really wait that long just for him? And if she hadn't, would he be able to find Jenna to tell her how he felt?

-o-

_Go back to your little family. The little wife you chose over me and your little cub. Because I want nothing more to do with you …_ _I _–_ have _–_ no _–_ family_ …

_I can't … I can't admit those feelings. And I won't … I won't let you throw away from your relationship with Ginny because of me …_

I woke with a start. Those words were still fresh in my mind from the previous night. I sat up and ran my hands over my face, brushing back my hair. I'd had a pretty sleepless night. When I left Shell Cottage I Apparated to the first place I thought of which was the forest we had last camped in and sleeping on the forest floor with no sleeping bag and a thin layer of clothes wasn't that comfortable. I'd spent most of it awake, thinking about what I'd done. I regretted it so much.

I officially had no family. I was back where I started sixteen years ago. Lupin disowned me but I was the one who cut him out of my life. I was as good as homeless. I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out his memories. I then put them back. I didn't want to know what they showed. It would be too hard to look at them. Then there was Harry. He knew I had feelings for him now. I couldn't go back. It would make it so awkward if I ever saw him again. And if he told Ginny … she'd probably say he was not to see me again or something. She made it pretty clear at The Burrow that Harry was hers, no one else's.

I looked up at the sky. I could just see the sun peaking through the leaves of the trees. It must be at least seven o'clock. I got up and brushed myself off. Though I had no idea what I was going to do, the thing I had to at least try to do was get my wand back. Ollivander had said that if the connection between wizard and wand was strong enough it would be possible to find it again. I guess that was the first thing I had to do otherwise I would be on a Quidditch pitch without a broom. In other words, screwed.

The next question though was where do I start? The tent still had its Protection Charms on it and what was to say the Snatchers didn't destroy it and everything that was in it. But there was a chance they didn't. I'd just have to take that chance. I groaned at the thought then, untying my hair from its pigtails and throwing it into a lose ponytail, I set off down the hill to try and find the brook. From there I might be able to find the area we pitched the tent.

I didn't have to worry about the fact I was out in the open with very little cover around me. The Snatchers weren't likely to come back here because even they weren't that stupid and would be able to work out we wouldn't come back here for our stuff. That's why I was safe, because they wouldn't come looking around here for us again. So in truth, they were a bunch of thickheads because I've come back.

Finding the brook was the easy part. It was at the foot of the hill. The next problem was which way did I go to find the tent? I remember when the Snatchers grabbed me I was on a bit of a raised bank, the tent just up from there on a small slope. I looked both ways. The way to my left seemed to go uphill and to my right the trees got thicker in cover. And we'd had loads of cover over us where we camped. So, assuming my memory's correct, I turned right and followed the stream. The hill became flatter as I walked and to my relief, as it had taken me a good couple of hours to get this far, I saw a raised bank by the stream.

I walked over and stepped up on to the bank. I bent down and ran my hand over the grass. It was a bit hard to make out but I could just see the disturbed areas of grass from when Greyback and the Snatchers had appeared. I knew I was in the right place. The tent would be just up from here. I stood straight and started to walk up the small slope. I kept an eye out for any more footmarks. There was bound to have been a scuffle of some sort when they appeared. One here, a couple more there. Then I noticed a lot of flatten grass. The others must have been stood or thrown down there.

And there, just up from me, was the tent, all Protection Charms on it gone. I ran up the rest of the slope to it. I guess, when whoever it was who said You-Know-Who's name that attracted the Snatchers here, the jinx on the name also removed any charms or spells on the area. Pulling back the door I saw the inside had been ransacked. The Snatchers obviously didn't find much as I didn't find much was missing. I went straight to the area where Hermione and I slept and found my bag lying there. It was still in one piece. Thank Merlin for the Undetectable Extension Charm on it because none of my things were missing. I dug down into it and pulled out my wand.

'Thank Merlin,' I breathed, holding up my wand. It was all in one piece, a bit in need of a polish and worn from age but still in one piece, the carved ivy still visible in the handle. I flicked it and made a bunch of flowers appear in my hand. 'And still working as good as always.'

I grinned, glad to have found my wand. I felt the familiar warm tingling in my fingers as I held it. It was like an old friend. It had gotten me out of many tight jams and helped me pass many exams. I couldn't imagine doing magic without it or with another wand.

Now I had my wand back I set about packing up the tent. I wasn't going to stay in this area for much longer in case the Snatchers did have a brain cell between them and came back. Putting up the Protection Charms again as a precaution I started to dismantle the tent and put it in my bag. I was surprised there was still enough space with the amount of bits and bobs I had in it. Then, making sure no one was about I thought of the Thestral's invisibility and disappeared into the forest before Apparating to another area.

I Apparated to a park in a small village. It was empty, the swings and roundabout completely still. There was a small square brick building near to the entrance. It was a toilet facility. I decided to take advantage of the fact the park was deserted and walked over to the toilet and into the women's. No one was in there so I turned visible again but it didn't half reek of something in there. I put a Locking Charm on the door to make sure no one else got in while I was in there then cast an Air Freshening Charm. That certainly was a relief.

The toilets were dirty and disused. It was disgusting in there. There was graffiti over all the walls with some of the most crudest words in the Muggle language as well as crude drawings; some of the cubicle doors had been pulled off their hinges while others had bits broken off or holes punched in them; puddles of water from the toilets or broken sinks made the concrete floor slippery and dangerous; the mirrors above the sinks were covered in dirt or had messages scribbled in old lipstick over them. It was horrible.

I walked over to the only unbroken sink and looked at the mirror. I could barely see anything in it. I took out my wand and pointed it at it.

'_Scourgify_.'

The dirt and Merlin knows what else was siphoned off into the sink. Pulling my jacket sleeve over my hand, I turned the tap on and let it run to wash away the dirt. I then looked back at the mirror. It looked odd now sparkling clean in this dirty place.

I looked at my reflection. I needed another look if I was going to get some food or anything from the village. Hermione had kept all that stuff in her bag. I was going to use "Astra Eliot" again but just change her name so that I could use that look again. I couldn't be bothered right now to come up with someone completely new. I didn't have the creative skills.

I took my hair out of its ponytail and shook it loose. I tapped the top of my head with my wand to make my hair all one length. I couldn't see anything now. I then began to style it in the same style as before so it was longer than my shoulders in layers and that I had a small parting that fell into place so the front crossed over my eyes. I muttered another charm and my hair colour changed from black to blonde. I continued the change by taking long sections and dying them a selection of colours: blue, red, green, pink, purple and orange.

Now for my facial features. I wasn't planning to change many of them, only my eyebrows, lips and eyes. It would look pretty stupid if I had black eyebrows and blonde hair. I tapped my wand on each eyebrow to lighten them to a blonder colour instead of their usual black. My lips I changed from their pale pink to more of a red. When I got to my eyes though, I hesitated.

_You've got your mother's eyes_. Yeah … Lupin always said I had. I didn't have a problem changing them when we infiltrated the Ministry but now … it was the only family connection I had left. If I changed them, even though it was temporary, it felt like I was throwing away the last bit. But I had to be unrecognisable so that I'd be safe. I didn't want to do it but I had to. I sighed and pointed my wand at my eyes. I muttered the spell and they slowly changed colour. They were no longer blue but an amber-brown. Another charm and I applied thick black make-up around them so my eyes were darker.

The last thing I did was change into some clean clothes. Well, none of my clothes had been properly cleaned since I left The Burrow and I didn't have my bag when I was at Shell Cottage. Hermione and I always did our best to make our clothes clean but the main thing was to stop them smelling. Ron's socks always stank. Using the Scourgify Spell to clean one of the sinks, I started a load of laundry. It took me a good two hours to get all my clothes as clean as I could. I put the clothes Fleur had lent me in the bottom of my bag and repacked my clothes, leaving some jeans, underwear and a top out to dry. Once they were, I changed my clothes.

Now to come up with a name. I had the look but no name. I cleaned another wooden surface, which was a cupboard of some sort, and sat on it. I needed a name. But what? I thought for ages but all the names I thought of sounded stupid or I knew wouldn't suit me. I'd always been unique and out of the ordinary if you want so all of those usual names you get I decided was out of the question. I needed something different. I wasn't a Catherine or a Louise or a Stephanie. I was Jenna, always Jenna. So instead of thinking of what name would suit my looks, I thought about my personality. None of my traits really screamed a name at me. Except one.

Faith. I'd always believed in what I wanted to believe in. From when I was in the orphanage even to today, I had my own beliefs about things. I always believed someone out there loved me when I was a kid; I learnt to believe in my own abilities … thanks to Lupin; and I always believed in Harry. I always had faith that he could do the things he's done and I still believed in him now.

'Faith,' I said out loud, testing how it sounded. I glanced in the mirror at my new reflection. 'Faith … and Wolves. For Lupin.' They may not go together and I may not be part of his life anymore but it didn't mean I couldn't remember him. 'Faith Wolves.'

I decided it was best to pretend to be a Muggle. If I used anymore magic I would a) draw attention to myself, and b) put myself in more danger. I didn't even know how badly affected my magic was from what had happened in the last few weeks and I wasn't about to find out. Right now I was dying to get some food. I checked my appearance one last time in the mirror then unlocked the toilet door and walked out.

I left the park and headed into the village. In the distance I could hear a church bell ringing. It was about one o'clock. The village wasn't that large. There were the odd couple of shops including a corner shop and a post office dotted about here and there while it was mainly made up of small cottages. I walked up the main road. It was a lot more busy here and people were walking around during their lunch break. The odd car passed through the square and out of the village. I could also hear voices. I saw it was the children in the primary school, running about and chasing each other happily. I went and sat on a stone wall around the central monument in the square, watching them.

I never had that, the contentedness to just run and play. I never did have friends at The Refuge. And when I left it behind I went to a world with more troubles than I could have possibly imagined. I didn't have the naivety of Muggle children to our world when I was younger because I kept making strange things happen nor the ignorance to what dangers life really had because I was thrust in the deep end when I started Hogwarts. As I sat and watched them their teacher came out ringing a bell to signal lunchtime was over and they filed back into the building.

I sighed. I had a strange longing in my heart. The longing to have that naivety and that innocence. It was like I – I wanted to be normal. I didn't want to pretend to be a Muggle, I wanted to be one. I didn't want to have to keep running and hiding because of some deranged old man on a power trip. I wanted to be able to have a normal teenage girl's life, having fun and getting a job and place of my own. But I also didn't want to leave that world behind. The world and people I'd come to know and love. But as I sat there watching the people walk about without a care in the world the more tempting a normal life became.

I sat there for half an hour or so before I got up to get some food. With the lunch hour almost over the villagers were all returning inside or going back to work so the village became empty. Seeing this I turned invisible in order to steal some food. I wasn't proud of doing it, I hated doing it when I was younger, but I had no money to buy some. Stealing was my only option. I walked back down the road from the square to a corner shop. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. A bell jangled causing me to jump and shut the door.

'Hello?' called a voice. I spun round to see an elderly gentleman come out from a room behind the counter. 'Anyone there?'

I remained silent. The man looked round his shop for a few minutes before he decided there was no one here. He disappeared back through the door he'd come, muttering something about the wind. I released the breath I'd held in when he disappeared. Now time to test my old thieving abilities. I could already hear Hermione's voice in my head saying, 'Jenna, this is stealing! It's illegal in the Muggle world!'

I walked quickly and silently over to the centre shelves so I had a clear view of the shop. There were security cameras in each corner, and one next to a monitor over the counter by the door. I had to time this. It would look weird if items of food just floated upwards and vanished. The cameras took turns in showing their pictures, each lasting about ten seconds. If I was correct, this was also shown on a monitor in the back room so they could check things in the shop. I glanced at each camera to see where it was pointing. One showed the entrance and the till; the second was on videos and alcohol; a third was on the left side of the centre shelves and the magazines; the fourth showed the right side and the fridge things behind it; and the fifth was on the back wall.

The first camera appeared on the screen. I had twenty seconds. I quickly opened my bag and grabbed a large packet of crisps, chocolate and some biscuits. I stopped when I saw the monitor picture change on to the third camera which would show me. I walked round to the other side. The camera turned to the fourth, then the fifth picture. I grabbed a couple loaves of bread and shoved them in my bag, as well as a large bottle of drink. I then turned and open the fridge door to get some milk, eggs, ham and cheese. The camera started the cycle again as I walked to the back wall. Seeing it flick to image three, I picked up a couple boxes of cereal and vegetables from the back shelves. I think I had enough to last me for a week or more.

I closed my bag and moved back towards the door. The old man hadn't heard anything. I guess he might have been slightly deaf. I grabbed some of the plastic bags on the counter to put the food in when I got out of there. As I did so I saw a pad of paper and a pen on the top. Checking the man wasn't going to come out I scribbled a note saying I'd pay back the money when I got the chance and signed it "With Faith". On a second piece I wrote down the name of the shop and shoved it in my pocket. I left the note on the counter and left the shop.

When I was a fair distance away from the shop, I turned visible again. I looked back at it to remember what it looked like: Riverton's Corner Shop. I would come back here sometime or later when my life was back on track and pay back the money. I turned away and walked on down the road out of the village. I walked a fair distance. I went over the bridge, taking a minute to watch the river, into the village and continued down the country road. The sun was out and I was glad it was a cool day. I soon walked off the road and over a stile into a field.

It was at least half three by the time I stopped to set up camp. For now seeing as I wasn't sure what to do I was going to continue using the tent for refuge. I put the Protection Spells around an area near to some trees and put up the tent with a flick of my wand. I found it weird going inside it without the others being there. I stood in the entrance and just looked at it for a moment. It seemed so empty. I brushed aside this feeling and zipped up the entrance.

For the rest of the afternoon I spent doing various things around the tent. After setting up the tent I took out all the food I'd stolen and priced it up on that piece of paper with the shop's name on so I knew how much I owed the owner. It came to just under twenty-five pounds. Fair enough for a week's worth of food. Once that was done I checked the tent to see if anything else had been taken. The Snatchers obviously hadn't been interested in what we had. I guess the sword had been the only thing they wanted. I found Harry's Sneakoscope lying in a corner so I put it in the entrance along with adding an Alarming Charm to the protection in case anyone came too near. I then sat down to wait and watch.

The sun slowly began to sink down behind the hill as the time passed. It was so quiet here. It was almost unnerving. I leant against the tent pole and stared over the countryside. You-Know-Who hadn't come to this part of the country yet. All the better for the people who lived in that village. Safe from harm for however long it took for You-Know-Who's Death Eaters to start hurting the Muggles here. I shivered at that thought. I knew all too well what it was like to be tortured.

As I sat there I started to wonder something. What was I going to do now? I had no home to go to and I couldn't go back to Hogwarts after missing over half a year of school. I couldn't go to The Burrow because everyone there had been moved and I didn't know where their Aunt Muriel's was. The only place I had to live was this old tent and if I stayed in one place when the Snatchers were rounding up Muggle-borns and Death Eaters were searching homes for illegal magic stealers or killing Muggles then I'd be caught. I was a wanted criminal.

The thought of having a normal life came back to me. Never having to run or hide or fight any longer. It was so tempting. It's not like I have anything left to go back to in the wizarding world. What was to stop me from restarting? But could I really give up magic? The number of things I didn't know about being a Muggle or things made simpler with the aid of magic and the fun you could have with it was what made me love it in the first place.

_What about Ron, Hermione and Harry?_ I then asked myself. I couldn't leave them to fight this on their own. I already felt guilty for leaving them now but I didn't think as far ahead as to when I'd go back. And if I did, I'd have to face Harry. Harry needed all the help he could get and I just deserted him because I couldn't bear to admit my feelings. He wasn't likely to forget about that in a short space of time. How was I going to face him and explain what I did? I had no explanation and, in truth, I didn't want to face him. If I did, I'd have to face my feelings and the consequences. I didn't have the strength to do that. I'd already lost Lupin, I was _not_ prepared to lose my friendship with Harry because of my feelings.

The sun had almost fully set. Question after question sprang in my head about going back or staying away. Half of me was saying if I chose to stay away then do so, don't go back and give up your magic. The other half was saying go back to the wizarding world but keep out of trouble, don't join in the fight and watch as others get hurt. I couldn't do either. I could not stand by and watch as innocent people got hurt and I couldn't give up magic and not because I loved using it. Because of a completely different reason.

_Every one of us has a part to play in the story of lives. Though we find tasks set to us sometimes difficult, sometimes unwanted, sometimes draining, we all must do our parts. Only then do we realise our purpose in this world and see that there is always something worth fighting for. We must use our gifts, whether they be power, or wisdom, or love, for what they are intended for and live with the consequences they bring._

I always wondered what Dumbledore had meant by that, or at least if he was talking to me when he said it. Now I knew. The phoenix powers. I'd been given them for a reason. My Mum had left me a task to do before she died to bring back her and the others and I had to use my gift to do it. And if I gave up magic then I would never get to see my parents again.

I sighed and went back inside the tent. I flicked my wand at the lights and they dimmed. I pulled back the curtain and lay back on one of the bunks. At the moment the decision of giving up magic was not relevant. I needed to find a place to stay, preferably where I could earn some money to pay for things, was more important. I could keep up the disguise so if I were to use magic to help someone I would be seen as an unregistered witch and I wouldn't be recognised.

'I'll start tomorrow,' I muttered, turning on to my side. 'Next place I go, I'll try and find a place to stay in exchange for work. The near London, the better so I can keep an eye on things.' I flicked my wand so the lights went out and placed it under my pillow. 'Let's just hope the Muggles aren't like Harry's uncle.'

I woke up early the next day thinking I was back at Shell Cottage, only to remember I wasn't when I opened my eyes and saw the canvas ceiling of the tent above me. I groaned in disappointment then got up. I had a bowl of cereal and toast a la Incendio Spell for breakfast before changing into a bikini to have a wash. Well, if you thought Hermione or I would be naked in front of the boys when washing, you can think again. We had both brought swim things for that. I checked no one was around outside and turned invisible to move into the cover of the trees.

I cast a couple of Protection Spells around a small area of trees and turned visible. Then I positioned my wand above me in the nook of a branch so I could use it as a sort of shower. I said the Aguamenti Spell and a Heating Charm to make the water warm and stood under the mock-up shower. I washed myself as best I could and gave my hair a wetting through. Even though the charms made it look clean, my real hair underneath would still get greasy. I stopped the water flow and then said the Hot Air Charm to dry off.

I turned invisible to return to the tent. I pulled on some clothes and then set about packing up to Apparate to another location. I Transfigured the plastic bags I'd taken yesterday into a rucksack and put another Undetectable Extension Charm on it. I packed all the food in there along with Harry's Sneakoscope and, when it was dismantled, the tent. From my bag I took out my books and put them in the rucksack as well so that my bag contained clothes, potion ingredients and phial of phoenix tears, and my personal items like my wand and toy dragon etc. Going outside I flicked my wand at the tent and rucksack and it packed itself away.

'Time to get going.' I hauled the rucksack on to my back. I then put my other bag on my shoulder crossed over my chest. 'But one stop first.'

I thought of Moonlake Cottage, turned on the spot, and Disapparated.

I reappeared on the back doorstep of Moonlake Cottage so I was within its protection and quickly went invisible in case Lupin was there. I hid round the corner and waited. I didn't hear any noises from inside which meant Lupin wasn't there. I guess he was with Tonks and his son … my cousin … I shook my head and walked up to the door. I tapped my wand on the door handle and cancelled out Lupin's Locking Spell on it. The door clicked open and I went inside.

Moonlake Cottage was empty. It looked exactly the same as when I left. I turned visible and put my stuff down in the utility room. I proceeded and looked around. Being back here just made me remember this wasn't my home anymore. Everything looked the same downstairs. I walked through the kitchen and living; it looked like no one had been here for ages. I continued upstairs. The stairs still creaked. Lupin had never got round to fixing those. All the doors on the landing were closed. I stopped when I came to the second on the right.

Jenna's room. I touched the wooden plaque on my door. Lupin had made it for me when he adopted me. Opening the door I saw my room was exactly how I left it. I felt a wave of sadness creep over me. This wasn't my room any longer. It was going to be the baby's room. I had to get out of here. I left my room and, before going downstairs, I went across the landing into Lupin's room. I went straight to his wardrobe and grabbed one of his shirts. It smelled just like him. I shoved it into my bag and hurried back downstairs. I'll just do what I came here to do and be done with it.

I went back into the kitchen and went over to the dresser. There was a photo of me and Lupin from the day he adopted me on it. I took it out of its frame and got a pen from the draw.

_Lupin  
__The day you adopted me, you told me only I would be brave enough to face a  
__werewolf and not care about what you are, and you taught me never to be afraid of  
__things I don't know. Well now you've got someone else to teach and I hope you'll be as  
__good a father to him as you were to me. I just want to say—_

I stopped writing when I heard the front door open and voices in the hall. I dropped the pen and quickly turned invisible. I moved away from the counter just as footsteps sounded in the sitting room.

'I'm going to put Teddy to bed, Remus. He's falling asleep as we speak.'

'All right.' I backed further into the corner by the door to the utility room. I could see someone just behind the door separating the dining and living rooms. Lupin. 'I'll make us some tea.'

'I'll set up his crib in the room across from yours –'

'No!' I froze. Silence. 'That's Jenna's room. No one goes in there. Set up the crib in the spare room. That can be his.'

As quietly as I could, I reached behind me for the doorknob. I got a hold of it and turned it. In front of me Lupin was approaching the kitchen. He'd be here any second. I opened the door just enough and slipped through it in time. Lupin had noticed the photo and pen on the counter and run to pick it up. I didn't hang around and quickly grabbed my stuff. I slipped out the back door and placed the Locking Spell back on it just as I heard a shout.

'Dora! Dora, Jenna's here! She's left a note and it's unfinished!'

I ran away from the house and over to the tree in the garden. I hid behind it as Lupin and Tonks both came out into the garden. I peered out at them from behind it.

'Remus, Jenna wouldn't have come back,' said Tonks. 'Bill said she ran away. She wouldn't come back here, not after what she did.'

'Jenna didn't mean it,' snapped Lupin. 'I know her. She was hurt and she wanted me to see that. I could see it in her eyes. And the note! It's in her writing! It says things only she would know! I know she's here.'

'Remus, I ask you to see sense for the sake of our son,' said Tonks. 'Jenna made her feelings clear from what you've told me and she will not come back. You mustn't keep dwelling on her.'

'I will not give up on her!' said Lupin, rather fiercely for him. I've never really seen him get angry except the day Bellatrix took me. It was always just a stern voice, never raised. 'When you married me, Jenna came as part of the package. And while you may be ready to let her go, I'm not!'

'That's not what I'm saying. I want Jenna back as much as you do but we have a son now and he comes first.'

'Jenna is my family! Kingsley had his way over me when she was captured but this time I'm not just going to sit around and wait for news of her death!'

'Then ask yourself what Jenna would want you to do. She knows you have a son so what would she want you to do? Search for her or look after your child? Now, I don't want to come between the two of you but I also don't want my son to miss out on his father. And Jenna wouldn't want her cousin to not have a dad like she didn't.'

I didn't hear Lupin's decision as I crept away through a hole in the bushes surrounding the garden. I ran as fast I could up the hill behind the house. I stopped once I was at the top and returned to view. I looked back over to Moonlake Cottage. Lupin and Tonks were still in the garden. I tore my eyes away and I twisted on the spot to leave.

I reappeared in an alley in a town called Camberley. I instantly fell against the wall, fighting my emotions. I knew I shouldn't have gone back there. I covered my face with my hands and stood there for a few minutes. I pushed all thoughts of Lupin to the back of my mind, stood straight and came out the alley.

Camberley was a small rural town on the outskirts of London. It had a small town centre and was surrounded by cul-de-sacs of homes. Hopefully I'd be able to find a family who needed help and work for them in exchange for a room. I walked down the High Street to find a place to start trying to find lodgings. After an hour's walk or so, I turned into another road called Heathway Close. There was a small net of houses there.

'Well, might as well try my luck,' I muttered. I shifted the rucksack enough so as to tie my hair in a loose ponytail. I wasn't sure how many Muggles were used to seeing a girl with multicoloured hair. 'Here goes.'

I walked into the cul-de-sac. All the houses looked the same. The same square, two storey houses with front lawns and driveways to garages and the odd car parked there. I glanced around to see if any of the houses looked like they had people in at the moment. The one at the far end of the road looked like someone was in the front room. Getting up the courage, I walked up the drive to the front door. I knocked twice, and waited. A young woman of about thirty came to the door.

'Can I help you?' she asked. She sounded a bit snooty if you ask me.

'Actually I was hoping that maybe I could help you,' I said as confidently as possible. 'Do you have any odd jobs around the house you need doing or, in the garden, that maybe I could do in exchange for a room for the night? I wouldn't get in your way or anything.'

'Sorry, but I don't accept drifters.'

She shut the door in my face. What an arrogant woman.

This result continued for the rest of the day. I tried all the other houses in Heathway Close before moving on to another cul-de-sac. I spent the best part of the rest of the day going round them and knocking on doors asking for work. No one seemed prepared to accept someone to work for them for a room. It's not like I was holding them at wand point or threatening them. I just guess that Muggles weren't as accommodating as wizards were.

'I'm looking for work in exchange for a room for the night. I was just wondering if –'

'No thank you.'

Go to the next house.

'I see you have kids. If you're looking for a babysitter, I'd be more than happy to look after them for a couple of hours.'

'How much will it cost?' asked the man who lived there.

'Oh, no fee,' I replied. 'I just need a room for the night.'

'We have no spare room. Goodbye.'

On to the next house.

'Yes? What do you want? Speak up, I can't hear you.'

'I'm looking for work.'

'No, I'm not hurt.' The old man was bloody deaf. 'I'm perfectly well.'

'No, I said I'm looking for work,' I repeated louder. 'Have you got any jobs that need doing around the house?'

'We've got a cat to catch that mouse,' said the old man, nodding sagely. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

'Do you need someone to help around the house or garden? I can do any odd job you need doing. Any jobs like gardening or washing or cleaning.'

'No, no, it's all right,' said the man. He reached out a curled hand and patted my shoulder. 'I don't need a doctor, I've already seen him.'

'No, you've misheard me. I'm looking for work, I want –' the man just stared at me, '– oh, forget it. Have a good day, sir.'

'No, this coat's not made of fur.'

I turned and walked away from the house, shaking my head in despair.

My luck didn't improve over the next few days. No one was willing to take in a "drifter" that Muggle woman had called me the first time I tried, whatever a drifter was. I changed location each day trying each town I went to get work, then camping out in the local park when no one gave me a room let alone the time of day. Why were Muggles so unwilling to help? They were acting like those pure-blood wizards who refuse to help anyone who didn't support You-Know-Who. I guess they just feared what they didn't know.

The Wednesday of that week I gave up trying to find a home where I was at that point in time and stayed in the tent from lunchtime onwards. Lyndhurst didn't have many places I could ask for shelter. I set up tent at the foot of a hill and remained in there for the rest of the day. Living in the tent wasn't that bad I guess although the smell was slowly starting to get to me. Plus the beds weren't that comfortable and there was actually nothing to do there so I was bored our my mind.

I tried to think about Mum's task again while I had lunch. I knew I needed to use my phoenix powers in order to bring them back and obviously the feathers Dumbledore had left me and probably phoenix tears as well because of the regenerative properties so I'd figured that much out. And I was sure that, if the Resurrection Stone was real, I'd need that as well. But it was what else I needed that was puzzling me. It couldn't be as simple as that. And like Hermione had said, it would take a great deal of magic to pull off something like that and bring four people back from the dead which wasn't actually feasible anyway.

'No spell can reawaken the dead,' I muttered. 'And I wouldn't be able to write a spell to do that even if I wanted to.' I packed away the food into the rucksack, clicking the top shut. I then stopped as I thought of something. 'But maybe it's not a spell I need. Maybe it's a potion.'

I opened the rucksack again and started searching around in it for my potions book, sticking my arm right in it up to my shoulder. It was in here somewhere, I could just feel its binding next to the plastic bottle of Muggle fizzy drink (absolutely disgusting stuff!) I'd nicked. My hand grabbed a book and I pulled it out. Wrong one. After a few more attempts, I managed to find the right book and I pulled it out the bag.

I sat down in one of the chairs and flicked straight to the index in the back of _Practical_ _Potions and Ingredients in the Muggle World_. I'd made little asterisk marks by several of the ingredients I'd found while we had been searching for the Horcruxes and collected in case of needing them. I turned to each of their pages and found three of the seven of them had healing properties. Another was supposed to be used to eliminate curses while things like yew and a herb, chervil, was associated with death and rebirth.

'It's been here in front of me all this time,' I muttered amazed to myself. I continued to flick through the book. In total I found about thirteen ingredients which were all used in various forms of Healing Potions or were associated with medicine and regeneration. 'I need to use these ingredients to make a potion along with the phoenix feathers and tears.'

I stopped as I realised something else. How can ghosts drink potions? Unless … well, in the story of the Peverell brothers, the one who brought back the girl he'd loved, he'd been able to live with her and speak to her and things. Maybe it wasn't ghost the Stone brought back but the souls of dead. And, theoretically speaking I guess, souls were more human than ghosts so maybe they were able to touch things and stuff instead of just passing through them. If that were so, then maybe they'd be able to drink the potion to come back. Then I remembered that they might no even want to come back.

I sat back in the chair and ran my hand through my hair.

'What if they don't want to come back?' I mumbled. 'They've been dead for sixteen or so years, a couple for Dad. What is to say they're not happy being dead having moved on.' I sighed.

Every plan had a flaw, and that was a pretty big one.

I got up and put the book back in the rucksack. Besides the fact Mum and the others might not even want to come back, and the whole of load of questions that would come if they _did_ come back, I'd have to try and make the potion in the first place and for all I know, I could get it completely wrong and I'd waste the phoenix feathers and tears. This was going to take a lot of careful thinking through and right now, I wasn't in the mood. I went to sit back in the chair when my foot caught in the strap of my bag and I tripped up. I fell to the ground and let out an annoyed hiss.

'Sodding bag,' I muttered, unhooking my foot. 'Today is just not my day.'

I went to move my bag out the way when I noticed something had fallen out of it. It was my diary. It wasn't a proper "Dear Diary" diary but more like a notebook diary. It had charms on it which let the dates of the new year enter the book without losing previous notes and remain the same thickness so that it was easy to keep and reuse. I picked it up. It had fallen open on a page from about two years ago. I read what it said.

_Chivvs – good chip shop in Surrey.  
__Need to stop wearing Gryffindor hoody.  
__Rick Maxwell – 17 Meadhouse Road, Wandsworth, London._

Rick. I'd almost forgotten about him, for a second time. I'd forgotten I'd asked for his address when I saw him back at The Refuge. It had been so great to see him. I didn't realise how much I missed him when I left because we had been good friends but Mandy had still made him weary around me. And when I saw him again back when I'd run off to Harry's house, he'd seemed exactly like he'd been when I first knew him, except he'd been adopted, had dyed his hair, and come to think of it, a great sense of fashion.

'That's it!' I gasped suddenly. I leapt out of my seat and quickly started packing things into the two bags. 'I'll go to Rick's! He'll help me out, or at least I hope he will. Why didn't I think of it before? Jenna, you idiot!'

I packed up the tent as quickly as I could. With my diary in hand, I memorised Rick's address and Apparated to Meadhouse Road.

I underestimated how long Meadhouse Road was. I appeared somewhere in the middle of it and on either side it looked like there were about fifteen houses. Well, better get looking. I headed in to the right and walked down the road looking for number seventeen. I then turned round and went in the other direction on the other side of the road when I saw the houses were going in even numbers up towards the forties. Twenty-nine … twenty-seven … twenty-five … It was down this road for sure. Twenty-one … nineteen … seventeen!

It wasn't an overly big house. Thin but tall. There was a small gravel garden on the other side of the garden wall in front of the house and a stone footpath up to the door. I pushed open the gate and walked up the path. The house didn't look like it had anyone inside. Still, better try it just in case. Rick, I think, was meant to be at boarding school at the moment but there was a chance he was on Easter holiday. You never know. I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. I knocked again.

'I'm coming! I'm coming!'

The door opened. I gasped when I saw who answered it.

'Jaden. Jaden Maxwell.'

'Yeah?' Jaden stared at me. 'Do I know you?'

Jaden Maxwell had been in his seventh year at Hogwarts when I was in my second. He was in Ravenclaw and had been Head Boy. He was very tall with broad shoulders and had short spiky blond hair and blue eyes. I didn't know him that well, only that he was a high achiever, he had been on his house Quidditch team before he left, and that he always helped tutor first years in his house who needed a bit of extra help. But everyone knew who the Head Boy and Girl were, even if you didn't know them personally. So, he was Rick's foster brother?

'Yeah, I went to the same school as you,' I said. Jaden eyed me warily.

'You know about Hogwarts?'

I glanced behind me. I felt like some Snatcher was going to come out and get me any moment.

'I can't talk here. Can I come in?'

Still giving me a wary look, Jaden stepped aside and let me in his house. As soon as I stepped over the threshold I felt like a bucket of water had been dumped on my head. I looked down myself but I was completely dry. When I looked up my eye caught my reflection in the mirror in the hallway and I saw my black hair coming back. I looked back at Jaden to see him not looking startled that I was here but certainly surprised.

'We have an Unmasking Charm on the house,' said Jaden. 'Jenna Black. Last time I saw you, you were barely up to my waist. Now I hear you're a wanted criminal on the run with Potter.'

'You won't turn me in, will you?' I asked.

Jaden didn't answer the question. In truth, I don't blame him. Anyone who handed me into the Ministry would be safe from You-Know-Who's Death Eaters. At that moment, someone else came down the stairs. I looked up to see the guy I saw those two years ago. Still with his multi-streaked hair, Rick looked confused when he saw me.

'Jenna. What are you doing here?'

'Hey, Rick. It's a bit of a long story.'

'Come into the kitchen,' said Jaden. 'You look like you need a drink and you can tell me why you're here.'

I followed Jaden into the kitchen and took the seat he indicated at the table. Jaden tapped the kettle with his wand and it started to boil while he took a couple of mugs from a cupboard. A few minutes later Jaden sat opposite me and handed me a cup of coffee.

'Now why are you here?' he asked. 'You realise you're putting my family in danger by coming here.'

'Jade, lighten up,' said Rick. 'Jenna's not doing any harm being here.'

'You've seen the _Prophet_,' said Jaden. 'You know there's a price on her head. Mum and Dad could get in real trouble if they found out we were harbouring a fugitive.'

'I know that,' I said, interrupting, 'and I don't mean to put your family in danger.'

'Then why are you here?' asked Jaden again.

'The reason I'm here is because of Rick. We knew each other at the orphanage he lived at before he was adopted. We met again a couple years back and he gave me his address.'

'Fair enough,' said Jaden, taking a sip of his drink.

'But why were you on the run in the first place?' asked Rick.

'Well, initially I wasn't,' I explained. 'But I got captured by Bellatrix Lestrange, my cousin, when the Death Eaters did a raid on my friend Ron Weasley's house.'

'You're related to Lestrange?' said Jaden curiously.

'Not by choice, I can assure you,' I said coldly, staring at the mug in my hands. 'Anyway, I got captured by her in August last year and I escaped, just like I did the previous year when she caught me the first time. I then managed to make my way and join Harry.'

'So you have been with Potter. Why isn't he doing anything to stop You-Know-Who if he's this Chosen One then?'

'He is. And it's taken a real toll on him.'

'Then why aren't you still with him?'

'I had to leave because I did something I really regret and I can't let him worry about that while he's got more important things to do.' Partly true, partly a lie. 'I needed time to think things through and get my life together so I left. And before you ask, I can't tell you what he's doing because that will put you in more danger and jeopardise what he's doing.

'I've been searching for a place to stay for the last three days but no one offered me a room in exchange for me to do work for them, and all of them were Muggles who are ignorant to You-Know-Who's work. Then I came across Rick's address in my diary and I thought he would help me.' I glanced across at him. He had a soft look on his face unlike Jaden's annoyed and worried one. I smiled back slightly. 'I knew Rick would help me if I asked so that's why I came. I had no idea he was adopted by a wizarding family so I didn't mean to put your family in danger.'

'Jenna, if we can help you, we will,' said Rick straight out when I finished. 'Right, Jade?'

I looked over towards Jaden. He still seemed unconvinced.

'What exactly are you asking for?' he asked.

'All I need is a place to stay,' I said. 'I have an alias which I use, the person you saw on the doorstep, Faith Wolves.' Jaden nodded. 'I just need a place to stay where I can hide out and keep an eye on what's happening in the wizarding world.'

'We can do that,' said Rick.

'It's not as simple as that,' said Jaden over them. 'Dad's an Auror for the Ministry. If they found out he had a fugitive in the house, we'd all be in danger.'

'It won't be like that,' I said. Jaden looked sceptically at me. 'I'll be keeping a very low profile, believe me. I've faced the Death Eaters more than once, been hiding from them and the Snatchers for the last eight months, been tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange herself and have the scars to prove it. They know my signature magic, a blue force field, so I can promise you, I won't be using any big stuff and in all honesty, right now I don't even know if I'll be going back,' I assured him. 'Please, Jaden. You always helped people back at Hogwarts. Now _I_ need the help.'

Jaden looked away from me and got up. Rick and I watched as he paced for a moment in the kitchen, thinking this over. I knew what danger I was putting his family in by being here, but I needed a place I could hide out and a wizard's home would be better protection than a Muggles and I wouldn't be putting Muggle lives in danger.

'I must be mental for agreeing to this,' Jaden muttered after a few minutes. He turned back to me. 'I'm willing to let you stay so long as you keep a low profile.' I nodded. 'But you're going to have to talk to Dad. Our family's blood is not entirely pure though. Rick's safe from being killed because they know he's adopted and my grandparents are dead but all were wizards so the rest of us are safe. Dad gets home at five. Until then, we'll work out what we'll tell them.'

The next few hours were very nerve-racking. We went through as many times as we could what Jaden and I were going to say to his dad in order to convince him and his mum to let me stay here. We both knew it would overly be too suspicious if I didn't leave the house so it was decided I wasn't to got out on my own and keep up the pretence of being a Muggle whenever I was out. I didn't fully agree and so Jaden said I was only to use magic when danger from Death Eaters or Snatchers was present.

'I can understand you not wanting to sit by and watch as innocent people get hurt so same rules apply as normal,' said Jaden. 'Only use your magic outside the house if the Death Eaters or Snatchers come to the area. So far they haven't been interested but it'll be a matter of time before their anti-Muggle supporters come to this area.'

When Jaden and Rick's dad got home, he wasn't too happy to see me sitting in his kitchen. However, he was an understanding man and listen to Jaden as he spoke to him about my situation. When he turned to me I explained I fully understood what danger I was putting his family in and swore that I would follow his rule in order to keep him and his family safe. I wouldn't want to put Rick in danger, especially since he was a Muggle. After another hour's worth of discussion, he agreed.

'We'll have to put more Protection Charms on the house,' said Jaden's father, Joseph. 'As for where you'll stay, if Rick and Jaden are willing to share, you can have one of their rooms and we'll Transfigured their bed into a bunk bed.'

'Dad, I can go back to my apartment,' said Jaden.

'No, we need your skills here,' replied Joseph, shaking his head. 'We'll need all the magical protection we can get. Yaxley's been on my case again at work. He's determined to catch me out as being a Potter supporter. You say he's been fighting You-Know-Who?' he asked me.

'Not exactly,' I replied. 'But he has been working against him since last summer so he's not just disappeared off the face of the planet like the _Prophet_ says.'

'And I believe you can't tell me anything more?' I nodded. 'Very well,' said Joseph. 'You may stay here, Jenna, but you are to abide by the house rules and keep hidden in your Muggle guise. Only use your magic in extreme situations. I'll modify the charms on the house to allow you to stay hidden in it when here.' He turned to his sons. 'And no word of this to your mother. She'll flip if she finds out. She's got enough on her plate at St Mungo's what with Muggles and wizards alike being injured.'

So it was settled. I was going to have Jaden's old room and remain in my Muggle guise of Faith. Joseph set about modifying the charms while Rick took me upstairs to his brother's old room. Rick opened a door on the landing and took me inside. It was a small room but completely typical of a twenty-two year old. There were posters of Muggle women in skimpy clothes along with some moving pictures of the family and Quidditch teams. It wasn't in a mess but Rick began picking up various things off the floor and shoving them in drawers, then taking down Jaden's posters.

'It's been a long time,' he said as he did this. 'I can see why you didn't keep in touch.'

'And I guess I was wrong when I said half the things I've been through since I left The Refuge you wouldn't believe even if I told you,' I said. 'I can't believe you know about the wizarding world. Don't you find it strange knowing there's this other world there but not being able to be part of it?'

'Not really,' shrugged Rick. 'I mean, bits of it still surprise me and stuff. Jaden used to Apparate near me all the time when he first passed his test and it'd scare the hell out of me. Not so much now. I just find it strange you're part of it.' Rick glanced over his shoulder at me. 'Then again, you were always the weird one.'

'You have no idea how weird my life has gotten,' I said, almost laughing slightly. 'I never thought I'd be in the centre of a massive fight with my best friend when I was eight years old.'

_You also never thought you'd fall for him either. Look where you are now_.

'Well, you're safe here for now,' said Rick. 'Dad and Jaden will make sure of it. I got faith in them that they'll keep you hidden. Dad doesn't want You-Know-Who to win.'

'I know they will. And thanks again, Rick. I'm really grateful.'

'No probs. Now, let's get Jaden's stuff into my room and you can unpack.'

I stayed at Rick's house for just under two weeks. I couldn't believe how different it was living with him and pretending to be a Muggle. It was almost what I'd dreamed of when I left. A normal life. That is, until the reality of my world threatened the normality of his and I had tough decision to make.

* * *

**AN: never expected that did you? question is will the temptation of a normal life keep Jenna away. enjoy and leave a review. 25 for the last chapter is a record and i hope it continues. thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and please keep doing so. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**AN 2: Jaden was originally named Jonah when i first brought him and Rick into the story if anyone was questioning why Rick's adopted brother in this chapter was called Jaden. i changed it because i preferred the name.**


	41. Normality vs Reality

Chapter 40

Normality vs. Reality

Waking up in bed the next day after the first good night's sleep I'd had in ages certainly made a difference to how I felt. I looked across at Jaden's clock to see it was half eight. Seeing the time I thought it better to get up than sleep any longer, especially since I was now living under someone else's roof. I got up and took my toothpaste and wash stuff out of my bag. I didn't want to unpack in Jaden's room. I left it and started looking for the bathroom. I couldn't quite remember Rick's tour of the house last night.

'Cute PJs.'

I looked behind me to see Rick standing at the doorway to his room, grinning, standing happy as anything in a pair of boxers. I blushed. I was wearing a pair of pink shorty pyjama bottoms which said "kiss me" on them and a red strappy top. Not really appropriate in front of guys. Luckily I had on Lupin's shirt so he couldn't see my scars. I slept in it purely for comfort.

'Er, thanks, I guess,' I replied. 'Um, don't suppose you could tell me where the bathroom is again?'

'Door ahead of you,' replied Rick. He walked forwards towards the stairs. As he passed me, he gently slapped my butt. 'Nice bum, by the way. I would kiss it but I fear you'd slap me.'

He disappeared downstairs. I stared at where he'd been for a moment then went into the room he'd indicated to have a shower. I saw I still had black hair. Obviously their dad couldn't alter the charms. I then returned to my room and got dressed. I pulled out my last pair of clean trousers and, after repairing them, pulled them on with a t-shirt. Taking my bag with me I headed downstairs to get some breakfast. Hopefully Mrs Maxwell would let me do some washing while I was here.

'Morning,' said Jaden when I came into the kitchen. He was sitting at the breakfast bar. 'Good sleep?'

'I haven't slept well in months,' I replied. 'I'm surprised I _did_ sleep in as long as this.'

'Ah, you must be Jenna, I presume?' said a female voice.

I looked up to see a kind looking woman come in from the garden, taking off a pair of gardening gloves, dressed in a pair of loose trousers and plain t-shirt. Like Jaden she had blonde hair, shoulder length and in long waves. She smiled gently at me, a soft look in her brown eyes, and put the gloves on the sideboard before going to a cupboard and pulling out a mixing bowl.

'Yeah,' I replied. 'I thought though –'

'You don't need to worry,' said Mrs Maxwell kindly. She was now taking out some eggs and milk from the fridge. 'I know why you're here and I won't say anything. But if my boys think they can keep things from me, they can think again.' She gave them a sharp look. Jaden just shrugged his shoulders while Rick grinned at me. 'I'm Rachel, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you. Hope you like pancakes. You look like you could use a good breakfast.'

'That's very kind of you, thanks, but cereal or toast would be fine.'

'Nonsense. You've been doing Merlin knows what for months. You deserve something decent to eat.'

Mrs Maxwell – 'Call me Rachel.' – had a certain Mrs Weasley quality about her. I didn't want to argue with her so I sat down next to Jaden at the table and helped myself to some cereal. When they were cooked, Rachel brought over a huge stack of thick pancakes for us and Merlin they tasted good. I didn't realise how hungry I was after lasting on stodgy food for the last few days.

'I've got to get to work,' said Jaden briskly, putting down his fork on his plate. He got up and gave his mum his plate and kissed her on the cheek. 'I'll see you later. Dad's already left. You're not working today, right?'

'No, I'm not, darling,' said Rachel. 'Have a good day and make sure you get your father to check in with me at lunch this time. I get so worried about you two at the Ministry these days. And don't forget your lunch this time, it's in the fridge.'

I watched silently at the table. The only other example of a family I'd ever seen was the Weasleys. It intrigued me to see how Rick and his adoptive family interacted, especially since he was the only Muggle. Rachel did everything by hand instead of with her wand which I found quite strange.

'All right, Mum. See you later. Bye, Rick. Don't go getting in trouble or anything.' Rick held his hands up by his head. I snickered slightly. 'See you.'

Once Jaden was gone, Rick disappeared upstairs to get dressed. He gave Rachel the plate and left the room. Feeling a little out of place, I also got up and gave her my plate, offering to help with the washing up. Rachel brushed off my offer and put them into the dishwasher. I then just stood there, wondering what to do now.

'Is there anything I can do?' I asked her. 'I've got some laundry that needs doing. I could do that if you show me where the washing machine is.'

'Nonsense, Jenna,' said Rachel in that Mrs Weasley tone again. She looked at me seriously. 'You are a guest in this house. You don't need to help out.'

'But Mrs Max – Rachel,' I didn't really feel comfortable calling her that but she insisted, 'I really appreciate what you're doing for me considering I'm putting you all in danger by hiding here but can't I please do something to earn my keep? I mean, I feel like I'm scrounging off you. Please, just let me help around the house.'

Rachel gave me a kind smile. She even laughed slightly. I hadn't heard a genuine laugh in months.

'I hope your uncle knows how helpful you are.' I tensed slightly when she said that, feeling uncomfortable. 'I always wondered if it would have been easier if I'd had girls. Jaden and Rick always tried to find ways out of doing their chores. But there's no need, love. You just relax. I'm sure Rick will be back in a minute to entertain you or something.'

With Rachel's instruction not to help I left the kitchen and sat in the sitting room. They had a TV in the corner. I hadn't seen one of those since I was at The Refuge. Rachel came in moments later and started dusting and cleaning. I watched her silently. She didn't use magic for any of these things. When I asked her about it, she explained that her mother had been a Muggle-born witch and had always preferred doing household things by hand instead of wand. She too preferred it, and it also meant Rick wasn't surrounded by magic all day long. Fair enough, I guess.

The next few days I kept myself to myself knowing Rachel didn't need my help. I remained in Jaden's room reading for the first couple of days, then sorting out my things once I got all my laundry back from the wash. I put the clean, folded laundry on the bed then emptied the rest of my things out of my bag, then the rest of the stolen food and books from the rucksack next to it. I sorted them into piles depending on importance then set to work on sorting out how to repack them into the bags. I was fed up of carrying a rucksack _and_ my shoulder bag.

I kept my bag aside to repack with my clothes once I'd done the rest. I then set about altering the rucksack to a better type of bag. I ended the spell on it so it went back to the plastic bags then Transfigured them into a belt bag with three pockets, two at the front and a large one at the back. That would have been much easier to carry around and get at, especially if I got attacked. I placed Undetectable Extension Charms on each of the pockets then set about packing things into each of the pockets.

I needed the most important stuff where I could get at it quickest. So I put in the front right pocket my wand, the phial of phoenix tears, potions ingredients and copies of Healing Potions in it. I then put my potions and _Fantastic Beasts_ books into the left one along with my personal items like my diary. In the back pocket I shoved the rest of the books, the tent, my coat and any other odd items as well as the last bits of food I was going to keep. With those all in the belt bag, I repacked my clothes into my bag and shoved that into the back pocket as well. I clipped it round my waist where it was going to stay from now on.

Life at Rick's house was much different to that at The Burrow or Moonlake Cottage. At meals I ate at the kitchen table with Rick and whoever else was there at the time which I never did at home while at The Burrow you were always fighting for elbow room. There was usually a queue for the only bathroom upstairs. Rick took forever in it when all he was doing was styling his hair (surprisingly there wasn't ever a queue at The Burrow seeing as there was one on each floor). There was also a lot more Muggle stuff in the house than I was used to, even from The Refuge, like computers and games consoles, things like that. Finally going out seemed to be a common thing in this house. Rick went out quite a few times which I found strange. I never went out while I was home for the holidays.

On Tuesday evening I found myself sitting on an old swing seat in the garden, wondering what to do. Rick was inside and his parents and Jaden were all working late. I'd exhausted my thoughts on how to make a potion to bring back my parents and so was taking a break outside. I sat on the swing seat with my feet up rocking gently back and forth, fiddling with my necklace in my fingers. I felt oddly lonely not having the others with me anymore and the non-magic atmosphere was getting to me slightly. If this was what a normal life was like, maybe this wasn't what I was after. But the closeness of the family considering Rick was adopted _and_ a Muggle just made me more confused about what I really wanted.

I heard footsteps approach me. I looked up to see Rick walking over to the swing seat.

'Hey.'

'Hey. How come you're out here?'

'I needed some time to think,' I said quietly. 'Everything's just got so out of hand for me lately … I don't know what to do anymore.'

'D'you want someone to talk to?' asked Rick. I glanced at him but shook my head. 'OK, let me rephrase that. D'you _need_ some to talk to?'

I laughed slightly then looked away and said, 'Some of the stuff I've done I can't talk about. My friends wouldn't understand.'

'But I might.' I looked up at Rick through my hair (it was blonde because I was outside the house). 'I haven't seen you for years, Jen. Maybe you need someone who's an outsider to this magic business to talk to. I'm more than happy to listen.'

I smiled, albeit a small smile, but still shook my head.

'You wouldn't understand either,' I said quietly.

'All right, that's it,' said Rick matter-of-factly. I looked at him as he took my hand and pulled me up. 'You need to get your mind off all this magic shit and stuff. I'm taking you out.' I made to object but Rick cut me off by saying, 'No buts, Jenna! I'm taking you out.'

Rick pulled me away from the swing seat and towards the gate. He unlocked it, pulled me through, and kicked it shut behind us again then walked onwards. My hand was still in his as Rick led me down the road. I had to jog slightly to keep up with his long strides. I didn't have a clue where we were going or what exactly Rick was planning. He'd always been quite spontaneous, obviously more so as he got older. Then Rick came to an abrupt stop and I bumped into him. I saw that we'd stopped by a bus stop.

'Where are we going?' I asked.

'To town, where else?' said Rick. 'Didn't you ever go out when you were home from Hogwarts?'

'Not really,' I replied. 'I lived on the outskirts of London in the countryside. The nearest town was ten miles away.'

Rick rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else. Instead he sat down on the bench under the bus shelter to wait. Not knowing what to do having only ever been on the Knight Bus I went and sat with him. I just sat there, my eyes wandering in apprehension over everything in the street, my hands together in my lap. A bus soon came and Rick pulled me up to get on it. He asked for two return tickets to the town centre and paid the driver some money. He pulled me onwards to a seat near the back and handed me a long strip of paper.

'Don't lose that,' he told me, 'otherwise we can't get home.'

'I can Apparate, you know,' I said in a whisper.

'No magic, remember?' Rick said in return. I was about to retort but had no comeback so just nodded my head.

The bus journey into the town was a lot calmer than any journey on the Knight Bus was, and a lot more direct too. The Knight Bus would go to about seven other stops in different parts of the country before it got to yours, even if it was just to the town centre. I found it nice to be able to sit on the bus and not have to hang on for my life as it jerked about. The bus had about five stops on its way into the town. When it got to ours, Rick pressed a button on one of seat frames and got up to leave the bus. I hastily followed having not realised at first he'd got up. We got off the bus and Rick walked off down the High Street.

'So,' I said, walking beside him. 'What exactly do you do when in town?'

'Geeze, you really are a witch, aren't you?' laughed Rick. 'Surely even you went into town once in a while.'

'Yeah,' I said, 'but wizards do different things to Muggles, don't they?' I looked around at the shops. There were several large stores separated by the odd smaller shop, all similar in either style or size. There were barely any people here considering it was getting on for six o'clock. It was nothing like Diagon Alley. 'Diagon Alley is completely different to this.'

'But surely you know what general teenage Muggles do.'

'Hey, I'm a pure-blood,' I said reproachfully. 'I have about as much knowledge about Muggle pastimes as a Jarvey has of polite language.' Rick gave me a weird look. I shook my head. 'Point is, my best friend's a Muggle-born and half the stuff she comes out with about Muggles confuses me. You'll have to elaborate on what we're doing.'

'All right. I'm taking you to get a drink then we're going to have some fun.'

'Meaning?'

'Just trust me.'

I had no choice but to do so. I had no idea where Rick was taking me or what we were going to do, add in the fact I was worried that Snatchers would pop up any moment, but I just followed him wherever he went. It turned out not to be so bad though. It was actually quite fun. We went to an arcade, a place which had loads of weird machines which Rick said were like giant computer games; a cinema to watch a film, something longer than a television programme; and to a bowling alley where you throw heavy balls down a lane to knock some wooden things called pins over. Mad really. It was nearing half nine by the time we left the bowling alley but Rick said we weren't done.

He led us off the High Street to a darker side street. You couldn't really see anything down it because there were few streetlamps. I held on to Rick's hand and remained close to him as we walked down the street. Ahead of us I saw a small and bright purple and blue sign. It was one of those neon signs Hermione had mentioned before. It was in the shape of an arrow with the words "Praktical Magik" flashing above it. The sign was pointing towards a stairwell going below street level which I found a bit odd.

'Where are we?' I asked. 'What's _Praktical_ _Magik_?'

'It's a club,' said Rick simply. 'Come on, I'm bursting for a drink.'

Rick led me down the steps. A large man in a black suit stood in front of a pair of double doors and as we walked past I swear his eyes followed us behind those dark shades. Inside the place wasn't much brighter than outside. There was a red neon sign saying "toilets" and a metal staircase just opposite the double doors. I followed Rick down it. It spiralled downwards to another room. This one was much larger and darker and there was such a noise coming from it.

'What is that noise?' I asked, covering my ears. It sounded like something was being thumped repeatedly, a weird electronic sounding tune over the top of it. The room felt like they were shaking. Rick didn't hear me so I repeated it much louder. 'What is that noise?'

'It's music,' shouted Rick behind me. He took my hand and led me through the crowd. 'Go sit over there!' he shouted, pointing at a sofa in the corner. 'I'll be back in a sec with drinks!'

I went and sat down on the sofa Rick had indicated. He disappeared off in the other direction where I saw a bar was, three men dressed in black and white serving there. It was illuminated by more neon lights. Taking up most of the room was a large dance floor where everyone in the club was dancing to the music. At the front was a stage where a man was standing by a load of electronic equipment I'd never seen before in my life. As I waited for Rick to return a couple of guys walked passed me; one of them winked at me then went off with his mate. Rick came back a few minutes later with a couple of drinks in his hands.

'What is that?' I asked. Rick had handed me a bottle of blue liquid. I held it up in front of me to look at it in the light. 'Is that drinkable?'

'It's alcohol,' said Rick, drinking his. 'Just try it.'

Though I had my morals about drinking alcohol, I wasn't sure if Muggle alcohol was the same as wizard's and since I was open to trying new things, I put the bottle to my lips and took a sip. I instantly spat it out again when the taste hit the back of my throat.

'That's disgusting,' I said. 'How can you drink that? It tastes like Skele-Gro!'

'Simply enough,' replied Rick. 'Open my mouth, pour it in, and swallow.' I gave Rick a glare. He merely shrugged and grinned. 'So, you going to tell me what you wouldn't earlier?'

'Rick,' I began to object but he cut me off.

'Come on, Je—' I gave Rick a sharp look, 'Faith,' Rick corrected himself. 'You know I know about the wizarding world,' he said quietly, not that he needed to. You could barely hear yourself think in here. 'Why don't you tell me what's on your mind?'

'I don't know, Rick. It's not something that's easy to tell.'

'Faith, come on, trust me. It's not like Mandy's here to take the piss of you. Hell, if she knew my lifestyle she'd take the piss of me! It's what she did but she's not here now so you can talk freely to me. And it's not like any of those Death whatsits are gonna come in here.'

'How d'you mean she'd take the piss of your lifestyle?' Rick gave me a pointed look.

'I'm as bent as a coat hanger,' said he simply. I gave him a strange look. 'I swing the other way?' said Rick. Again I didn't know what he was on about. 'I go round the world in the other direction? I bat for the other team? Nothing?'

'I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, Rick.'

'I'm gay.' I stared at Rick. What? Where did that come from?

I sat there momentarily paralysed by surprise, then said, 'Really?'

'Yup, like I said, bent as a coat hanger. I'm not overly gay like, "Oh my God, I love your shirt!"' I couldn't help but snicker as Rick put on this really high voice. He laughed too. 'I'm not overly camp but I certainly know I prefer guys to girls, not that there aren't some fit girls around the town. I take it by your surprise you don't get many gays in your world.'

'None to my knowledge,' I said. 'We tend to have books on wizards fighting against Muggle baiting than those fighting for gay rights.'

'Fair enough. Now, I've told you my secret. Spill. Tell me yours.'

'Hey, now that's not fair,' I objected.

'Spill,' said Rick again, not accepting my objections.

'It's a long and very complicated story,' I replied. I pulled my legs up on my seat. 'I wouldn't even know where to begin.'

'Well then just tell me what's on your mind. Something's been bothering you since you got here. I've watched you, I know something's wrong.'

I looked away uncomfortably. This was something I could never talk about because I knew Ron and Hermione would never understand it. I already knew Hermione's opinion on my feelings for Harry and Ron, well, he had never been happy about Harry and Ginny in the first place. Add me into the mix and that's one hell of a love triangle. But now the opportunity presented itself to talk to someone impartial to what had happened. Someone who didn't know the history. Would it be easier?

I bit my lip in hesitation.

'Over the last couple of years,' I started, 'my life changed in ways I never expected after my Dad, Sirius, died.'

'Sirius Black?' questioned Rick. I nodded.

'Anyway, after he died, I changed a lot. I got scared of losing the people I loved, even more so than when I was at the orphanage. But then after I buried him my Uncle Remus had to go on a mission – he's part of this rebellion against You-Know-Who – and I couldn't take it. I didn't want to lose anyone else I loved. So I ran away. I got captured by Bellatrix and her sister during the summer but I managed to escape and I got back to my friends.

'When I returned to Hogwarts, I refused to speak to my best friend because I blamed him for Dad's death and I started going out with this guy called Noah.' I paused as I remembered him and what I did. 'That year was so complicated. I began having feelings for my best friend even though I hated his guts at the time. I made up with him and we had back our friendship but I was feeling more than that. As the year progressed those feelings grew and I ended up cheating on my boyfriend, more than once, with him. And when I finally got to tell him how I feel after breaking up with Noah, he kisses someone else and to make things worse, it was my best friend's sister.'

'Ouch,' said Rick. 'What did you do?'

'I shut my feelings away. I didn't want to get hurt anymore and I returned to Noah, who took me back. I didn't deserve him, and now he's dead so I wouldn't be able to go back to him even if I wanted to now.'

I ran my hand over my cheek to make sure no tears were there.

'What about now?' asked Rick. 'What was it that made you come here? You said you had to leave Potter but you didn't say why.'

I kept my eyes away from Rick. I stared numbly at my bottle of drink on the table.

'You remember I used to hang around with a scrawny black-haired kid when Matron came to get me from school?' I asked.

'Yeah, wore clothes that made him look tiny,' said Rick. 'Harry, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, well … believe it or not … _he's_ Harry Potter.'

'No way. He's the guy in the _Prophet_? That scrawny kid?' Rick couldn't believe it. He was silent for a moment, then simply said, 'He's cute.'

I couldn't help but snort in laughter when he said that.

'OK, I am going to have to get used to that,' I said, laughing. 'But my point is all this, all the things I've got myself into, are because of him. He's been my best friend since I was eight, apart from you of course,' Rick grinned, 'and it was because of him I left.'

'I don't follow,' said Rick. 'Because his sister was dating the guy you liked?'

'No,' I laughed. If I didn't I would probably have cried. I hadn't thought about Harry like this since I'd left. '_He's_ the guy I like. I fell for him but I couldn't have him. He may have broken up with his girlfriend at the beginning of last summer but he still wants her.'

'That doesn't explain why you left,' said Rick. 'You wouldn't let something like that get in the way of helping him. The _Prophet_ said you two were as thick as thieves.'

'Harry said that to me once,' I said, remembering. I remembered what had almost happened too when we had that conversation. 'Geeze, I had feelings for him before I could even recognise them,' I laughed. 'I am so pathetic.'

'Faith, you're not pathetic,' replied Rick. 'You fell for a guy, it's only natural. But it still doesn't explain why you left him.'

'Rick, it's so obvious.' I looked at him. 'I left _because_ of those feelings. Because he found out.' Rick stared at me, a confused look on his face. 'The other week my Uncle turned up at the house we were staying at, Ron's brother's, to tell us his son had been born. I didn't even know Tonks had been pregnant. I then had a massive fight with him and I threw away everything I had because I'd been so hurt when he disowned me and handed me over to Bellatrix … in order to save me.'

I could feel my throat getting slowly drier as I spoke. It hurt me so much to recall what I did.

'When he left, I completely broke down. I'd just thrown away everything and hurt the one man who'd made my life worth living. I ran into the garden and just started crying. Harry then came out and he comforted me, like he always did. And we kissed. Our sixth kiss together. And that's when it fell apart. I tried to walk away from it like I always did and Harry tried to stop me. I let slip I had feelings for him when we were arguing and Harry worked out that I'd fallen for him but I couldn't let him throw away what he had with Ginny because of me. So I left.'

Rick didn't say anything when I finished. He just stared at me.

'You left because you were scared to admit your feelings for him?'

'Hey, don't you judge me,' I said firmly. 'You have no idea what I went through because of him. I didn't want to fall for him.'

'But you did,' countered Rick.

'I know I did,' I mumbled. I sighed. I was starting to get a headache, partly because of the music, the rest due to bringing this all up again. 'But there was something about him, something that I couldn't fight. He had these eyes, green eyes, which one look would get me hooked; and his smile, it was so warm and caring. And every time he held me close, I felt safe; every time I felt down, he could make me laugh; every time I felt lonely, he was there. I know there's no such thing but he seemed perfect, even with his flaws. We've been through so much together and nothing could break us … except this one little thing. One little, insignificant thing separated us. And I can't go back, never.'

'Jenna – no listen to me,' Rick spoke over me to stop him using my real name. 'You can go back, you just choose not to because you don't want to face the consequences.' I stared at him. 'Hell, I had to face consequences when I came out as being gay but now I have a boyfriend and I'm happy. You'll make your life miserable if keep running from this.'

'It's not that simple,' I retorted. 'There are a lot of factors to consider –'

'No, there's just you and him. This is between you and this Harry bloke, no one else. You have to tell him how you feel and he has to decide what to do, it's as simple as that.'

I looked away from Rick. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. He obviously got my drift as he didn't say anything else on the subject.

'Come on,' he said. 'Let's forget about this and go and have a dance.'

Though I didn't much feel like dancing, I gave in as Rick dragged me up from my seat to have some fun. On the whole it did make me feel better even if Rick was a very bad dancer. It made me laugh. We left the club at ten and took the bus back to Rick's house. I thanked him for the night and returned to my bedroom. Once behind the closed door, the feelings came back from earlier came back.

I'd been running from my feelings for Harry for so long. Since I first realised about them in sixth years. And like I said, when Harry found out, I bailed. I just couldn't hack it. But, loathed as I was to admit it, Rick was right. Sooner or later I'd have to face Harry and the consequences of what my feelings brought, just like Rick had for admitting he was gay. I'd really have to get used to that. Point is though instead of running from this anymore, I had to face it. Whenever I was to next see Harry, I would have to face the fact that he would bring it up and accept what would happen. I knew I'd have to face it in the end.

'What am I going to do?' I muttered. I laid back on the pillows on Jaden's bed. 'I want to tell him but – I can't face losing him.'

I thought about it for a long time until I finally fell asleep curled up on Jaden's bed.

_A forest … darkness … voices … somewhere ahead …_

_No sign of him, my Lord._

_My Lord –_

_I thought he would come. I expected him to come._

_Walking forwards … the group became clearer … a water-like feeling passing over skin …_

_I was, it seems … mistaken._

_You weren't._

_And will she be joining you?_

_You hurt her, you don't get me. Her status protects her. She's not to be harmed._

_Laughing … another voice … shouting … a wand drawn …_

_Harry Potter … The boy who lived …_

I took in a sharp, deep breath and woke up, shuddering, as the green light hit him. I sat up panting on the bed. I swallowed, trying to regain my breathing. I was shaking like mad; beads of cold sweat dripped down the sides of my face. I heard feet running in the hallway.

'Jenna, you screamed.' I looked up to see Rick standing in the doorway. He, Jaden and their parents had all run into the room. I saw I was still in my clothes. The clock read two in the morning. Rick sat on the bed beside me. 'What happened?'

I looked up at them. I swallowed again. My breathing was still quite rapid.

'Nothing,' I replied. 'Just a – bad dream. It's nothing to worry about.'

'You sure?' asked Rick. I glanced at him and nodded. 'OK. Try and get some sleep. I'm just across the hall if you need me.'

When Rick and the others had returned to their rooms I instantly went to my belt bag and dug around it for my diary. I flicked through it quickly to today's date. Like always, I made a record of what I'd seen in my premonition. My hand shook as I wrote it. I stared at the new entry.

_Forbidden Forest.  
__You-Know-Who and Death Eaters gathered.  
__Harry dies._

I swallowed. Harry was running out of time. He needed to find the rest of those Horcruxes otherwise … his death was imminent. You-Know-Who was going to kill him.

I didn't sleep for the rest of the night, nor for the following few nights. I couldn't get the dream out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes I would see Harry standing there in the forest, You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters in front of him, outnumbered. And he wouldn't do anything. Harry would just stand there. The only thing he did was say the girl wasn't to be harmed. But who was she? Who was with him? But more importantly, why didn't Harry fight back? And when I wasn't dwelling on the dream when I was asleep, I was dwelling on it during the day.

Rick asked me several times what it was that had spooked me that night but I wouldn't tell him. I couldn't bring myself to repeat it no matter how many times it replayed itself in my mind. I repeatedly told him it was nothing and that he didn't need to worry about me but still he persisted.

'Jenna, it's not nothing,' said Rick, following me around the house. I walked out into the garden, the spells reactivating, to get away but still Rick followed. 'The last time I saw you that spooked was when we were five years old and you said you'd seen a green light and someone familiar die in your dreams.'

'I don't want to talk about it,' I said firmly. 'It has nothing to do with you.'

'You're my friend, I'm not going to act like it's nothing.' I looked over my shoulder at him. 'Jenna, I know you better than anyone.'

'No, you don't. Harry knows me better than you do.'

'But I've known you longer and I know when something's up.'

'You haven't seen me in six years!'

'That doesn't matter. I know when something's bothering you. Stop shutting me out and tell me what's going on!'

I flinched as Rick said that. It was exactly like I was talking to Harry again, exactly like our last conversation. I just stared at Rick not knowing what to do. Rick stared back for a few moments, then sighed.

'You're like a book, Jenna, one that always closes just when you get to the best part. You shut out everything and everyone who you don't want to find out something about you. You always have.' Rick turned and headed for the back door. I watched him silently. 'I'll see you later.'

I didn't see Rick later. It wasn't until the Saturday of that week that he spoke to me again. I guess I really must have hurt him with that conversation. It sounded like I didn't trust him. But he was completely right, I did shut things out. Just like he was right about Harry. Feeling guilty about the way I treated him, I tried to apologise but Rick seemed to have other plans.

'Rick, I'm trying to apologise,' I told him. I followed him into the hallway after lunch on Saturday. He was getting his jacket. 'The least you could do is listen.'

'I know you're sorry, Jen,' said Rick over his shoulder. He put on his jacket then handed me mine. I took it.

'Why are you giving me this?' I asked.

'We're going out,' replied Rick. We were? I stared at him confused. 'The other day, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have pushed you into telling me what was wrong. So, to make it up to you, I'm taking you shopping. Now, before you say it, I know, what use are new clothes gonna be, but I've seen what you've got in that bag of yours,' he pointed at my belt bag, 'and just because you're on the run doesn't mean you can't treat yourself once in a while.'

'I know nothing about shopping,' I said.

'Good job I'm gay then, isn't it?' said Rick. He grinned at me, raising his eyebrows. Was it a good job he was gay? 'We're meeting Josh in town. He'll help find you something to show off once all this business is over. And he's my boyfriend if you hadn't guess,' he added and pulled me out the door.

We took the bus back to the High Street and walked to a café called _Noir_. A guy with short, spiky light brown and grey eyes came was sitting at one of the tables outside. I guessed that was Josh. When he saw us he got up and walked over to us. He gave Rick a hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning to me.

'And who is this?' he said, looking up and down me. 'God, Rick, if you're swinging both ways, warn me first so I know who I'm up against.'

'Don't worry, you're my one and only,' laughed Rick. He put his arm round Josh's shoulders and gave him a squeeze. 'This is the girl I told you about. My best friend from the orphanage. Faith.'

'I thought her name was –' Josh let out a loud "Oomph" when Rick nudged him hard in the ribs. He gave him a pointed look then turned back to me. 'Pleasure to meet you, Faith. You're not quite what I expected.'

'I have that effect on people,' I said, smiling. 'Kind of my charm.'

'So we going shopping?' asked Rick, steering the conversation away from my "surprising" introduction. 'Got any ideas which shops we should hit first?'

'Why would you want to hit a shop?' I asked. Naivety of Muggle phrasing. Josh looked at me weirdly.

'She's a blast, isn't she?' said Rick hastily. He took my arm and pulled me closer. 'Ick-snay-on-the-wizardness-ay.'

'What?'

'Stop being so wizardy,' he hissed. 'So,' he then said louder. 'Any ideas, Josh?'

'Well.' Josh did a full circle around me. I watched as he observed every part of me. 'I'll say one thing. She has got a _hot_ body. If I wasn't twisted like a screw, I'd certainly do her. A few blokes have already given her the glad eye.'

Again, naivety of Muggle phrasing. What was getting the "glad eye" and "doing her"? "Twisted like a screw" I assumed was another phrase for being gay. I really needed to brush up on my Muggle-ness.

'I think we best start with _Top Shop_ and _Peaches_. She looks about the right size for them. Right then, let's do this ladies!'

Mental note. Hang out with Rick more when this was over. I had a whole new species of man to learn about.

I followed Rick and Josh up the High Street. They walked hand-in-hand whispering to each other into a smaller street between the shops called Bath Place. At the end of this one I saw a large building just across the road. It was a shopping mall. I have to say I was very worried about what the two of them were planning. After getting stuck momentarily in the revolving doors (Josh found it hilarious) we stopped at a machine for Rick to get some money (weird), and went up to the second level. A little further on and the three of us came to a stop outside a shop called _Top Shop_.

I sort of just stood there as Josh and Rick dove (not literally) into racks of clothes. I'd never really gone shopping with anyone but Lupin before and none of the shops here had clothes like those I got in Diagon Alley. Their idea of Muggle clothing for my age instead of robes were very nice and I was happy with them. Every so often they came up to me, held a piece of clothing on a hanger against me, and either gave it to me to hold or took it back to find something else. After about fifteen minutes of this, I was then pushed by Josh towards the changing rooms.

'Now while you try on those, I'll go find you a good bra,' he said. 'What's your size?'

'What?' I gasped. 'Hey, no way, I didn't agree to –'

'I'd say about a thirty-four –' I jumped when he put both his hands on my breasts. Were all gay guys like this? 'C-cup? Maybe a D.'

'Thirty-two C,' I said begrudgingly. I shut the curtain to the changing room. If I had to do this, I'd prefer to have the right sizes. 'And I'm a size twelve top,' I added, thrusting one of the numerous tops back at Josh, 'not a size ten. That's trousers only.'

Half the stuff Rick and Josh got me to try on simply didn't look right on me no matter how much they insisted I looked "banging" or what I assumed meant great. Some of it was so revealing and with bright red scars on my chest and back, I wasn't too keen on showing off anything. Still, it didn't stop Rick and Josh buying the stuff for me. Flattered as I was I knew for sure I would either not be wearing it at all or not wearing until I had the scars healed. Not that I even needed to worry about that seeing as we ended losing all the clothes we bought.

'Are we done yet?' I asked. We had taken a break and were currently sitting on a metal bench in the mall drinking something Rick called a Slushie. 'I've never spent more than twenty galle— pounds on shopping in my life.'

I kept cursing myself whenever I came close to doing something like that.

'This is a good experience for you then,' said Josh. 'Learning about retail therapy.'

Rick, who was sitting between us, got up and dumped his empty cup in the bin.

'I don't know about you guys but I could kill for some food right about now,' he said. 'Who's up for pizza?'

Though I wasn't entirely sure what pizza was, I agreed for the sake of it. We all got up and dumped our empty drinks and walked over to the door. I was pretty happy to get out of the mall. However, the moment my hand touched the door handle (I wasn't going through the revolving door again), I gasped as images flashed across my eyes.

_The glass windows exploding above us … shouts outside … Snatchers marching up the street … curses being thrown and Muggles being tortured …_

'Get away from the doors,' I said instantly. I turned and faced the other two. 'Get away from the doors,' I repeated. I took hold of each of their arms and pulled them away from the doors. We had to get away from them.

'Faith, what's up?'

'What's going on?'

At that moment I heard a smash come from above us. Rick, Josh and I all turned round and looked up. A car had been flung at the glass windows, obviously with the help of a Levitation Charm, and had smashed through them and was currently about to land on some Muggles running for their lives. Without a second's more thought or care of who'd see me, I opened my bag pocket and drew out my wand.

'_Immobulus!_'

The car halted in mid air scarcely above the Muggles it was going to hit. They all ran for their lives. When the area was clear I released the spell and the car crashed on the ground. Beside me I glanced at Josh and Rick. Rick was still staring at the car while Josh was staring at me. I swallowed. But there was no time to explain as screams suddenly started outside the mall. Rick and I looked at each other then ran outside to see what was happening, Josh following, my wand gripped tightly in my hand. So much for the "no magic outside the house" rule. We stopped dead when we saw what was happening.

Exactly like I'd seen in my premonition a large group of Snatchers were marching up the street. They were pointing their wands at anything and everything. Things were blowing up in the street; explosions happened on both sides of us; people were running away from them in terror, screaming; Rick and Josh stood transfixed beside me. I stared at the Snatchers. They were getting closer.

'Rick, get Josh out of here,' I said quickly. 'Try and help as many Muggles as you can escape.'

'What? What is she talking about?' asked Josh. Now was not the time.

'What about you?' Rick asked over Josh.

'I'll send a message to your Dad and brother. Try and get as many Aurors here to help.'

'Rick, what is she talking about?' asked Josh again. 'What did she do back there?'

'No time to explain,' said Rick. 'Come on.'

Rick grabbed Josh's arm and they ran off to help the Muggles. I remained where I was. The Snatchers were still at the other end of the street, destroying and torturing people. I tried to block out the screams as I concentrated. I closed my eyes and lifted my wand in front of me. I thought of Lupin. I wasn't entirely sure if it would work but it was worth a try.

'_Expecto Patronum_.' A wisp of silver mist came from my wand tip. I stared at it in shock. '_Expecto Patronum!_' Again, only mist. Why wasn't it working? I always got the best results with thoughts of Lupin.

_I can't always protect you …_ _first you need to accept it …_

Mum's words echoed in my head. I was thinking of the wrong thing. Quickly I changed my thoughts and brought up one of Harry. The first time we ever kissed, on the Astronomy Tower platform. The Snatchers were getting closer.

'_Expecto Patronum!_'

The doe Patronus burst from my wand into the sky, charging off. I closed my eyes and thought of the Ministry. I could see London from above through the doe's eyes. It streaked over the city to where the Ministry was.

I could hear the Snatcher's jeers and shouts getting louder. I concentrated harder to find Jaden or his Dad.

The doe entered the Ministry charging through the crowd. People scattered when they saw it, letting it through. It jumped into one of the lifts and flew upwards towards the Auror department.

The laughs were getting louder. I fought to block them out long enough to find Jaden.

The Auror offices came into sight. The doe charged through them. It kept running until it found the room with Jaden's name on it. The doe passed through the door into the office. Jaden was there.

'Snatchers in Bath Pl—' I started to say but I didn't get a chance to finish.

I felt the impact of a nearby curse hit a wall and I was thrown backwards. I landed down hard on the street a few feet back. Sitting up I saw the Snatchers were no less than three shops away. They were destroying everything. Then, to my horror, I saw a little girl trapped between an upturned car and a broken telephone box. Her mother was unconscious on the ground a few feet away from her.

'Mummy! Help me! Mummy!'

I pushed myself up on to my feet. I picked up my wand which had luckily fallen not far from me. I started forwards to help the girl when I noticed something else. There was something leaking from the car.

'Pathetic Muggles!' jeered one of the Snatchers. 'Look at them run! Scared for their pathetic little lives!' I looked across at him. He was pointing his wand right near to where the girl was. '_Incendio!_'

One thought of the girl and I vanished into flame. I reappeared beside her and wrapped my arms around her as the leaked liquid set alight. The wings I'd made once sprouted from my shoulders and wrapped around us. I held the girl closely to protect her; I could feel her shaking with fear, gripping me. The heat of the fire around us was immense but it wasn't burning me. The wings were protecting us. I peered out between the gap of them to see the flames getting larger.

'It's going to be OK,' I told her. She buried her face in my body. 'Don't worry, it'll be OK.'

_The wings protect me_, I thought desperately_. Because of the phoenix, they can withstand flame because they're born from fire._

Hoping I was right, I removed one of my hands from around the girl and pointed my wand through the gap in my wings. I pointed it towards the fire.

'_Aguamenti!_'

A large stream of water issued from the tip of my wand. It extinguished the fire closest to us, leaving me enough room to spread the wings and fly out of it. I drew back my wand and put it in my bag. I then wrapped my arm round the girl's legs and lifted her up.

'Hold on to me,' I told her. She wrapped her arms round my neck, her face buried in my shoulder. 'Keep your eyes closed. Don't be afraid and don't look back.' That was something Lupin had always told me. It had always helped me when I was scared. 'Here we go.'

I spread my wings. The heat of the fire instantly increased. I jumped for the gap in the flames and with one flap I flew up into the sky and out of the flames. The car exploded seconds later. I just managed to get the girl to safety, landing on the ground well away from the fire. I knelt down and put the girl on the ground. She was still gripping on to me. I looked up when I heard a voice coming towards us. I let the wings disappear.

'Cassie! Cassie, are you all right? Cassie!' Cassie's mother ran over to us and fell to the floor beside her daughter. Cassie opened her eyes and when she saw her mum grabbed on to her, holding her tightly. Her mother was in tears of relief, holding her daughter close. 'Cassie, are you all right?'

'Mummy,' breathed Cassie. She looked at me, her head resting on her mum's chest. 'The angel saved me. She's an angel.'

'I know she is, darling. I know. Oh, thank you,' Cassie's mum cried to me. 'Thank you so much. My little girl, Cassie. Thank you.'

'No problem,' I replied. 'You better get out of here, quickly. Take Cassie and go.'

Cassie's mum gripped my hand then ran down the street away from the Snatchers. I watched them to make sure they got away safely before starting after the Snatchers. Until the Aurors got here, I was the only one who could protect the Muggles. I ran up the destroyed street following the destruction. The shouts were getting louder. I turned the corner to find the Snatchers torturing a group of Muggles, hanging them in the air and using the Cruciatus Curse on them. And one of them was Rick!

'Hey!' I shouted at them.

I raised my wand and threw a couple of hexes at them to get their attention. One hit a tree near to them while the other blew up a street sign. I stopped running when one of the Snatchers turned and saw me. I put my wand in my back trouser pocket so I appeared unarmed. He stopped what he was doing and turned to face me. I made sure I was a good distance away them.

'Get your hands off them!' I shouted. 'Leave them alone!'

'Colt, get a load of this!' he shouted to his colleague. Another stopped and looked towards me. 'Check out what we got here. A Muggle standing up to us.'

'I'm going to ask you one last time,' I said loud enough for them. 'Let them go!'

The Snatcher laughed at me. He pulled Rick up by his hair and pointed his wand at his throat. A grin was playing on his face. The other Snatchers had also stopped torturing the Muggles they had caught. Their wands were still on them though.

'You're nothing more than a piece of dirt on my shoe, Muggle,' sneered the one called Colt. 'You're worthless. You have no power against us.'

I didn't reply. I was trying to think of what Lupin had said to me back at Shell Cottage about my shield.

'You see? She's frozen in fear!' laughed the first Snatcher. 'All wand and no curse and they don't even have one of those!'

_You generate that shield when you're scared._

Fear, that was it! Maybe if I could control my fear, I could control the power of the shield.

'Leave them alone!' I shouted again.

'And what are you going to do about it?' jeered Colt. 'Try and punch me?'

'No, this.'

I thrust my hand out in front of me. My shield burst from my hand and the Snatcher was thrown back from Rick, just like Lupin had been. He was thrown against a brick wall with such force that parts of brick were chipped away when he hit it. He crumpled on the ground. I thrust my hand at the other Snatchers and they too were thrown against the same wall. I started forwards to get close enough to put my shield around the others. The Snatchers were slowly getting up. Colt was first to his feet. He glared at me, raising his wand to attack.

'No Muggle could have that power,' he snarled angrily to the man next to him. 'And Madame Lestrange said only one witch makes that shield.'

'Then a little news flash for you,' I said, walking up to stand in front of Rick. He and the other Muggles were slowly starting to get up and recover. As I did so I cancelled the spells on my image and I returned to my normal self. The man's eyes widened. 'You can give a warning to all your little friends. Don't mess with a Black.'

'It's her!' bellowed Colt. 'It's the Black girl! Get her!'

A barrage of hexes and curses came speeding towards me. The Muggles screamed in fear. I focused my magic and threw my hands in front of me. My shield surrounded us, protecting both me and the Muggles. I fought to keep it going as the Snatchers kept up the onslaught of spells. My hands were starting to burn from the pain. The shield began to weaken.

'Get everyone out of here, Rick!' I shouted back to him. 'I can't hold it much longer!'

'What about you?' Rick shouted back.

I didn't reply. I tried to think back to what had happened with Bellatrix. I'd created a fireball. If I could just do it again. I thought desperately back to that moment. I'd been angry at her. If my shield was generated by fear, maybe the fireball was generated by anger. It was the only guess I had. Thinking of Bellatrix, I moved one of my hands and held it flat in front of me. I drew on my anger and a fireball appeared in my hand. I threw it at the Snatchers. They ducked out the way of it.

'Jenna!'

'Go, Rick!'

'Not without you!'

'Just go! I can hold them off! I'll be fine on my own!'

'You're not alone!' shouted another voice. I glanced behind me to see Jaden and a couple others running towards us. He and his friends all had their wands drawn. 'We'll take it from here, Jenna! Take Rick and get out of here! Ready, guys?'

As soon as I dropped the shield, the three voices of Jaden and his friends shout, '_Protego!_' Their shields blocked the Snatchers from getting forwards while Rick and I made our escape with the rest of the Muggles. We followed the crowd and ran away from the fight. When we were far enough away I grabbed Rick's hand and pulled him into a side street, away from the others. We ran to the end of the street and came to a stop by a wall. I was panting like crazy from exhausting my magic. I pointed my wand at myself one last time and reactivated the spells on my appearance. Looking up I saw Rick had gotten injured slightly from the fight.

'Come on,' I breathed. 'We're done here. We need to get to St Mungo's. Ever Apparated before?'

'No,' replied Rick breathlessly. He was bent over double, hands on his knees. 'But they always say try a new thing everyday.'

'Fair enough.'

I took Rick's hand in mine. I thought of St Mungo's and span on the spot. The darkness surrounded us. I gripped tightly on to Rick's hand as we were pulled onwards. My feet hit the floor and a dazzling bright light blinded me when the darkness had gone. I saw I as in the Apparition bay of St Mungo's. I asked Rick which part his mum worked at and we made our way up to Spell Damage. Good job Rick's mum worked there. On the ward I walked up to the main desk and asked for Rachel Maxwell.

'She's not here at the moment,' replied the witch at the desk. 'She's been called to the Hancock ward. May I ask why you need to see her?'

'I'll give you three hints,' I said scathingly. I glared at her. Surely she could see we were both injured. The witch just looked at me. 'I've got her son here. He's been hurt by a curse. I would have thought his mum would like to see him.'

'I'll send a message to her. You may wait in exam room three.'

'Thank you.'

Rick and I went and waited inside Rachel's exam room for her. I paced the room as we waited. I'd blown everything. Jaden was going to lose his job because of me. His whole family would be under investigation now. I let out a frustrated groan and sat down on the bed, my face in my hands and hair falling over it. I felt the bed depress beside me and Rick's arm go round my shoulders.

'Where's Josh? Is he all right?'

'Yeah, he's fine. I told him to run while I helped the others.'

'I'm sorry,' I mumbled through my hands. 'I should never have come to your house. Then you wouldn't have gotten hurt.'

'What are you talking about?' said Rick. I sat up and looked at him. 'It's a few scratches, nothing Mum can't heal. You're the one who's injured.' Rick took my hands and turned them over. I had burns over both of my palms. 'That was some pretty impressive magic. Even Dad wouldn't be able to pull of something like that.'

'I'm the last of a very pure bloodline,' I replied. 'Blacks naturally have strong magic but usually it's Dark magic. And I had a strong Mum who was good and I inherited magic from her. Not a good combination really. Sometimes I wonder if it's good or bad magic I'm doing.'

'You just saved loads of people's lives,' said Rick. 'If that was Dark magic then I don't think you would have done that. You don't have a Dark bone in your body.'

I glanced at Rick through my hair and smiled. I'd been told that once before. I just needed reminding of it.

Rachel was so relieved when she saw me and Rick sitting in the exam room but instead of Healing us there, she took the rest of the day off work and we took a Portkey back to their house. Jaden and his Dad were already there. They were putting up more Protection Spells around the house. I knew I shouldn't have tried to find Jaden but I couldn't have tried one of the Order. That would have been even more dangerous. While they did that, Rachel took Rick and I into the kitchen and set about healing our wounds.

'Here, use this,' I said. I took out my bag the phial of phoenix tears. 'One drop on our wounds will heal them.'

'What is it?' asked Rachel.

'A potion I created while on the run,' I said. 'It heals you right up.'

Rachel healed Rick's wounds first. A single drop of phoenix tears and each of the cuts on Rick's arms repaired themselves. She then started on mine while Rick went to change his ripped clothes.

'Ever thought of being a Healer when you finished school?' she asked. She let a drop fall on my hands then bound them in bandage.

'No, I wanted to be an Auror,' I said. 'But I think that's out the question at this precise moment. I think my Mum had been a Healer though.'

'Well, when you get the chance, come see me at St Mungo's,' said Rachel. She put the stopper back in the phial of tears and handed it to me. 'We could use someone like you. You have natural fighting and healing abilities. Oh, and I'll heal those scars too. Removing scars from the Flagrum Curse takes instruction from a book which doesn't get taught.'

I nodded, then said, 'Could you gather Rick, Jaden and your husband please? I need to talk to you all.'

I waited in the kitchen while Rachel gathered the others. I was thinking through what to say to them about what had happened and most importantly what I was going to do now. The question between staying here and going back had been in the back of my mind since I left. Now I had my answer. I stood up when the four of them came into the kitchen. I indicated them to sit down.

'What's this about?' asked Rick instantly.

'Firstly, I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me,' I said, ignoring Rick's question. 'You are some of the nicest people I've ever met and you, Rick in particular, showed me things I'd never experienced before. But now, after what's happened – now that Jaden, you're going to have to give up your job because you came to help us and now your family's in more danger than ever because the Snatchers know it was me in that street – I think I've overstayed my welcome.'

The four of them looked at each other, then Rick said, 'What are you saying?'

'I'm saying, it's time for me to go home where I'm needed the most,' I explained. 'Back to Hogwarts.'

Rick was the only one who protested but I had made my decision. I couldn't stay here any longer and risk their family's safety. Too many people had suffered because of me, I wasn't going to let any more do so too. After I'd told them I was leaving as soon as night fell, I returned to Jaden's room to collect any stuff that wasn't in my bag. I placed a Locking Spell on the door to make sure Rick couldn't get in to stop me. I waited in there until nightfall when I snuck out of my room having made sure everyone was asleep and downstairs to leave.

'Don't go,' said a voice behind me. I turned round and saw Rick on the stairs. 'You can't leave Jenna.'

'I have to,' I replied. 'I can't stay here.'

'Then at least say goodbye this time,' said Rick. He came down the rest of the stairs and stepped up to me. 'You didn't the first time.'

'But goodbye makes it seem so final.'

'But it's better to say goodbye then maybe never get the chance to.'

I thought about that, then smiled.

'Goodbye, Rick. I'll miss you.'

'You too.' Rick pulled me into a hug. I gripped him tightly then pulled back. 'And same here.'

With goodbyes said, I slipped out of Rick's house and ran down the road, Disapparating once clear of the street light.

* * *

**AN: just want to say i'm not sure when the next chapter will be up seeing as i start school again in five days time and i have a lot to think about for the next chapter. still, i hope you enjoyed this one, sorry for the filler chapters but sometimes they're necessary. well, please leave a review and tell me what you think. and thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. cheers. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**AN2: on the note of Rick being gay. a) i thought it's something that hasn't been adressed in HP, b) it's a surprise, c) it gives Jenna's a different perspective on hiding from things, and d) some of my mates are gay and i think they're as nice as hell so i combined them into the characters of Rick and Josh. it's just a minor thing so don't get too het up on it. if i do a sequel though, Rick might make another appearance, who knows.**


	42. Where You're Supposed to Be

Chapter 41

Where You're Supposed to Be

I reappeared at the foot of a mountain beside a cave. Lighting my wand I climbed up on top of the cave and looked down on to the village of Hogsmeade. The village was silent; no lights were on in the windows, the street illuminated only by lanterns; no movement was visible through the streets. A cold breeze blew around me, ruffling my hair. I jumped off the top of the cave and hid for a moment in its entrance. I pulled out my coat from my bag and put it on, stowing my wand in the pocket. I then left the cave and made my way down to the village.

The nearer I got to the village the colder I felt. I pulled my coat closer around my body, shivering. For a night in May the weather was very cold, colder than normal. I kept walking. I passed the stile where I had once met Dad, a wave of sadness crossing over me, and climbed over the fence. I remained as quiet as possible and walked into the village, hiding in the shadows behind the nearest building. The chill in my bones got worse in an instant and I noticed my breath was slowly condensing in front of me. I was starting to shake and my breathing got raspier. I fought to keep doing so but the chill felt like it was drowning me.

_Keep going_, I told myself. I walked towards the street to look around. I used the building to support myself as my legs seemed to not be able. _Keep going_.

My breathing got harsher and I fell to the ground. A nearby bin was knocked over. A sudden wailing started. I took in deep breaths on my hands and knees but I barely drew in any air. My hair began to shorten and I knew my magic holding the spells had failed. I couldn't support myself and I slumped down on the ground. Lying on my back I looked into the sky and saw the reason for this feeling. Why I didn't realise it before though I didn't know.

Dementors floated above me, circling the street and houses. I saw one look straight at me. The drowning feeling deepened. I could barely breathe by now. It swooped down on me, reaching out its rotten, scabbed hand. Images of the argument with Lupin, of my parents' deaths, every bad memory I'd ever had rose to my thoughts, my last fight with Harry the most prominent. The Dementor took a long, slow, rattling breath and I felt it try to tear away my soul. I couldn't raise a Patronus even if I wanted to because I'd realised too late what had lurked in the darkness.

I fought to hold on. The darkness was getting deeper. A bright light suddenly raced over me and the Dementor was thrown back. A Patronus. Before I saw what it was, I collapsed.

I don't know how much time had passed since I collapsed. All I knew was that it was day when I woke. My eyes were heavy but I forced them open, a blurry room coming into view. I sat up and ran my hands over my face, remembering the Dementors from the previous night. I could still feel the chill in my bones from them. I got up from the bed and saw my bag on the side. Picking it up, I clipped it round my waist then grabbed my coat and headed for the door. The sooner I was out of here the better. I had to get to Hogwarts.

I crept along the landing and towards the stairs. The floorboards creaked as I moved. A clock on the wall told me it was two o'clock. At the foot of the stairs I hid behind the wall separating the stairs from the next room. There was an odd stench of goats about the place. Looking round the corner I saw a bar. I was in a pub, The Hog's Head by the looks of it. It was dank and there was straw strewn around the floor. There was no one there at that moment. Now was the best time to leave. I crept away from my hiding place towards the door.

'And where do you think you're going?'

I froze as a voice spoke to me. I looked over my shoulder to see an old man standing in a doorway, hands on his hips, looking at my with an unimpressed look. He was tall and had long, stringy, wire-grey hair and a beard. He stayed silent as he observed me. He looked strangely familiar to me, like I'd seen him before. I knew I had, I'd been in the Hog's Head before but it was a different kind of familiar. The barman glared at me before stomping towards the bar. He pulled out a dusty bottle from behind it, then a glass which he started to clean.

'If it isn't that you turn up unexpectedly last night and almost get your soul ripped right out of your body, you now have the audacity to just get up and leave. You young witches today have no respect for your elders. I don't know why he ever wanted to teach you ungrateful lot.'

'Trust me, I have no more desire to be here than you do to have me here,' I replied. I walked over to the window and looked out of it. There were barely any people about on the street and virtually all of the shops had closed down. 'What happened here? It's like a ghost town.'

'The Death Eaters took over,' grunted the barman. 'They closed down any of the shops that weren't useful to the Dark Lord and opened new ones that you'd find in Knockturn Alley.'

'And the Dementors?'

'They keep watch at night to make sure no one breaks curfew. A Caterwauling Charm is set off whenever someone steps out of their house past curfew. If they do, the Dementors are allowed to take their souls for breaking the law.'

I shivered. That sounded horrible. Things were worse than I thought.

'I need to get to Hogwarts,' I said next. 'I have to get there as soon as possible.'

I headed for the door but again the barman stopped me.

'If you take one step out of that door, the Death Eaters will have you,' he growled, standing in front of me.

'You can't stop me,' I replied stubbornly.

'Those Dementors were seconds away from tearing out your soul,' growled the barman. 'Your magic's been weakened. You wouldn't stand a chance against any of them Death Eaters and you can't change your appearance to hide either. There are Unmasking Spells on the village as well.'

'I have to get to Hogwarts,' I said firmly. 'They need my help!'

'You'll be no help to anyone if you end up dead, Black!'

I stopped and looked at him strangely.

'How d'you know my name?' I asked cautiously. 'Who are you?'

'I know more about you than you think, not to mention you've been all over the _Prophet_,' growled the barman. He stomped back over to the bar and handed me the bottle he'd taken out earlier. I took it but didn't drink. 'If I had a Galleon for every time I heard about Black and Potter getting into trouble up at the school I'd be rich, not running some rundown pub for Death Eaters. Basilisks, Dementors and escaped convicts, the Ministry. I thought he had more control over you lot.'

My eyes narrowed when he said that and I observed him closely.

'Who are you?' I demanded. I was getting slightly annoyed that he was keeping me here. 'Why are you keeping here?'

The barman gave me a dark look. His blue eyes flashed in the dim light. I started slightly when I noticed them. I knew who he was.

'You're Professor Dumbledore's brother,' I said. 'Aberforth Dumbledore. I saw you at his funeral. It was your Patronus that helped me last night, wasn't it? But why save me from the Dementors when you seem angry that I'm here?'

'If Albus spoke highly of any of his students, you were one of them,' said Aberforth. 'Never seen a witch as talented as you. Before you even started Hogwarts, he knew you'd be a powerful one.'

'What d'you mean before I started Hogwarts?' I asked. 'No one even knew if I was alive after my Dad was arrested. If they did, those ten years I spent in the orphanage were for nothing.'

'Albus always knew more than he let on.'

Aberforth stopped speaking as a noise sounded outside. We both looked over at the window. A couple of hooded figures walked past it. I ducked down behind a table until they had passed.

'It's not safe to talk down here,' muttered Aberforth. 'Quickly, upstairs. The Death Eaters won't overhear us up there.'

Aberforth walked out from behind the bar and up the staircase. I quickly followed. He led me to a room at the end of the corridor and ushered me inside, closing and locking it afterwards. I took a seat on the far side of the room. Aberforth sat down in another closer to a fireplace. There was only two things on the mantelpiece; a picture of a young girl and a small wooden square beside it. Aberforth pointed his wand at it and a small fire began in its grate.

'Always needing fires these days,' he muttered. Aberforth then turned to me. 'Like I said, Albus always knew more than he let on. One of his characteristics. He'd known for sometime that Sirius Black's daughter had not died the night the Potters were killed. Magic could be detected in an area of Surrey and I don't mean where Potter was. It was you whenever you unintentionally transformed into an animal. So, Albus requested a favour of me. I assume I need not tell you what that was.'

I thought for a moment of what that favour could have been. I don't remember ever seeing Aberforth in Surrey before. Unless …

'You gave me that book those years ago,' I said slowly. I looked up at Aberforth. 'You were the man in that weird library. But he didn't look like you,' I added, confused. 'It looked like a younger version of Professor Dumbledore.'

'Took Polyjuice Potion and a Youth Potion,' said Aberforth.

'But why did you want me to have that book?'

'Albus wanted me to guide you to your gift,' grunted Aberforth. 'You're a smart girl. Albus figured if he pointed you in the right direction to your Animagus skills, you'd work out that your family was not of Muggle origins. He just didn't bank on your Matron confiscating that book. You were a troublemaker before you'd even learnt to write.'

I glared at Aberforth.

'I didn't get into trouble, trouble usually found me.'

Aberforth waved his hand irritably at me, brushing aside my comment so he could continue.

'Once sure it was Black's daughter living in that orphanage, Albus arranged it so that your uncle could find you,' he continued. 'He persuaded Lupin to send some photos via owl to Jenna Black, his niece. Lupin had been sceptical after ten years of searching for her but Albus showed him the list of names for Hogwarts that coming year. Your name was still on it, implying you were alive. When no reply to your Hogwarts letter came, Albus decided that he had to go to the orphanage, with your uncle, to get you.'

Aberforth reached up to the fireplace and took a pipe from it. He poked the end with his wand and it lit. Puffs of purple smoke began to issue from it.

In the silence, I took the chance to say, 'You still haven't answered my question. Why did you save me from the Dementors last night?'

'So I could tell you to get as far away from here as possible,' said Aberforth.

'What?' I stood up from my seat, shocked. 'You're telling me to leave? Do you know what's been going on up at that school?' I asked incredulously. 'Some of my best friends are still there! They need my help!'

'If anyone needs your help,' growled Aberforth, 'it's Potter, not some school kids. They can take care of themselves. They have so far.'

'Harry can look after himself,' I replied angrily. He didn't need me. He'd managed without me before, he could do it again. 'You don't understand! I have to help my friends! I have to get into Hogwarts!'

'And how do you suggest you do that?' Aberforth looked down his nose at me, his blue eyes as piercing as Professor Dumbledore's had always been. 'You can't just go waltzing up to the front gates and expect to be welcomed with open arms! The only thing that's waiting for you in that school is an arrest and a one way ticket to Azkaban!'

'I can't just do nothing! There must be a way to get inside the school! There are several passages to and from it! If you know a way in –'

'All of them are now guarded at both ends!' shouted Aberforth. 'The Dementors guard the boundary walls and there are regular patrols inside the school as well. It's impossible to get into. It has both Albus and Snape's protection on it and the Carrows are always on watch. No matter how you try to get in, your magical signature will be traced and you will get caught.

'You have to listen to me, Black,' he continued, calmer. 'Get back to Potter to help him before it's too late. There is nothing you can do here and you dying is not an option. Leave now and go back to where you're supposed to be.'

I stood silently glaring back at Aberforth. He may be Professor Dumbledore's brother but he didn't have the same powerful nature that he did. I did not wilt under his gaze and remained where I was. I was determined to get into that school.

'I am where I'm supposed to be,' I replied. 'I know in my heart I'm meant to be here, to help the other students. Who else can protect them? I know Neville has been rebelling against the Carrows but he will only take them so far. He needs my help more than Harry does. So I'll ask you one more time: if you know a way to get into Hogwarts undetected, then tell me otherwise I will walk out that door and fight my way in, regardless of my magic being weakened. It's your call.'

Aberforth stared at me resolutely. He didn't seem to be willing to change his mind. However, neither was I. I looked back determined. I had to get into Hogwarts. Eventually, he gave in and sighed.

'You're as stubborn as that father of yours was,' growled Aberforth.

'A special trait of mine,' I replied, smiling slightly.

'There's only one way into Hogwarts without being detected,' continued Aberforth, ignoring my comment. 'There's a passage that links the Hog's Head pub and that Room of Requirement you used as your hideout for that secret organisation. Neville told me.'

'You've spoken to him?' I asked. A sense of relief spread through me.

'Course I've spoken to him. How d'you think we snuck the Weasley girl out after what happened to Lovegood's daughter?' Aberforth walked over to the mantelpiece and looked at the picture on it. 'The only way to and from here and Hogwarts is through this portrait,' he said. 'But you can't get into Hogwarts straight away. Neville isn't coming down here for supplies for a couple of days. He comes every Wednesday and Saturday to collect food and drink but rarely any other time. You'll just have to lie low here for the time being.'

'I can't wait that long,' I replied. 'I have to get into Hogwarts now. The Dementors know I'm here somewhere and they'll have let the Death Eaters know. They'll be looking for me and I can't hide as an animal because they'll know it's me. Everyone knows I'm an Animagus. I can't hide here.'

Aberforth let out a frustrated growl.

'Then I'll get one of the Order to come and hide you,' he said. 'Some of them are in hiding too. Kingsley or Lupin could –'

'No!' I burst suddenly. The thought of seeing Lupin sent chills down my spine. Aberforth looked at me strangely. 'That'll be too dangerous,' I said to cover the true reason. 'If they took one step into Hogsmeade they'll be caught too. They're our strongest fighters, we need them. Don't call them. Just let me into Hogwarts through the portrait. I'll explain everything to Neville when I get there.'

Aberforth let out another frustrated growl at me then turned to the portrait.

'You know what to do,' he said to it.

The girl in the portrait smiled. She turned in her frame and, instead of walking out the sides, walked towards the back of it. I stared at it. There seemed to be a tunnel of some sort painted behind her. Her figure got smaller and smaller until it disappeared into the darkness.

'How can she do that?' I asked.

Aberforth didn't reply. He was still looking at the portrait. A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel and the girl was coming back to the frame. When she was back in the frame, she smiled again.

'It's open, brother,' she said.

'Thank you, Ariana,' said Aberforth gently. Ariana? Professor Dumbledore's sister. I glanced at Aberforth to see him smiling back at her. He then turned to me. 'You wanted a way in; here you are.'

I jumped as the portrait swung open and a real tunnel was revealed large enough for me to climb into. I stared at it, then at Aberforth. He nodded. I stood up and clipped my belt bag around my waist and walked over to it. I put my hands on the mantelpiece and pushed myself on to it and in through the entrance. I swung my legs into it and my feet touched a stone step on the other side. I glanced back at Aberforth, who nodded again, then closed the portrait behind me. I stood straight and several brass lamps lit themselves, illuminating the passage. The tunnel was long and dim; the walls were earthy and smooth and the floor was worn.

_Well, if this is the only way in_, I thought, _I better get moving. This might take me a while_.

Lighting my wand for some extra light, I started along the tunnel.

It seemed to take forever to walk along the tunnel. It was impossible to tell how long it was. Every so often the tunnel would turn a corner slightly or begin to rise or fall but it remained flat for most of the walk. My shadow rippled across the wall as I moved. My feet echoed dimly in the silence. It was quite eerie actually. Over what must have been an hour later, the path finally began to rise steeply and I knew I was coming to the end of the passage. I turned a corner and there was another flight of steps upwards. There was a door at the top of them. I pocketed my wand and ran the last few yards.

-o-

'Ssh!' hissed Neville quickly. He turned and looked at the door to the passageway. He cautiously approached it and put his ear to the wall. He could hear footsteps, fast footsteps, approaching. No one was supposed to be coming tonight. 'Someone's coming!' hissed Neville, stepping back. 'Wands out!'

Everyone in the Room drew out their wands. Michael, Terry, Ernie, Seamus and Neville moved around the entrance. They pointed their wands at the door, ready to hex anyone who came through it. The footsteps stopped and the door began to open. However, the person who came through it though was not who they'd expected.

-o-

I came to a stop at the top of the steps. I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open. A bright light started in the opening to reveal several wands all pointing at me. I jumped slightly at the sight, not that I wasn't entirely surprised.

'Not quite the welcome I was expecting,' I said, looking at Neville, Seamus and the others. They stared back at me in shock. Neville was the first to shake it off.

'JENNA!' he burst. He ran at me and grabbed me in a tight hug. He let go again and turned to the others. 'Hey, everyone! It's Jenna! She's back!'

The twenty or so people gathered in the room all suddenly erupted in cheers. They all came at me and began hugging and welcoming me. I could just make out some of the group. Besides Seamus and Neville, Michael, Antony, Terry and Padma, Ernie, Hannah, Susan and Justin, Lavender and Parvati were all here. It was such a relief to see them all. There were also several other people gathered, some I knew, others I didn't. They were all bombarding me with questions.

'Where have you been?'

'I thought you'd got captured back during the summer?'

'Where's Harry?'

'What have you been doing?'

'Guys, give her a break!' said Neville loudly, standing beside me. 'Jenna's been through a lot. Someone get her a drink!'

Lavender and Parvati disappeared while the crowd dispersed, revealing a small room. A few multicoloured hammocks hung from the ceiling and banners displaying three of the House symbols hung on the wall: the Gryffindor lion, emblazoned on scarlet, the black Hufflepuff badger on its yellow background, and the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw on blue. There was a bookcase and a small sitting area with a sofa and some cushions on one side, a table in the corner with a wooden wireless on top. Neville led me over to it and sat me down on the sofa. The crowd followed.

'How long have you been here?' was the first thing I asked.

'Not long, only a few days or so,' replied Neville, sitting next to me. It was then I saw he looked a little beaten up. He handed me a bottle of Butterbeer Parvati had brought back from a store in the corner. 'I came back here a couple days ago when the Carrows were chasing me because I wouldn't punish a first year.'

'What?' I gasped.

'Yeah, us seventh years as part of our Muggle Studies lessons have to punish the younger students,' explained Neville. 'Use the Cruciatus Curse on them.'

'That's horrible,' I said. 'What else has been going on here?'

'Well, I think all of us show it,' laughed Neville. I glanced around at them. Sure enough, like Neville, they all had minor cuts and injuries. 'It's the Carrows.'

'I thought they were only teaching here.'

'Nope, they're in charge of punishments as well.' I stared shocked at Neville. 'The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to them if we do anything against the rules. They try to avoid it though. They hate them as much as we do. That's how we've all got a bit cut up.'

'What else has changed?' I asked.

'Amycus, the bloke, teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts except it's now just the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies is compulsory for everyone. Alecto teaches that. Both of the subjects are horrible. We have to learn the Unforgivables in Dark Arts and Muggle Studies is basically Alecto telling us how much Muggles are scum. First time people like Crabbe and Goyle have been top of the class.'

'It's impossible to learn anything in those lessons,' said Seamus. 'Anyone who refuses to curse someone else or says a good thing about Muggles in essays automatically gets detention.'

'What about the teachers?' I asked. 'McGonagall wouldn't stand for it. She must be doing something about it. Even Snape was never harsh enough to curse us for detention.'

'McGonagall's powerless,' said Lavender.

'She's been stripped of being Deputy Head of the school,' said Parvati. 'That's Amycus and Alecto now.'

'The only thing McGonagall can do is try and avoid putting us in detention,' said Neville. 'Her, Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn are trying to protect the students in their Houses by not giving us detentions. They can only protect us so far in their lessons but once we're in Muggle Studies or Dark Arts, they have no chance. They can't stand up against them, not with Snape on their side. He just turns a blind eye to it. It's taking a real toll on the second and third years; the first years don't stand a chance; and the fourth year up are only just able to withstand their punishments.'

My feelings of shock and disgust deepened the more Neville and the others told me. Hogwarts had been turned into a prison. Some of Umbridge's old School Decrees had been reinforced not to mention half a dozen more been introduced. I sat there listening to them wondering how on earth they'd managed to cope for so long.

'Because we set up the DA again,' explained Neville. 'Ginny, Luna and me, we restarted it within a week of school starting when we saw what we were being taught. We were sort of the leaders because Harry and you guys weren't here.'

'But how could you have been able to operate?' I asked. 'It sounds like if you so much as breathed at the wrong moment here, you'd get a detention.'

'With these,' said Neville. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a large Galleon. The DA coins. 'They've been a great help. We would have made more but we didn't know how to do it. The Carrows couldn't work out how we communicated with each other. It drove them mad.

'We used to sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: _Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting_, and stuff like that. The Carrows seemed to know I was behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me hard, and then Michael went and got caught releasing a first year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off. We couldn't let anyone else go through what Michael did. It's too dangerous.'

I sat in silence and thought for a moment. Neville had been doing such a good job on his own, I was really proud of him. But now they needed that extra boost and I was the one to give it to them.

'Then it's a good job I'm here,' I muttered. Everyone stared at me. 'You can't risk anyone else getting hurt. Then risk me.' The whole group burst into objections. Neville looked shocked at my suggestion. 'Hear me out,' I said, quietening them. 'Whatever the Carrows can dish out to me will be nothing compared to what I've been through in the last year. I can assure you, Bellatrix's torture would be ten times worse than those two. I can stand it.'

'You've been through enough,' said Neville. 'Being on the run can't be good.'

'No, it isn't,' I said plainly. 'But neither is letting those two Death Eaters torture little kids. It sounds like you've been doing a great job to protect them alongside the teachers but if what happened to Michael has scared them, then they need someone to restore their faith. I can do that. I'm not afraid of being tortured. I can help you if you'll let me. I will help you stand up against those Death Eaters and give the younger students back their hope.'

'It's not hope we need,' sneered a voice. I looked up to see Zacharias Smith standing, arms folded and a glare on his face, staring at me. 'It's Potter we need and where's he? On the run like a coward.'

'He's not a coward,' said Neville, glaring back at Smith. 'I've told you once, Smith, if you can't keep your opinions of Harry to yourself, then you can get out and face the Carrows on your own.'

'Then why isn't he here to help us, Black?' Smith asked me.

'Because he has more important things to do,' I replied, standing up.

'Like what?'

'Like defeating You-Know-Who maybe?' I said sarcastically. 'I don't see you risking your neck to fight him.'

'Just like we don't see Potter doing so,' countered Smith.

I glared at Smith, then said, 'I'm not here to answer your questions about Harry. I'm here to help you and if you think you can manage on your own, be my guest.' I shrugged indifferently. 'Makes no difference to me. But let me tell you something. Outside these four walls is a world much worse than what you've dealt with because of the Carrows. I've seen it. I've experienced it and it's not nice.'

Everyone was watching me. I swallowed slightly from nerves. I wasn't that good at making these sort of speeches. I looked round them all as I spoke.

'In our fifth year, Umbridge told us when would we ever be attacked?' I told them. 'We were in school. Who was going to attack us? There was no danger here. Well, she was wrong. This is the real world and there _is_ danger here. Danger for everyone, not just Muggle-borns and half-bloods but families, friends, everyone. And who's going to protect them? Not Harry, he's got enough on his shoulders; not the younger students, they can barely fight properly; not the adults, half are too scared to do so. So that leaves us. The older students and the teachers. And the first step is to protect the younger students and show them all is not lost.

'So the question is,' I finished, 'who's with me? Who out of you lot, the DA, _Dumbledore's Army_, is going to help me? Because if the war ever comes here, we're the only ones who can try and stop it. We're the ones of age, we're the ones with experience.' I looked round them all one last time. 'Who's with me?'

Silence. Then a single voice said, 'I am.' I glanced behind me to see Neville stand up. He walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him. 'Anyone else?' he asked, looking at the rest. One by one, the rest of the group either nodded or said or cheered their loyalty to the DA. They were all willing to fight.

'Who are we?' shouted Neville.

'The DA!' chorused the rest.

'Who will fight?'

'We will!'

Everyone started cheering. It felt great to see everyone like this. Beside me, Neville grinned. I grinned back, glad to see such spirit still left.

After dinner that night, Neville and I met with Seamus in the Room of Requirement. Those two had been sleeping in there for the last couple of days as, after Luna and Ginny had left, had been the forerunners in most of the underground work so had to lay low for a while. We had to work out the fine details of how I was going to help them. Neville had showed me an article on a notice board in the Room that had been written after I'd escaped from the Malfoys a few weeks ago. It said if I was found, I was to be arrested and sent straight to Azkaban to receive the Dementor's Kiss on Bellatrix's orders. If I was found in Hogwarts, that's exactly where I'd be sent. But firstly, I had a more important issue.

'We need to get the others here,' I said. 'You said you were using the coins again, right?' Neville and Seamus nodded. 'Send a message to them and tell them we need their help. If we can get Luna, Dean and Ginny here, then that's some more strong fighters.'

'Ginny won't be allowed,' said Neville. I glanced at him to see a glare on his face, staring ahead. 'We got her out of here because of the Death Eaters going after her and her family because of Ron. It's too risky to get her.'

'What about Luna and Dean then?' asked Seamus. 'Wait, we don't know where they are? Dean's on the run and Luna got captured.'

'We do,' I said. 'They were with me a few weeks ago, near to when that article got written. I know where they are.'

'Where?' asked Neville.

'It doesn't matter where,' I said, brushing it off. 'Just send them a message.'

Neville put his hand in his pocket and took out the Galleon. He tapped his wand on it and it began to glow.

'What d'you want the message to say?' he asked me.

I thought for a moment. I didn't want Harry to know I was here if he was still at Shell Cottage.

'Dean's good at anagrams and Muggle things like that, right?' I asked.

'Yeah, he loved Muggle cryptic crosswords and stuff,' said Seamus. 'Never got them meself.'

'Make it say, "Tell don't. Come Hogwarts help. Needs back." He should get that.'

Neville looked at me strangely, then said to the coin what I'd just said. Numbers around the coin began to form, each representing one letter of the alphabet like it used to do, with a slash between words. It glowed hot then stopped. The message had been sent. We then waited for a reply to our message.

_8 15 23/4 15/23 5/7 5 20/9 14_ was the reply we got. "How do we get in" was the translation. Good old Dean. He always got cryptic clues. We sent a message back telling them to Apparate to the Hog's Head when they could. With that done, we set about planning how I could help.

'The moment someone recognises you in school, you'll be sent to Azkaban,' said Seamus. 'Bellatrix has certainly got it in for you.'

'She wants to eliminate me,' I said, smirking. 'She killed my Dad, why not kill his daughter too? She's certainly used me as a cursing post.' I subconsciously rubbed my chest. 'Still, who wouldn't want to kill the witch whose escaped you three times and survived each time when it looked like they were dead?' Seamus and Neville looked at me bemused. 'Never mind.

'So,' I continued, 'how am I going to get round the school without being noticed?'

'Um, you're an Animagus,' said Seamus.

'No,' replied Neville. 'Any animal out of place or unregistered within the school would be suspected to be her. Everyone knows she's Animagus.' He was silent for a moment, then said, 'What about invisibility?'

'Only temporary,' I said. 'Invisibility Charms wear off quite quickly and a Thestral's invisibility might mean those who can see Thestrals will see me. I never tried to see if they would see me. Besides I would only be able to use that when sneaking to the kitchens or something.'

'Then what can we do?' asked Seamus. 'It's not like we can change your appearance so your someone completely different. Only really talented wizards can do that.'

My eyes widened as I came up with the solution.

'Seamus, you genius!' I cried. 'Who's the one witch we know who can change anything?'

Neville was the first to catch on, saying, 'McGonagall!'

'Exactly.'

It was approaching eight o'clock when we left the Room of Requirement to go find Professor McGonagall in her office. We left the Room through a cupboard which apparently created a passage out of the Room in a different place each day so that it could never be found. We ended up somewhere on the fifth floor near the prefect's bathroom. That didn't really help us seeing as McGonagall's office was on the first floor. We had to be careful to sneak down as Filch would be on the prowl by now and most of the students would be in their dormitories. We carefully made our way to the changing staircase, the quickest way down. The only problem was that was where all our cover was lost.

'What's the quickest way down?' I asked Neville.

'It would be to go straight down, I guess,' he replied. He glanced over the banister. 'But a) we have no brooms, and b) I'm not a good flyer anyway.'

'Then there's only one way,' I said. I took out my wand and pointed it at the stairs. Neville and Seamus looked at me warily. 'Whatever you do, don't scream. _Glisseo!_'

The stairs beneath us instantly changed to a slick stone slide. The three of us instantly fell down and began to slide down from the fifth floor, gaining speed every second. We were all trying our best not to scream and were clutching on to each other, Neville gripping Seamus' shoulders and Seamus holding on to my jacket. There was only one thing I hadn't considered though: the corners. When we reached the first I had to do some quick thinking and cast a Cushioning Charm in order to bounce off them and continue down. When we reached the first floor level (it wasn't easy to count how many floors we'd gone down at the speed we were going) I said, '_Finite Incantatem!_' and the stairs reappeared. Not a good idea and the three of us landed in a heap on the first floor corner platform, sore from the last couple of steps we went down.

'Next time, Jenna,' said Neville, standing up with his hand on his back, 'let's just walk, yeah?'

Sore and limping slightly, Neville, Seamus and I made our way down the Transfiguration corridor. At the end was the door to McGonagall's office. Seamus knocked on the door. McGonagall's voice sounded from behind the door and said we could come in. Seamus pushed open the door. Professor McGonagall, who was at her desk, look up as we entered. I followed behind them.

'Mr Finnigan, Mr Longbottom, how can I help you?' she asked. I turned round from closing the door and Professor McGonagall's eyes fell on me. Her mouth dropped open and she put her hand on her chest. I'd never seen her lost for words. 'Bless my soul,' she breathed. 'Miss Black, w-what are you doing here?'

'I came back,' I replied.

'But – but how?' asked Professor McGonagall. 'There have been so many reports of your death in the _Prophet_, of you being captured. How is it possible?'

'I got away,' I said casually. 'Takes more than Death Eaters and Snatchers to kill me.'

'Evidently so,' said Professor McGonagall. She got up from her desk and walked over to the door. She tapped the handle with her wand and locked it. Waving it again, three sits slid up behind Neville, Seamus and I and we were pushed into them in front of her desk. Professor McGonagall took her seat behind it again and looked between us. 'But what about Potter? Where is he? Is he all right?'

'Harry's fine, Professor,' I said, consoling her. She let out a relieved breath. 'Bit wounded but all of us were after what we've been through.'

'And what exactly, may I ask, is that?' asked Professor McGonagall in her normal brisk tone.

'I can't say, Professor. It could jeopardise everything we've done.'

'Very well.' Professor McGonagall sat herself up straight in her chair and repositioned her square glasses on her nose. She looked through them at me with her piercing eyes. I hadn't missed that. 'Now, not wishing to seem rude, may I ask why you are here, Miss Black, yet the others are not? Has something happened?'

'No, nothing,' I replied, lying. 'I just felt my help was needed somewhere else. Harry's still got Ron and Hermione with him. He'll be fine without me. I just thought Neville would need me more.'

'That's very noble of you, Miss Black, but do you realise what danger you're putting yourself in?' McGonagall looked at me seriously. 'I am sure Mr Longbottom and Mr Finnigan have told you what's been in the _Prophet_.' I nodded. 'Then again,' she continued, 'you've probably been through worse all ready. I heard Bellatrix Lestrange captured you at the wedding reception of Mr Weasley and Miss Delacour.'

'You heard correct, Professor.'

Professor McGonagall continued to observe me silently for a few more minutes. It felt strange to be under her stern gaze again and I couldn't help but look away like I used to. I felt like I was about to be punished again.

'Well, I'm not going to deny that your help would be appreciated,' said Professor McGonagall finally, 'but, as you know, the moment someone recognises you, you will be arrested.'

'Well, that's why we came to you, Professor,' said Seamus.

Professor McGonagall looked visibly surprised.

'We want you –' Professor McGonagall looked at Neville sharply, causing him to squeak slightly, '– would like you to create a disguise for her so she won't be recognised by anyone. Completely change her.'

'And you believe that will hide her?' she asked. 'You are aware of magical signatures, Mr Longbottom? Professor Flitwick has been teaching you about them.'

'Yes, Professor, but if anyone can hide her, it's you. Professor Flitwick too, if he can.'

Professor McGonagall still didn't seem convinced.

'Please, Professor, at least try,' I said. 'I can't hide out in the Room of Requirement after all I've been through to get here. I was almost killed by Dementors last night. I didn't come here for nothing.'

After a few minutes, McGonagall conceded and said, 'Very well, Miss Black. I will send a message to Professor Flitwick and we'll try and come up with a disguise for you but will still allow us, i.e. the staff and your classmates, know it's you. I don't know how we'll get this past the Headmaster but we'll think of something. I do have some authority within the school.'

Professor McGonagall sent a sealed message to Professor Flitwick straight away and we waited in her office for him to arrive. When he did, he too was overcome with shock to see me standing there, almost knocking his hat off and tripping on the carpet. Then over the next hour or so the pair of them worked to create a disguise for me. While Professor McGonagall came up with a look for me, Professor Flitwick worked on a charm to allow the look to be a veil over my real appearance. Basically, it meant that anyone who saw me would see my disguise unless it was someone I allowed to see me normally. Once the charm was cast on me, McGonagall put the new look on me.

'Now,' she said, conjuring a mirror, 'let's see if it works.'

I turned and faced the mirror. It wasn't my reflection looking back. Instead, I was looking at a girl with short, wavy light brown hair just down to my shoulders with grey eyes and slightly tanned skin. My nose had been turned up a bit at the end while my lips had been made thinner and my eyebrows lightened to match my hair. As for my body, I had a slightly larger waist and chest and I had shrunk in height. When I looked down myself though, I was exactly the same as normal.

'It works,' I told them. 'You can see me as me, right?'

'Indeed,' squeaked Professor Flitwick happily. 'Now, I've made the Charm work so that only myself, Professors McGonagall, Sprout and Slughorn, and the people who Mr Longbottom has informed me of being part of this "DA" to be able to see your normal self along with your fellow House mates. No one though will be able to say your real name in the hearing of people who aren't aware of who you are. However, the Charm will break the moment you change into an animal. I wasn't able to overcome that hurdle.'

'That'll be fine, Professor,' I said. 'I'm not likely to be transforming into one of those.'

'Very well,' said Professor McGonagall. 'Now, if you'd all like to return to your dormitories, then I will get started on the paperwork for this new student of ours. Filius,' she turned to Professor Flitwick which Neville, Seamus and I took as a signal to leave.

'D'you think the disguise will hold up?' asked Seamus on our way back to the Tower. It was going to be good to be back in my old bed in the Gryffindor Tower again. 'I mean, d'you think it'll fool the Slytherins.'

'We'll find out tomorrow, won't we?' I replied. 'Professor McGonagall said she was going to "enrol" me as a new Gryffindor student called Kayla Lewis and sort out all the paperwork tonight. I'll probably have to go see Snape in the morning about it. Merlin knows what I'm going to do for a timetable.'

'You'll probably have the same timetable as last year,' said Neville. 'You did Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology, right? Well, DADA is now Dark Arts and you'll have Muggle Studies too. It won't be too bad. You're bloody amazing at magic so …'

'Fun. A whole year without lessons and now I've got to play catch up.'

The three of us laughed. We turned into the corridor of the Fat Lady's portrait and Neville said the password, once Seamus had explained I was a new student who'd just arrived. She bought it and we were allowed inside. The sight of the Gryffindor common room was one for sore eyes. The warm atmosphere instantly enveloped me and I let out a contented sigh. When everyone saw me though, I got a reaction which made me feel so glad to be back. All those who knew me (everyone except the new first years and some of the seconds and thirds) ran over to me to say hello and welcome me back. I was finally home.

Well, for one night at least …

Sure enough the next day I had to go with Professor McGonagall straight after breakfast to see Professor Snape. After I'd had breakfast, she came over to where I sat with Neville, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati. With a silent exchange between us, I left with McGonagall and she walked me to Snape's office.

'Now remember,' she told me on the way, 'your name is Kayla Lewis and you used to be home-schooled by your mother but she decided it was best for you to do your NEWTs here. And I've said that you are Slughorn's great-niece to imply your at least half blood. Professor Snape shouldn't question that. Or at least, I hope he doesn't.'

We came to a stop at the stone gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office. Professor McGonagall said the password and it began to rise up the tower, revealing a spiral staircase. We stepped on to it and were taken upwards to the next level. A knock on the door and I heard Snape's voice for the first time in ages. It sent chills down my spine.

'Come in,' he said, his voice as deep and slow as always.

I glanced at Professor McGonagall. She nodded so I put my hand on the handle and pushed open the door. Snape was sitting at Professor Dumbledore's old desk, his black eyes watching me as I entered with McGonagall behind me. The room looked exactly the same since the last time I'd been here in the fifth year; all Dumbledore's old metal objects were whirring and spinning as usual and the portraits of the old Heads were still on the walls. However, there was one I didn't remember. There, above the desk in the centre of the room, was a new portrait: Professor Dumbledore. I saw he too was watching as I walked in, his blue eyes twinkling through his half-mooned spectacles as always.

'Minerva, what is the meaning of this?' asked Snape briskly. He flicked his wand at the door. It closed. 'It is very late in the year to be accepting a new student.' His black eyes turned on me again. I looked away, thinking he'd recognise me. 'Particularly one of her age.'

'As I explained to you at breakfast, Headmaster,' responded Professor McGonagall. I noted the slight edge in her voice on the word "headmaster". 'Her mother wrote to Horace requesting that he see if his great-niece could take her NEWT exams with the school and study here for the last few weeks leading up to them. I can assure you, Kayla is very advanced for her age. Her mother has taught her well.'

'May I see a demonstration of this magic?' asked Snape smoothly. I glanced cautiously up at him. He was still watching me closely. 'If she is so gifted, I'd like proof in order to show she belongs in the seventh year and not the first.'

I looked at Professor McGonagall. She nodded.

'What spell would you like to see, Professor?' I asked.

'I'd like to see you perform, that is, if you can, the NEWT level Elemental Charm to produce rain.'

OK, now I was in a bit of trouble. I thought back to last year. I was pretty sure Professor Flitwick had mentioned Elemental Charms before in class. Ron had accidentally made it snow once so we had covered them even if we hadn't properly done them. _Think, Jenna, think!_ I told myself. I knew what the Charm was, I just couldn't remember it.

'Could I have a definition of the charm, Professor?' I asked.

Snape eyed me closely. I kept my face neutral though I could feel a nervous flush in my cheeks. I rarely ever needed a spell definition.

'This Charm allows the caster to produce a cloud of varying size depending on the magic put into the Charm. It is useful when needing to water plants with natural waters and provides a coolant when in hot and dry areas such as a desert. The Egyptian wizards particularly favour this Charm.'

'Thank you, Professor.' I thought again for a few more seconds on what the possible incantation could be. It was somewhere in my memory … I bit my lip trying to think of it. When I came up with an answer, I drew out my wand. I noticed Snape's eyes narrow when he saw it. I tried not to react. '_Pluvia_,' I said calmly and firmly.

I watched the end of my wand, hoping that a small cloud came from it. I gripped the handle tightly to put more magic into the spell. After a few seconds a vaguely grey wisp came from my wand and a small fluffy cloud floated in front of me above Snape's desk. I tried to hide my amazement at being able to do it though it sort of got out of control when it began to rain over Snape's rolls of parchment. I had to stop myself sniggering as he jumped up to avoid it.

'Well, Severus,' said Professor McGonagall briskly. 'Has she passed your test?'

'A little mediocre for her age,' he said while drying off his robes, 'but nonetheless, she is able to perform standard NEWT level spells.' I glared at him slightly. I was not mediocre. Half the people here couldn't have stood up to the Cruciatus Curse as long as I had. 'I will allow her to join, however, she must be Sorted into a House. Being Slughorn's great-niece, I'd assume she will be Sorted into Slytherin.'

Oh no, I hadn't thought about this and by the looks of it, neither had McGonagall. The Sorting Hat could see everything in my mind, he'd know it was me. He might let slip who I was. Professor McGonagall and I exchanged a glance but she agreed to letting the Sorting Hat Sort me. She took it down off its shelf and asked me to stand in front of her. I did so. She dropped it lightly on my head, it sitting perfectly on it instead of falling over my eyes like it did the first time.

I stood there calmly as the Hat began to speak. Snape and McGonagall watched.

'A new student, eh?' said the Hat. 'Intriguing. Older than I normally Sort and certainly experienced.'

_Don't say I'm a Black_, I thought desperately. _Don't say it's me. Don't say I'm a Black._

'A mixture of qualities, could be suited to any House. I believe they'll be best shown in … Slytherin.'

My heart skipped a beat. Slytherin. The Hat had put me in Slytherin. I'd been put in the House my whole family had been in … everyone except Dad. I looked at McGonagall. She sent me a warning look so I tried to look casual about it.

'Very well,' said Snape. His thin lips twisted in a smile. 'Slytherin it is.'

Snape flicked his wand and a pile of Slytherin robes appeared on his desk. He held them out to me. I took them, my fingertips just brushing his. I took in a sharp breath.

_She has returned, just like you said._

_Yes, a wolf always returns to its pack. Make sure you don't let on you know it's her. Mind you, keep a close eye on her. We don't want to lose her. She is invaluable to this fight._

_Indeed._

I took back my hand, robes in it. I looked up to see Snape staring at me.

'Is everything all right, Miss Lewis?'

I swallowed, then replied, 'Yes, Sir. May I have the location and password to the Slytherin common room. I'd better take my things down there.'

Not like I actually had anything down there to take.

'The Slytherin common room is located in the dungeons,' said Snape curtly. He'd sat back down at his desk and was writing something on some parchment. 'The current password is "purity". It shouldn't be hard to remember.'

'No, Sir.'

Snape dismissed me and I left his office. I closed the door behind me and ran down the stairs and into the corridor. My heart was racing. I'd been put in bloody Slytherin! What was I going to do now? How could I help Neville if I was in Slytherin? The only saving grace was that I'd remembered to pack my DA Galleon before I left last summer, thinking it might be useful sometime or later. A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall descended the stairs as the gargoyle returned.

'Professor, what am I going to do?' I asked instantly. 'How can I help Neville? All the Slytherins are probably loving the new regime! I can't conform to it!'

'You're going to have to,' replied the Professor. 'There is nothing we can do. The Sorting Hat's decision is final. It is where you are supposed to be. However, do remember: it is Miss Lewis who is a Slytherin, not Miss Black. She remains a true Gryffindor.'

With that Professor McGonagall turned and left. I watched helplessly as she walked away. A voice then stirred in my mind as I recalled something I had once been told.

_You're more Black at heart than you realise._

As I thought those words I hoped to Merlin that it wasn't coming true.

At lunch I met up with Neville and Seamus having sent them a message with my DA coin. We met up in one of the Charms classrooms on the third floor. They couldn't believe I'd been put in Slytherin and we had no idea how we were going to get around it. I explained it shouldn't be too hard, considering I still had my coin.

'Just send me a message whenever we're planning something and need to meet up,' I said, sitting on a desk. 'I'll be able to sneak out, Slytherins get an easy ride with the new regime, right?' Seamus and Neville nodded. Their looks of disgust told me what they thought of that idea. 'So long as I play along with the Slytherins, I won't get found out. Just make sure you let the younger Gryffindors know not to speak to me in the corridors.'

'Or you'll have to be a right bitch to them, right?' asked Seamus.

'Yup.' I sighed and folded my arms in thought. 'Any news from Dean and Luna, yet?' I then asked.

'Yeah, Dean messaged me this morning,' said Neville. 'Said he and Luna were going to try and come in the next few days if they can sneak away. Only for one night though.'

'Then we'll do something really bad that night,' I said. 'Make sure we let them know that Dumbledore's Army is still fighting. Until then, we'll just keep undermining them.' I looked up and grinned wickedly at Neville and Seamus. I could feel my Marauder side coming out. 'I have to use up those Weasley products somehow. The Carrows won't know what hit them.'

Partly surprisingly, Seamus and Neville shared the grin and we began to plot what we were going to do.

That night was my first time in the Slytherin common room. I'd managed to avoid going in there all day and so on my way down there I was getting pretty wary. My footsteps echoed more than usual in the dungeon hallways and there was a horrible chill in the air. The walls had mould and leaks in them and you could hear the drips through the stone. I came to the bare stone wall which was the entrance to the Slytherin common room and stopped. I looked at it silently.

Taking a deep breath, I said clearly, 'Purity.' and the wall slid open. I walked inside.

The Slytherin common room was huge but there wasn't a warm air to it like the Gryffindor one. Directly behind the wall were some stone steps leading down to a small seating area in front of a fire, a pair of leather sofas around it and dark mahogany table between them; the walls were slightly green from the grim and mould; stone pillars separated the corners of each of the separate areas, mahogany chests, tables and chairs in the work areas; a large mirror hung on one of the walls with a large set of drawers below it; at the far end of the room were two corridors I assumed led to the dormitories; the only light in the room were from silver oil lamps and candles which were dotted about the room.

I walked down the steps into the common room. Several pairs of eyes looked up at me. I looked around at them all. One of them was Malfoy. He was staring at me, his quill in his hand over his homework. I swallowed discreetly. I had to do something otherwise they'd think I was a complete idiot for walking in here though I was dressed in my Slytherin robes.

'Um, I'm looking for … Daphne Greengrass,' I said. It was the first name I could think of. 'Has anyone seen her?'

'That's me,' said a voice. I looked over to where it came from. Sure enough, Daphne was there. She was a tall, about my height (naturally) slender girl with a very curvaceous body; she had large brown eyes and medium length wavy dirty blonde hair which fell messily round her face; she carried herself very well and had the typical snobbish views of Slytherins, however, she was one of the more bearable ones. 'Can I help you?' she asked.

'Professor Slughorn told me you would show me around the common room,' I replied. 'I'm new you see and I don't know my way around.'

'Weren't you the girl I saw with Longbottom this morning at breakfast?' asked Daphne cautiously.

'Oh, yeah that,' I said quickly. 'I arrived late last night and Professor McGonagall was the one who welcomed me. She sent me to the Gryffindor Tower and put Longbottom in charge of me until I'd been Sorted. He's a bit weird and forgetful. I had to find my own way to the Great Hall this morning.'

Daphne eyed me carefully, then smiled and nodded.

'He's one of Potter's crowd, not that he's around anymore,' said Daphne.

'Harry Potter?' I said. Daphne nodded. 'I read that he'd fled the country.'

'Whatever he's doing is no business of ours,' shrugged Daphne. 'The only Slytherins who really care are the ones who really want the Dark Lord to defeat him, you know? See that guy over there?' She pointed across the room to Malfoy. He'd gone back to his homework. 'He's called Malfoy. He's always wondering what Potter's up to seeing as his dad's one of the Dark Lord's biggest supporters. Me, on the other hand, I don't really mind. My sister married a Muggle-born and Mum didn't go crying about it.'

'But doesn't that put your family in danger?' I asked. 'Your sister and her husband?'

'Yeah, sort of, but she and David know to keep a clean nose. They were both Slytherins so they're safe. Anyway, how about I show you around?' suggested Daphne. 'We've got a few hours before curfew. Want to look round?'

I agreed in order to see how lenient the Carrows were on the Slytherins. It turned out to be very lenient. Filch was more than welcome to direct us round (not that he needed too) while Alecto Carrow gave me a personal treat by telling me what was to come in Thursday's lesson of Muggle Studies. I felt slightly sick when she told me. She walked away with a (horrid) smile on her face and continued her patrol. When we got back to the common room, Daphne showed me our dormitories; they were virtually the same as the Gryffindor ones apart from the bedding was green and there were no windows. I went to bed that night shivering in my bed. Being a Slytherin was not going to be fun.

Until Dean and Luna arrived Thursday, I spent my time observing what had been happening in classes. Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and Herbology were virtually the same as usual and I was glad that Daphne was in most of the lessons though when I shared one with Neville or any of the other Gryffindors, I always gave them notes in passing suggesting what we could do to rebel. Muggle Studies and Dark Arts though were the two that opened my eyes.

Dark Arts I'd had earlier in the week and it was horrible. Because I was a "new" student, Amycus wanted to test me on the Unforgivables and to see how good I could perform them. I was called to the front and Amycus picked at random a student for me to practice on. My heart sank when I saw it was Hannah. She was one of the ones who knew it was me and she could tell I didn't want to do it. She gave me a small nod of the head though and I performed the Cruciatus Curse on her. I watched as she writhed and screamed on the floor. I stood there helpless until Amycus told me enough. After that I had to do the Imperious Curse on Neville, since he was one of the few who kept trying to fight it off, and then the Killing Curse on a spider.

'It's just a spider,' growled Amycus when I stood frozen with it in front of me. 'Just get on with it. It won't feel no pain when you kill it.'

I stared at it and swallowed. My wand tip shook as I pointed my wand at it.

'I can't do it,' I said. 'I'm sorry, I really can't.'

Amycus glared at me, then snarled, 'Detention, Saturday night. Call yourself a Slytherin. Slughorn ought ter be ashamed of you. I'll teach you how ter cope with killing things. Now get back in your seat.'

If I thought Dark Arts was bad, Muggle Studies was worse. I had it before lunch on Thursday and stood outside it with Neville and Parvati before the rest of the Slytherins got there. We shared the class. I was telling them what Alecto had told me and Daphne what we'd be doing in class when she turned up and I said aloud, 'I don't care about your stupid Mimbulus Mimbletonia, Longbottom. Just get away from me.' and I walked away from him. I gave him a "sorry" look over my shoulder when I followed Daphne into the classroom.

'Right, class,' said Alecto once we'd all been seated. 'Today we're continuing our study of Muggle punishment methods. As you know, Muggles used to have a method of punishment called Corporal Punishment. This was when they tortured each other for pathetic crimes such as stealing and murder. These included death by the electric chair and lethal injection.'

I glanced across at Neville in shock. He shrugged and rested his head on his hand, listening half-heartedly to Alecto. I faced the front and did so too. It was horrible what Alecto was saying about Muggles, so horrible that I don't want to repeat it. However, when she got on to the subject of blood (something she apparently did every lesson, according to Seamus) I had an idea. I got a piece of parchment and scribbled a note on it to Neville. I then sent it to him nonchalantly when Alecto had her back turned.

'What was that?' asked Daphne beside me. I started slightly when she spoke.

'Oh, just a note saying his parents should have the lethal injection,' I said, thinking on the spot. 'You know they're insane and all. Be nicer to just kill them, won't it?'

'Yeah, you're probably right,' said Daphne. She rested her head on her folded arms. 'Who wants insane parents anyway?'

I let out a silent breath as she bought it. I also made a mental note never to insult Neville's parents again. I felt terrible as I'd said it.

'… of course, those filthy Mudbloods who possessed some scraps of magic were able to protect themselves from these methods –'

'Er, Professor.'

Alecto stopped talking and looked over the class to someone at the back. I looked round to see Neville with his hand up. He was actually going to do it!

'Yes, Longbottom?' drawled Alecto. 'What is it? Need to use the bathroom again?'

Now normally, Neville would have flushed pink if someone had said that to him. Instead, he continued.

'No, Professor,' he said. 'I just wanted to know how much Muggle blood you and your brother have.'

Alecto literally hit the roof when Neville asked that and he received detention as well on Saturday night. That was apparently when all detentions were set. When we left the class I told him I didn't think he'd actually ask her. He just laughed and shrugged.

'What is funny about that?' I asked him.

'It's just another detention, Kayla,' he said quietly. 'Just another scratch. They don't want to spill too much pure blood so I'm safe. Stop worrying.'

'Well, you're the expert,' I shrugged. 'I just hope you know what you're doing.'

The rest of the day wasn't too bad as I had a free period followed by double Transfiguration. I left the classroom afterwards and went down to dinner with Daphne. Like at lunch, I sat with her and the other Slytherin girls. Pansy was unbearable. She had the manners of a pig, speaking with her mouthful and stuff. Just down from me I noticed that once again Malfoy was staring at me, like he had done when I first arrived in the Slytherin common room. Beside him Crabbe and Goyle were stuffing their faces as usual.

_Roll on being a Gryffindor again_, I thought dismally. _Least Dean and Luna are coming tonight._

It wasn't easy sneaking away from the common room. All the seventh year Slytherins were down there and I had to make an excuse that I had to get something from the library in order to leave. On my way out though I bumped into Malfoy.

'Sorry, I didn't see you,' I mumbled, keeping my eyes lowered. When Malfoy didn't reply straight away, I looked up at him. He was staring at me strangely.

'No,' he said quietly. He didn't move. 'Do I know you?' he then said. 'You seem familiar.'

'No,' I replied. 'We've never met before.'

'Oh. OK.'

Malfoy turned away and walked down the steps into the common room. I watched him for a moment then left. I made my way up to the seventh floor as quickly as possible. We were meeting Dean and Luna at quarter to nine. I had ten minutes to get there. I snuck through the corridors quietly and turned into the fourth floor corridor to take the passageway up to the seventh floor. I pulled back the tapestry over the exit and checked the coast was clear. It was and I ran down the corridor towards the Room of Requirement. Neville and Seamus were already there. We then sat and waited for Dean and Luna to arrive. It didn't take long and soon the door in the wall was being opened and in came Dean and Luna. We were so happy to see them.

'Bill and Fleur didn't notice anything did they?' I asked them.

'No, we snuck out into the garden when they were all upstairs,' said Dean. 'Said we wanted an early night and hid pillows under our sheets.'

'Apparently Muggles do it all the time,' said Luna dreamily. Her pale eyes wandered over me, Neville and Seamus. 'Have the Nargles been attacking you?'

'No, just the Carrows,' said Seamus, smiling.

'So what's the plan?' asked Dean. 'What havoc are we going to wreak in the school tonight?'

'Well,' I said, 'take a look at this.' I unclipped my belt bag from my waist and opened the back pocket. Digging around in it, I pulled out all the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. They pilled up on the floor. Seamus and Dean's eyes lit up. 'I've got to use up these things on something. Got the odd few fireworks, bits and bobs for general havoc making.'

'Fred and George would be proud,' said Dean.

'We reckoned that there are three possible places to start some trouble,' said Neville. 'The fireworks we're going to set off near the Astronomy Tower. That's my job. Then we want to get Peeves to start trashing up the Muggle Studies classroom. Seamus is going to antagonise him. While we're doing that, you three,' he pointed at me, Dean and Luna, 'are going to go to the third floor near the Dart Arts classroom and write "Harry Potter forever" and, if there's time, "Dumbledore's Army lives on". We'll have about an hour maximum. Filch doesn't get to the second floor until quarter to ten and the Carrows won't be near the Astronomy Tower till twenty two.'

I was certainly impressed by Neville's accuracy. He'd really been observing what had been going on at Hogwarts.

'If any of us,' finished Neville, 'get caught or in trouble, let off one of these.' He pulled out from his pocket three red sticks. 'Set them alight with your wand and they'll make a high pitched whistle. Sort of like a Mandrake's cry. Just remember to throw it away and block your ears.'

Now everyone knew the plan, the five of us crept out of the Room of Requirement at nine o'clock and separated. Neville ran down the corridor towards the Astronomy Tower; Seamus took the secret passageway to the fourth floor to take another to the second floor and Muggle Studies; meanwhile, Dean, Luna and I headed for the changing staircase. We'd be harder to track in separate directions. We had the easiest route, straight down the stairs, but the downside was we were more detectable. In ten minutes we were halfway there when we had to stop. Mrs Norris was just on the fourth floor platform.

'How are we going to get passed her?' whispered Dean.

'Don't know,' I replied. I looked for something to knock over but there were no suits of armour nearby. 'I can't frighten her because I can't transform and a spell will point her in our direction.' I sighed. 'Where's Ron and his Dungbombs when you need him?'

'Don't worry,' said Luna, 'I can make the noise of a Hopping Howler and cats and Kneazles are afraid of them.' I glanced back at Luna. Now was really not the time for her barmy ideas. But it was the only one we had.

'If you can do it,' I whispered. 'Do it now. We've got to get to the third floor corridor.'

I really wished I hadn't; Luna let out a horrible screech sounding like a banshee. Dean and I had to cover our ears but it did the trick. Mrs Norris ran off.

'Are you sure that's what a Hopping Howler sounds like?' asked Dean.

'Oh yes,' said Luna. 'Daddy was going to do an article about them last month but he wasn't able to locate one because he didn't have me to do the mating call.'

'Moving swiftly on,' I said, cutting her off. 'That noise would have attracted someone unless they think it's Peeves.' I peered around the corridor to see it was empty. 'Come on. Let's go.'

We got down to the third floor corridor as quickly as possible after that. The coast was clear and we made our way towards the Dark Arts classroom. Unfortunately Amycus' office was behind the classroom so we had to be quiet. Dean, being the arty one, pulled out his wand and began drawing on the wall next to the Dark Arts door while Luna and I kept watch at the entrance to the corridor. The only other way out was through the trophy room and that was down the other end of the corridor. We had to be on the lookout. Every so often I glanced back at Dean to see how he was doing. The words "Harry Potter forever" were slowly taking shape. He was really good at art.

'It's nearly half past,' I muttered. 'Dean, keep going. Try and get "DA lives on" down too.' Dean nodded.

'I've just got a little bit more on this one,' he whispered. 'Then I'll do the next.'

'Is the coast still clear?' I then asked Luna.

'Nobody's out there,' said Luna dreamily, 'and I can hear Peeves cackling below us. He's a really mean poltergeist if he puts his mind to it.'

I rolled my eyes but smiled. I'd missed Luna's quirkiness. I went and joined her by the entrance. We stood in silence beside each other, watching for movement. Then Luna spoke. As we waited I saw out the corner of my eye Luna was staring at me.

'The Amore's been at you,' she said. I looked at her, bemused. 'The Amore is a love bug. It's bitten your neck.'

'What d'you mean?' I asked. I put my hand on my neck. I couldn't feel any bites. 'I haven't got any bites on my neck.'

'The bites aren't visible in normal light,' laughed Luna. 'They can only be seen under ultraviolet. But there must be one there seeing as the Amore is resting over your heart.'

I automatically looked down. There were no bugs on my chest. I looked back at her.

'Amores are invisible. They are attracted by pheromones which are sent out when someone falls in love. This one's been on you for a long time. They bite the neck of the person forming the initials of the person they've fallen in love with. I can only see them because Daddy taught me how to notice the signs of them.'

My heart skipped a beat. Could she see the initials? Hang on, this was Luna. It couldn't be real, could it?

'You're not the only one who's been bitten,' continued Luna. She was in a world of her own, staring into the corridor. 'Neville's got one too and I think Ginny got bitten earlier in the year. She told me she'd had a bit of an itchy neck for a while.'

'Oh, right,' I said. 'So can you see the initials as well as the bugs?'

'Only just,' replied Luna. 'Neville and Ginny's were quite obvious. They were quite close at the start of the year. Then I got taken and I've only seen Ginny once since then. As for Neville's, his is very clear. Yours is a bit vague though. One of the letters I'm pretty sure is –'

'Ssh!' I moved forwards and covered Luna's mouth with my hand. I'd heard something moving. I looked out into the corridor. 'Someone's coming.'

'No, someone's here,' said a voice behind me. Luna and I spun round to see Amycus holding Dean. 'Well, well, Miss Lewis,' he said smoothly. 'How intriguing to see you with a Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Particularly two who don't belong in the school.'

Calmly I stepped back next to Luna. I let my eyes drift to meet Dean's; we made a silent agreement. Amycus was still speaking.

'Slughorn will be disappointed to hear his great-niece get caught writing graffiti on the school walls.'

'Luna,' I whispered really quietly. 'Give me the Whistler.'

'I guess that detention you've got on Saturday will have to be a double punishment.' I moved my hand behind my back. I felt Luna place the Whistler in it. My other hand went for my wand. 'As for you, Mudblood,' Amycus shook Dean roughly, 'let's see how you like it in Azkaban.'

'Dean!' I shouted. 'Duck!'

Amycus looked up at me. I tapped my wand on the Whistler and it ignited. A loud piercing whistle started. I threw the stick straight at Amycus once Dean had ducked. It hit him square on the forehead. The noise was slowly getting louder. It echoed through the silent corridor. The three of us made a run for it while Amycus crumpled on the floor covering his ears. We ran as fast as we could back to the changing staircase and back up them. The whistle was still increasing in volume until it suddenly cut out. Amycus must have stopped it. Just below us I saw Seamus appear at the entrance of the second floor corridor. I skidded to a stop as Luna and Dean carried on.

'Seamus, run!' I shouted at him. 'Get back!'

He nodded his head and disappeared back into the corridor as Amycus saw who I was shouting at. He then turned back to face me.

'Come here, you little piece of filth!' he snarled.

'You'll have to catch me first!'

I just managed to miss a hex Amycus sent at me. I couldn't risk using my shield. Getting back to my feet I ran up the stairs after Dean and Luna, hurrying for the seventh floor corridor and the Room of Requirement. All I could hope was Dean and Luna got back there. Behind me I could hear Amycus swearing and shouting curses to stop me. I was two floors above him so it was hard for him to hit me. He wasn't a particularly fast runner either. I saw Luna and Dean turn into the seventh floor above me when I heard Amycus shout.

'Alecto! It's Lewis. Get her!'

I skidded to a stop when I saw Alecto in front of me. Behind me, Amycus, panting, was at the foot of the staircase I was on. I was trapped. There was no way to go. Except down. I looked downwards to still see I had my wand in my hand. I could hear Amycus thumping up the stairs behind me; Alecto was coming down them ahead. I had to time this right. I moved back slightly to the outside banister.

'I wouldn't come any closer,' I said. 'My wand's loaded.'

'Loaded,' sneered Alecto. 'With what? You can't load wands, you idiot girl! You're as thick as that Longbottom.'

'Neville is not thick,' I replied angrily. 'You don't know who you're dealing with.'

'Don't know who we're dealing with?' cackled Alecto. 'My dear, we are Death Eaters and you're a pathetic home-schooled witch. What chance have you against us?'

They were both about five steps away from me. I slowly moved backwards and climbed on to the banister.

'Don't push me,' I said calmly. 'You don't know what tricks I've got up my sleeve.'

'You can't scare us,' snarled Amycus.

'No, I probably can't. But _you_ can't scare me either.' I pointed my wand at the staircase. 'I'll see you in detention. _Confringo!_'

A sound like a gunshot burst from my wand and hit the staircase. The stairs exploded and began to crumble beneath the Death Eater's feet. I was knocked off the banister from the blast. I grabbed on to the banister and closed my eyes to protect them from the debris. I heard Amycus and Alecto's screams as the stairs beneath them disintegrated and they fell on to the ones below. I opened my eyes and looked down. They were lying on the flight below covered in rubble. I looked up and saw the banister I was clutching on to was also beginning to crumble. I let go with my wand hand and pointed it at the remaining platform of the staircase.

'_Capto!_'

A rope flew from my wand tip and latched itself on to the banister on the other side of the collapsed staircase. I grabbed on to it as the banister broke off and started to pull myself on to the top platform. I clambered up and sat panting on it for a moment. Below me I saw Amycus and Alecto were picking themselves up. Now was time I left. Getting up, I ran up the stairs and back to the seventh floor corridor. When I got back to the Room of Requirement I saw Dean, Luna, Neville and Seamus all there waiting for me.

'What happened?' asked Neville instantly. 'Dean said he thought Amycus had got you.'

'Him? Catch me?' I said incredulously, panting a bit from the run. 'You've got to be kidding, right?' I stood straight once I'd caught my breath. 'He and Alecto thought they had but don't discount a Black's inventiveness. Piece of cake those two were. Had to destroy a staircase,' I shrugged. Neville and the others stared at me. 'Hey, I got away, didn't I?'

'Main thing is, we managed to do what we wanted,' said Seamus. 'Peeves has completely trashed the Muggle Studies classroom. Destroyed Alecto's Muggle guillotine.'

'And I managed to set off all those Weasley products,' said Neville. 'Just wait until they see the mess.'

'And I got the graffiti finished,' said Dean. 'Mission accomplished.'

The five of us did a high-five and cheered. Well, at least we managed to make our mark even if it meant I was going to get one hell of a punishment. Neither Seamus and Neville had got caught though I think the three of us will be blamed. After the celebration, we sent Dean and Luna back through the passage to the Hog's Head for them to Apparate back to Shell Cottage and the rest of us settled down in the Room. It would be too dangerous for us to go back to our common rooms, not that I want to return to the Slytherin one. I was a Gryffindor through and through.

The next day Neville, Seamus and I saw we had got the reaction from the students we wanted. Everyone was talking about what had happened the previous night and quoting the graffiti. We'd managed to restore some hope in the younger Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Good news. Of course, it meant anyone brave (or foolish) enough to say it in front of Amycus and Alecto instantly joined detention club on Saturday night. As for the three of us, we were all told we had severe punishments set for Saturday. Bad news.

That was the most major offence the DA had made for a while. Afterwards we only did minor infringements on the rules seeing as Professor McGonagall didn't want us destroying anything else. However, this was merely the calm before the storm and the fight of our lives was yet to come.

* * *

**AN: ta-dah! new chapter. hope you enjoyed it and leave me a review. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	43. Punishments, Lies and Reasons Why

Chapter 42

Punishments, Lies and Reasons Why

Dean and Luna only just managed to sneak back into Shell Cottage. It wasn't easy at quarter to eleven at night. Dean had Apparated them within the protection barriers of the house, simple enough, but the actual sneaking into the house was the hard part. They'd noticed the light in the front room was still on meaning someone was awake so they had to go in the back way. Once they were inside though it was a quick and quiet sprint back to their bedrooms. Harry, Ron and Hermione had spent the last couple of weeks shut up with the goblin, Griphook, planning something until late into the night so Dean and Luna were able to get into their separate bedrooms, put on their pyjamas and climb into bed. No one would be any wiser to what they had done a couple of hours ago in Hogwarts.

Well, so they thought.

'So,' said Ron briskly the next day. The group were in the living room. Bill had gone to their Aunt Muriel's to check on the family while Fleur was in the kitchen preparing lunch. 'Are you two going to tell us where you disappeared to last night?'

Dean and Luna looked up to see the other three staring at them. Dean swallowed. Jenna hadn't wanted any of them to know.

'We didn't go anywhere,' said Dean. 'We haven't left the house for over a month.'

'Except last night,' said Luna. She looked at Dean strangely. 'Don't you remember?' Harry, Ron and Hermione's eyes all turned on her. Dean groaned. 'Neville and Jenna asked us to come back to Hogwarts to cause some trouble.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at Luna.

'Jenna?' repeated Harry. Was she serious? 'Jenna's at Hogwarts?'

'Oh yes,' continued Luna, regardless of Dean trying to secretly tell her to shut up. 'Jenna told us she's been there for a few days.'

'Is she all right?' asked Ron.

'Yes, but she had a few cuts,' said Luna. 'Probably from the Nargles. I hear they're moving out of mistletoe to nest in other places now.'

Hermione rolled her eyes while Ron sniggered. Hermione nudged him in the ribs.

'So what did you do last night?' he continued.

'Oh, you know, this and that.' Luna smiled contently as she remembered. 'It was quite fun actually. Neville released lots of fireworks near to the Astronomy Tower, Seamus and Peeves destroyed the Muggle Studies classroom while Dean, Jenna and I wrote graffiti on the wall.'

'Luna,' groaned Dean. 'Jenna told us to keep quiet. Bill's going to kill us if he finds out. Besides,' Dean glanced at Harry, 'she didn't want anyone to know she was there.'

Harry's eyes narrowed. Anyone as in people at Hogwarts or anyone as in him?

'We won't tell,' Ron assured them. 'Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun last night.'

'Yeah it was actually, until Amycus almost caught us,' said Dean. There was no point in trying to deny it now.

'What d'you mean?' asked Hermione.

'Amycus had been in his office while we were graffiti-ing the wall outside his classroom,' explained Dean. 'We thought he'd been on patrol with Filch and his sister. He snuck up behind me and grabbed me. We only just managed to get away seeing as Jenna threw the Whistler at him giving us time to get a head start up the changing staircase. But then Alecto appeared just as Luna and I got to the seventh floor trapping Jenna on the fifth. She'd seen Seamus and told him to run, delaying her.'

Harry, who had been sitting silently through the conversation, sat up.

'Did she get away?' he asked.

'Oh yeah,' nodded Dean. 'You know, Jenna. She can get herself out of anything. Destroyed a staircase to do it,' Dean shrugged, 'but she managed.'

'That's Jenna,' muttered Harry. 'Did she say anything else, like why she left?'

'Er, no, I don't think so.'

'Figures.'

Harry got up and left the room leaving the others in confusion about his attitude to the news.

For the best part of the rest of the day Harry remained out in the garden. He was sat on the bench staring out towards the sea. It had taken him several days after she'd left to stop worrying about her, delaying their departure to Gringotts, and now, Dean and Luna tell him she's at Hogwarts, once again getting into trouble, and his thoughts are back on her. Why did she leave? Where did she go before Hogwarts? Had anything else happened to her? It was driving Harry mad. Least he knew she was all right.

'Harry?' Harry looked behind him to see Hermione and Luna walking over to him. 'Are you OK?'

'Has a Crumple-Horned Snorkack bitten you?' asked Luna vaguely. They both sat next to him on the bench. 'Daddy says their bites tend to make humans feel angry for no reason. It's the venom they secrete –'

'No, I've not been bitten,' he replied. 'I'm fine. Why shouldn't I be?'

'Well, you've just found out where Jenna is,' said Hermione quietly. 'I would have thought you'd be more concerned.'

'I am concerned,' said Harry. 'I just –' Harry came to a stop.

'You what, Harry?' asked Hermione.

Harry thought for a moment about what to say. He couldn't tell Hermione about what had happened between them. It was a long and very complicated story. But there was no other way to explain his bitter behaviour.

'Before she left, Jenna said something that has been bothering me,' started Harry slowly. 'Something pretty big.'

'What did she say?' asked Hermione. 'Was it about Remus?'

'No.' Harry shook his head. 'No, it wasn't about Remus … It was about me.' Hermione looked at him curiously. Harry took a deep breath. 'That she had feelings for me.'

'What?' gasped Hermione. 'She told you?'

'No she didn't tell me, she – Hey!' Harry did a double take at her. 'You knew?' he said, shocked. 'You knew that she had feelings for me?'

'Er,' Hermione blushed and hesitated. 'Well I …'

'Hermione.' Harry looked at her pointedly.

'OK, I knew, Jenna told me but she made me swear not to tell you,' said Hermione nervously. 'She didn't want anyone else to know. Things had got so out of hand for her because of her feelings for you and her relationship with Noah that she was in tears about the fact you wouldn't talk to her because you saw the two of them kissing so she admitted to Noah that she had feelings for you then they broke up and she wasn't going to tell you about her feelings –'

Hermione stopped and squeaked, placing her hands over her mouth when she realised everything Jenna had confided in her was spilling out of her mouth. Harry stared at her.

'Jenna wasn't going to tell me?' he repeated. 'She wasn't going to tell me at all?'

Hermione shook her head sadly, 'No, no matter how much I told her she should, she wouldn't. I warned her if she kept this from you, she could end up hurting both you and herself but she wouldn't listen. She just wanted to forget.'

Harry thought about what Hermione had said. After a few minutes he let out an irritated sigh, putting his head in his hands.

'Why?' he asked pointlessly. 'Why would she keep this from me?'

'Well, she had been bittern by an Amore,' said Luna happily. 'Maybe she wasn't ready to admit it.'

Luna smiled. Harry and Hermione looked at her, then looked at each other.

'What's an Amore?' asked Hermione slowly, looking back at Luna. 'Another creature your dad discovered?'

'No, Amores are very common, otherwise known as love bugs,' said Luna. 'They bite the necks of people who've fallen in love after being attracted to them, and leave the imprints of the initials of the person they love. Jenna's had one since at least spring last year.'

Though Harry didn't normally believe Luna's absurd stories about these strange creatures, he couldn't help but ask, 'Jenna's in love?'

'Oh yes,' Luna nodded vigorously. 'Jenna's definitely in love, though the initials are vague meaning the love hasn't grown yet. Only when the initials are clear is when the love is mutual. Ginny and Neville both have clear bites. You have them too but yours are only vague.'

'Me?' Harry looked at her strangely. 'I've been bitten?'

Luna nodded.

'Oh, Harry, you don't believe all this, do you?' said Hermione. 'It's ludicrous! Bugs biting initials into peoples necks? Honestly, what's next? It's simply ridiculous.'

Harry didn't reply. Thoughts were rushing through his head. If what Luna said was true … and if Jenna _was_ in love … did that mean her feelings were …? Harry swallowed. Luna had said her bites were vague, meaning the love hadn't grown … and so were his. Yet Ginny's and Neville's bites were clear. If it was possible the creature in Harry's stomach both roared its anger and joy. Had something happened between Ginny and Neville? But more importantly, did Jenna's mark mean what he thought it meant? That she was in love with him?

-o-

'What?'

'She's the one who helped them?'

'A Slytherin helped a Gryffindor?'

'You're kidding!'

'Yeah, the one with the brown hair, the new girl.'

As I walked into the Great Hall the next day for breakfast (I'd left after Neville and Seamus) I saw the faces turn towards me. People were putting their heads together and whispering while others were craning to catch a glimpse of me. I lowered my gaze to the floor and walked silently towards the Slytherin table. I didn't want to draw anymore attention to myself than I already had done though inside I was grinning that the stunt last night had gotten people talking. I caught snatches of conversations as I passed.

'She's the one who destroyed the staircase between the fifth and sixth floor.'

'Did you read the wall? It said the DA is still going.'

'But why would a Slytherin do that?'

I sat down at the end of the Slytherin table away from the rest of the House. Glancing down I saw some were giving me strange looks while others were giving me glares. My gaze continued upwards and I saw at the staff table Professor McGonagall was giving me a pointed look, Amycus and Alecto were also glaring at me, and Snape was watching me closely. I looked away and poured myself some cereal. I ate in silence on my own and after a few moments the staring died away. It was when people began departing that I was acknowledged again. Some knocked into me deliberately, others just gave me looks of disgust as they passed. I didn't care; they were Slytherins, I was not.

Suddenly a hand took mine and I was pulled away from the crowd into the corridor opposite to the changing staircase. I spun round to see it was Malfoy. He didn't stop until he'd taken me into an empty classroom. He pushed me inside and followed, checking the coast was clear and shutting the door. I watched as Malfoy faced me.

'Well?' he asked. 'What the hell do you think you're playing at?'

'I don't know what you mean,' I replied.

'Oh, I think you do,' said Malfoy. 'The fireworks by the Astronomy Tower? Peeves in the Muggle Studies classroom? "Harry Potter lives on"? I think you know perfectly what I mean.'

'If you're implying I had anything to do with that, I'm afraid you're wrong.' I made to leave but Malfoy blocked the door. 'Will you move? I have lessons to go to even if you don't.'

Malfoy didn't reply. Once again he was staring at me. Staring with such intensity that I actually backed away from him. I knew he couldn't see through McGonagall's spell but it felt like his stare could break it. I moved away from him. Malfoy followed me. He did so until I felt a desk behind me and he stood in front so I couldn't escape. He narrowed his eyes as he observed me.

'Who are you?' Malfoy asked slowly. 'Tell me.'

'What do you want me to say?' I replied. 'I'm Kayla Lewis. Whoever you think I am, you're wrong.' I knew perfectly well Malfoy had a good idea of who I was. 'Now please, let me go.'

I put my hand on Malfoy's chest to push him away. I hesitated when I felt his muscles tense at my touch and his hand took mine. I swallowed and looked up at him. My breathing rate increased as Malfoy moved closer.

'Now you see,' he whispered in my ear, 'I don't think I am.'

In an instant Malfoy's lips were on mine. I didn't know what to do. I rested my hands on the desk I leant on as Malfoy moved closer to me. I was trapped on the desk, his leg between mine. I tried to keep calm as Malfoy's hand ran up my arm to stroke my cheek, raising my face. I had no choice but to return the kiss. Deep down I knew now he knew exactly who I was. I allowed the kiss to continue as long as Malfoy desired, relieved when he finally released me. I opened my eyes and looked up at him worried. He stared back defiantly.

'If you are who I think you are,' said Malfoy, 'then you will stop me from kissing you. If you're not, then you'll allow me to kiss you again.'

I swallowed and looked down. I hoped Malfoy was not going to carry out his threat. I felt his finger curled under my chin and I was forced to look up. Malfoy was moving closer again and I couldn't escape.

'I can assure you,' I breathed. His face was so close to mine. 'If you kiss me one more time, you will regret it.'

'And why would that be?' asked Malfoy. 'You believe I'm wrong. Then there should be no problem in me kissing you.'

I tried to look away but Malfoy wouldn't let me. I closed my eyes to block out his face.

'Malfoy, don't do this.'

'Why? Why shouldn't I? Only one girl has made me do something like this before and she's gone. Unless now she stands before me.'

Outside the classroom the lesson bell rang. I was going to be late for Charms.

'So why should I not kiss you? Why, Kayla? If that is your name.'

I opened my eyes to find Malfoy's grey ones staring back at me. He knew it was me.

'You know why,' I replied.

'Yeah, I do.' Malfoy took his hand from my face and stepped back from me. He headed for the door. I watched silently, not knowing what to do. 'Same old Black, always helping others.' He opened it then stopped. 'Risking your life for nothing.'

'I can't help who I am, Draco,' I told him. 'I have nothing left.' Malfoy stared at me. 'I have no family, nothing. So if I die helping others, then at least I die knowing other families will be a little bit safer.'

Malfoy remained silent, then turned and walked out of the room, the door slamming behind him. I remained where I was, staring at where he had been. Like I said: love was a dangerous thing to mess with. It hurt so many people. Maybe if the circumstances had been different … then maybe I could have returned Malfoy's feelings. Then again maybe I was just better off alone. Then I wouldn't hurt anyone else. I sighed and shook my head. I was late for Charms. I needed to get there before I got another detention. The one I was to get on Saturday was going to be bad enough.

For the rest of the day whenever Malfoy saw me he always walked away before I could speak to him. He just didn't understand. He still had his family, I didn't. I had nothing to fight for, no parents, I'd deserted my friends. Nothing to go back to afterwards. If anything, it made dying seem less frightening as there would be no one to worry, no one to hurt. It's like Professor Dumbledore had said in my letter: _for some death is but another adventure._

The hours before my detention seemed to tick by in seconds. As I sat through Dark Arts on Friday I knew Amycus was trying to find anything that would allow him to make my punishment worse. Nevertheless, I kept up my Slytherin guise and kept my head down. To Amycus' annoyance, he didn't manage to increase my detention but did manage to catch Seamus. The three of us now had detention the following night. He and Neville left the lesson together with me following behind at a distance. Once the Slytherins were gone, I changed direction and hurried to catch up with the other two.

'I don't think it's wise for you to be seen with us,' Seamus said quietly as we walked down the corridor. 'People are already whispering about you and what happened last night.'

'Well then let them whisper,' I said. We came to a stop by a window overlooking the grounds. I could see the younger students were outside during break. 'I don't care.'

'Kayla, you're meant to be a Slytherin,' said Neville. 'You're not making a very good job of being one.'

'That's because I'm not one!' I said defiantly. 'I'm a Gryffindor, Nev. I can't be who I'm not. What's the point of living a lie?'

'To protect yourself,' replied Neville as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'I don't need protecting. It's not like I have anyone to protect me anyway. I can take care of myself.'

I perched up on the windowsill and looked out the window. Seamus muttered something to Neville that I didn't hear before walking off. I watched as he left then looked back outside. Neville remained silent. He climbed up on to the windowsill too and glanced out of it.

'What about Harry?' he asked. I looked at him. 'Didn't he say once he'd protect you?'

'Harry said a lot of things,' I said indifferently. 'But never once did he say he'd protect me. Besides, he has other people to protect.' I stopped for a second, then said, 'Ginny, for example. When this is over he's going to want her back.'

Neville glanced at me. He then shifted his position so he faced me.

'He hasn't spoken to Ginny in a long time, has he?' Neville asked.

'It's not something that's been on his to-do list, no,' I said. 'We haven't spoken to anyone since before we went to Bill's house. It was too dangerous. It didn't stop him watching her though, on the Marauder's Map.' Neville looked at me strangely. 'Don't worry. It's just something of his dad's.'

'Ah, right.' Neville nodded. 'So, um, he hasn't forgotten about her or anything?'

'I shouldn't have thought so. Ginny's the most important thing in his life, isn't she? That's why he broke up with her, to keep her safe.'

'Not just in his,' muttered Neville.

I looked across at Neville. He was staring at his hands, his hair covering his eyes. I hadn't really noticed how long it had gotten now. There was a dejected look on his face.

'You miss Ginny, don't you?' Neville glanced at me, then back at his hands. He nodded wordlessly. 'You two went through a lot together at the start of the year.'

'Yeah,' sighed Neville. 'It was her idea to start the DA again. I couldn't have done it without her. You know what everyone thought of me. Bumbling Longbottom. Would hex himself by pointing the wrong end of his wand. Ginny and Luna were the only ones who really believed in me, Ginny especially.'

I watched Neville closely for a second or two. The way he spoke about Ginny. I closed my eyes, knowing I'd heard that tone before.

'Has Luna spoken to you about the, er … love bugs?' I asked quietly. Neville shifted in his seat. 'I'll take that as a yes. Is it mutual?'

'Yes,' said Neville, 'well, at least, I hope it is. I know I'm nothing compared to Harry but … where was he when Ginny needed him? Absent.'

'That's not fair,' I replied. 'Harry had to do it to protect her.'

'I know it couldn't be helped, but neither could this. Neither of us intended this to happen but it did.' Shivers went down my spine as he said that. The number of times I'd heard that phrase. 'And Ginny feels the same. She needed Harry but he wasn't there so she turned to me. Things happened that we can't change. And I don't want them to change.'

'Are you going to tell him then?' I asked. 'Harry has to know.'

'Ginny said she'll deal with it.'

'It'll break his heart. He loves her.'

Neville didn't respond. An awkward silence then drew out between us so I looked out the window again. The sun's light was reflecting off the water of the lake. I brought my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms round them.

'I've never seen the sun shine so bright, not for a long time,' I muttered. I rested my chin on my knees. 'I wonder how long it will last. Eventually darkness always overtakes light.'

'But the light always returns,' said Neville. I glanced at him. He raised his eyebrows at me and smiled. I smiled back. Neville then sighed and slid off the windowsill. 'Come on,' he said, 'Better fill you in about tomorrow's detention.'

I sat in my dormitory cross-legged on my bed waiting for the time to tick by until my detention. I wasn't looking forward to it. I thought back to the ones I used to have with Umbridge knowing that hers would be considered easy compared to what I'd probably have to do for the Carrows. I stared at my hands in my lap. I could just see the faint lines of "I must not tell lies". My watch beeped, telling me I had ten minutes to get to the detention room in the dungeons. I got up off my bed and picked up my wand. I'd probably be needing it if things got too out of hand. Sliding it into the back pocket of my jeans, I left the dormitory.

I walked quietly through the common room. Eyes followed me as I passed. Others hissed. Some even shouted out.

'Hope you get what you deserve!'

'That'll teach you for helping a Gryffindor!'

'No room for bad blood in Slytherin!'

I rolled my eyes and continued through the common room. I put my hand on the stone wall and it opened up, letting me leave. I'd barely got around the corner when I heard a voice calling me.

'Kayla!' I looked back to see Malfoy running up to me.

'I thought you weren't speaking to me,' I said. Malfoy slowed his pace to a walk. He stopped when he was just in front of me. I looked up to observe his face. He was taller than me after all. 'Because I'm risking my life for nothing.'

'I didn't mean that, I just –' Malfoy stopped and looked away from me.

'You what?'

Malfoy let out an annoyed sigh.

'I just don't want you getting hurt,' he replied reluctantly. 'Amycus and Alecto have the power to do whatever they want, so long as they don't kill you.'

'I'm not afraid of them. You've seen what I've put up with.'

Malfoy's eyes looked down me. I knew he was thinking of the scars on my body. He took a step closer and let his fingers brush my stomach. I didn't stop him.

'I know. Just … be careful, all right?'

A smile crept on to my face. Malfoy looked away uncomfortably. I guess he'd never expressed his emotions like this before. A wave of endearment rushed over me as well as sympathy for Malfoy. Hesitantly, I put my hand on his chest and leaned up to him, gently kissing his cheek.

'I will be.'

With a last smile at Malfoy, I turned away and headed for the detention room. When I got there I saw Seamus and Neville were waiting outside. I joined them. This area of the dungeons was just as gloomy and dark as the rest. There was only one door, a large oak one which was sealed shut. A few minutes later the door behind us opened. We looked up to see Amycus step out of the darkness. His lips changed to a twisted smile when he saw the three of us there.

'This way,' he grunted, indicating with his hand for us to follow. 'Getting to be a bit of an ol' hand at this, eh, Longbottom?'

Neville, Seamus and I glanced at each other. We then followed Amycus into the room. It was a large dungeon. Stone pillars ran along the length of the room. The only light were small torch brackets where candles were burning. There were some steps leading to the floor where I saw Alecto was waiting. Along the walls seemed to be various implements for causing torture. A chill ran down my spine as my eyes travelled over them. At the foot of the stairs, Amycus ordered the three of us to wait there and he walked over to Alecto. I watched him closely. They spoke to each other quietly for a moment or two. Every so often they glanced at us before continuing. After a few minutes, the pair of them walked over to us.

'Longbottom, Finnigan, you're with Alecto,' growled Amycus. His eyes then turned on me. 'And you, Lewis, are with me.'

With another glance at each other, the three of us separated. I followed Amycus to the far side of the room clear of equipment. All that was there was a pair of shackles attached to the wall, their chains hanging ominously. I looked at the warily. It reminded me of when I was shut up in that cellar.

'Someone help us!'

'Please, let us out!'

I jumped. Those voices – they just came from nowhere. They were just kids voices. Behind me Amycus stomped off through another door near to us. He disappeared through it into a second room. A loud clang of metal on metal sounded as well as Amycus' voice telling someone to shut up. He came back moments later. I merely stared at him.

'Scared, Lewis?' he growled, grinning. 'Can't handle a bit of punishment?'

'No,' I replied. My eyes flicked to the door he'd gone through. I had a horrible feeling something bad was in that room. I then looked back at Amycus. 'Just wondering what those noises were. I wasn't aware of any young ghosts in the castle.'

Amycus glared at me. He then drew out his wand and pointed at the floor. When I didn't move he ordered me to stand where he'd pointed. I didn't move straight away, merely watching him, then walked slowly to the place he'd indicated. I stood in front of him and braced myself for what was to come. Amycus pointed his wand at me.

'So, you refuse to kill things, do yeh?' he asked me. I didn't reply. Amycus smirked. 'Don't like the Unforgivables?'

'Who would?' I replied. I moved my right hand ever so slightly so it was nearer to my wand, just in case. 'They're Unforgivable, aren't they? One way ticket to Azkaban for using them. I'd say you'd probably get about ten or so round trips by now. Am I right?'

'Insolent little brat, aren' you?' sneered Amycus. 'Maybe I should teach you to hold your tongue. _Crucio._'

My body tensed as the curse hit me causing me to gasp. I stood there rigid in front of Amycus. My hands clenched tightly together as I felt the hot knives stab every part of my body. My breathing rate deepened but I didn't scream. This was nothing though. Bellatrix's torture was ten times worse than this. Compared to hers, Amycus' spell felt like a couple of pins poking me.

Amycus lifted the spell. I stumbled forwards a bit as my body relaxed. Slowly my breathing returned to normal.

'So you know how to fight it, eh?' growled Amycus. I stared neutrally at him. 'Well, guess it's gonna take a little more for you to learn your lesson.'

No matter how hard Amycus tried, his spell could not weaken me. I remained where I was in front of him, unflinching. His levels of magical energy were minuscule compared to Bellatrix. I could take anything he threw at me. It didn't stop it hurting or me wincing. On the other side of the room though I could hear Neville and Seamus' shouts. I hoped they were all right. Amycus was getting very frustrated at the fact he couldn't reduce me to screams of pain like his sister could do to the others.

'How can you still be standing?' he snarled angrily after the sixth time of torturing me. 'No one can stand the Cruciatus Curse for that long! Nothing can block that curse!' I didn't reply. It merely infuriated Amycus more. 'Stay here! If I can't floor you, maybe the both of us can!'

Amycus stalked away into the darkness. I let out a relieved breath at the brief reprieve and leant against the wall. I'd never had two Death Eaters performing the curse on me. I wondered how long I would be able to cope with the pair of them torturing me.

'Help us!'

'Let us out!'

'Someone help!'

I started as those voices sounded again. I got up and took out my wand. Looking around I made sure Amycus was not coming back before creeping over towards the door he'd gone through earlier. It was locked. I put my ear to it. I could hear voices on the other side of it.

'It'll be all right, Julie. They can't keep us here forever. The other teachers will stop them.'

'I'm scared. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to go home.'

I glanced behind me quickly then turned back to the door and whispered, 'Hey, hey can you hear me?'

'W-who's there?' replied one of the voices.

'A friend,' I replied. 'Are you guys all right? What happened?'

'Amycus and Alecto locked us up,' said the voice.

'How come?'

'Because we wouldn't do our Muggle Studies homework,' said another voice. 'Julie then got detention because she let slip her granddad was a Muggle. They then locked us up when we mentioned what happened on Thursday.'

'Because you mentioned the DA?'

'No, because we were talking about how Potter's going to beat You-Know-Who.' I couldn't help but smile. There was still some hope left. 'We think he's gonna come back and help us and everything. Stop Amycus and Alecto.'

'No he's not, Stewart,' said a third voice. This one was less hopeful. 'We all know he's not going to come back.'

'He will,' I said to them. 'There is help coming, I can assure you of that.'

'Really? What about now? Can you get us out?'

'Yeah, I'll try,' I told them. 'Whatever you do, keep quiet though. Amycus and Alecto are busy at the moment but they'll be back any second so we haven't got much time.'

The door was sealed tightly. It seemed to have a strong locking spell on it. One to rival one of Lupin's spells. He may be timid but Lupin was a strong wizard underneath that mild exterior. I examined the door for a moment or two to see the spell didn't go that far. There was a weak spot just above the lock. That would be the best place to try and do the counter charm. I took out my wand and placed the tip just above it. Quietly I whispered the spell to unlock the door. It took a few tries but eventually the weak spot gave way and the door unlocked. I forced the door opened and snuck into the next room.

It was another chamber, this time much smaller. I lit my wand and let the light pass over the walls. There wasn't much in here, only the odd chains and the odd rat scurrying along the floor. I continued to look round. I couldn't see any of the kids. The light of my wand then hit something causing a flash. Something metal. I turned my wand back on it. In the far end of the room was a large metal door. A cell. I ran over to it. Behind the grate were five kids, two Ravenclaw boys, a small Hufflepuff girl, and a Gryffindor boy and girl both whom I knew.

'Hey, it's you!' said one of the boys. He got up and stood behind the grate. 'You're the one who they said destroyed the staircase.'

'My reputation precedes me,' I said, smiling. I then turned to the Gryffindors. 'You all right there, Euan? Demz?'

Euan Abercrombie and Demelza Robbins both got up and came over to the grate. The pair of them smiled.

'We knew you'd come,' said Demelza. 'If anyone was going to get us out, you were.'

'What are you on about?' said one of the Ravenclaws. 'Have you noticed she's a Slytherin?'

'Shut up, Wes!' snapped Euan.

'Slytherin by appearance,' I corrected him. 'Not attitude.'

'What about Neville?' asked Euan. 'He took part in that stunt, right? Does that mean the DA is really back?'

'Without a doubt,' I replied. 'Now, keep quiet. I'm going to try and get you out.'

I looked round the room again. There was no sign of any keys. I guess Amycus or Alecto had those, or even Filch. Looking back at the grate, I pulled on it to find there was another locking spell on it. This one was much stronger though. I checked for weak points but there weren't any.

'Merlin, you're really locked up tight,' I muttered. 'Do you know what spells are on it?'

'Alecto said something about an Impervious Charm as well as a Locking Spell,' said Demelza. 'They're meant to strengthen each other when used together.'

'Which means Unlocking Spells will be useless as Impervious repels anything you want.'

I looked at the lock again. It was sealed tight. I ran my finger over it in thought, wondering how it worked. Fred and George said once knowing how to pick locks was always a handy thing to know. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to do so. As I stared at it though, my eyes turned on to my finger. I held my hand up in front of my face. Of course.

'Guys, stand back and keep your eyes covered,' I said, kneeling down.

The five of them did so. I held my hand up and clicked my fingers, thinking of Bellatrix. A small flame started at the tip of my index finger. I pointed my finger at the lock so the flame was guided into it. It didn't seem to do anything. The metal was still black. I concentrated harder, recalling what Bellatrix had said to me those weeks ago at the Malfoy Manor. My hand began to feel hotter the more I remembered. There was a hissing sound as the flame began to heat up the metal.

_He doesn't love you_. _He never wanted you_. G_etting rid of you was the best thing he ever did _…

I gasped as I felt something hot drip on to my hand. I pulled it back to see liquid metal dripping down from the lock. I'd melted it, the metal glowing orange. I took out my wand and used the Water Charm to cool it. The metal changed from orange to black again. Getting up I took hold of the bars and pulled. The metal snapped apart having been weakened creating a loud bang and the door opened.

'What was that noise? Where's Lewis?'

'You left her on her own? You idiot! How thick are you?'

'Quick, get out of there!' I hissed at the others. Euan, Demelza, Julie, Stewart and Wes all ran out of the cell. I followed. 'Come on, follow me.' I ran ahead of them towards the door. 'We've got to –'

I came to a stop at the doorway. The five younger students skidded to a stop behind me.

'And where d'you think you're going?' growled the voice of Amycus. He and Alecto blocked our way out of the room. His eyes roved over us all. 'Well, well, the little rats are out of their cage. And once again Lewis is the ringleader.'

'Stay behind me,' I told them. I raised my wand and pointed it at Amycus and Alecto.

'You really think you're going to escape us again, you little snake,' sneered Alecto. 'You have nowhere to run.'

Alecto did have a point. The only way out of the room was through the door she and her brother were currently blocking. There was no way for us to get passed them.

'Five brats and you against two Death Eaters, and no stairs to destroy this time,' finished Alecto. 'You're trapped.'

'No she isn't!' shouted a voice from behind, followed by two shouting, '_Stupefy!_'

A red light flashed behind Amycus and Alecto. It hit the pair of them and they keeled over. Behind them I saw Neville and Seamus. Both had various cuts on their faces but were both pointing their wands at the Death Eaters. Relief swept over me.

'Let's go!' shouted Neville.

We didn't need telling twice. The five younger students and I ran out of the room with Neville and Seamus in the lead. We ran the length of the room towards the stairs leading out of the dungeon. We had to get out of here. I glanced behind me to see Amycus and Alecto were beginning to stir.

'Stop them!' shrieked Alecto's voice. They started to chase us. 'Don't let them get away.'

'Keep going!' shouted Seamus.

Seamus ran ahead up the stairs. He reached the top and tried to yank open the door. Neville joined him and together they pulled it open. I stopped at the foot to make sure the five younger students were between us so we could protect them. To my left Amycus and Alecto were drawing their wands. Julie, the last of them, passed me. I followed quickly after her.

'_Crucio!_'

'_Impedimenta!_'

'Keep running!' shouted Neville. 'Get out of the dungeons! Try to get back to your common rooms!'

One by one the younger students ran through the door where Seamus and Neville were waiting. Lower down though Julie and I were doing our best to avoid the curses. They hit against the stairs causing parts of them to break apart and us to stumble. I grabbed Julie's hand to pull her onwards. She was tiring quickly. She was only a second year. Above us Seamus went after the others while Neville waited for us. Over my shoulder I saw Amycus and Alecto were starting up the stairs. We made it through the door at the top and into the corridor. Now we just had to get to the Entrance Hall where we'd be able to get out in the open.

'_Flagro!_' shrieked Alecto.

Julie screamed. I stopped and looked back as the green whip had caught her around the ankles, burning them. She fell to the ground in pain. Instantly Neville and I turned back and ran down to her. Neville picked her up on his back and continued up the corridor while I tried to hold of Amycus and Alecto. Their curses kept coming. I blocked them so Neville and Julie could escape. The door to the Entrance Hall was just at the top of another staircase. Amycus and Alecto were just behind us.

'_Incurro!_'

I wasn't quick enough to block that jinx. I felt the Trip Jinx hit the back of my legs, throwing me forwards. My knee hit the edge of the stone stair hard, cutting through my jeans. I gasped in pain. Neville stopped and looked back at me.

'Go!' I shouted at him. 'Don't worry about me! Get Julie out of here!'

Neville nodded and ran on. I pushed myself up and got back to my feet. I ignored the pain and ran after him. I could feel the blood trickling down my leg, my knee throbbing. Neville was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. Amycus and Alecto's heavy footsteps were seconds behind us. We ran into the Entrance Hall and started for the marble staircase. I ran onwards in case I had to fend off Amycus and Alecto. They burst out of the dungeon staircase and looked around for us. They saw we were on the marble staircase.

'_Crucio!_' screamed Alecto shrilly.

The spell hit Neville. He stumbled to the ground, his grip on Julie faltering. However, he didn't scream. I watched as he fought the curse, pushing himself up the stairs. I saw the determination in his face to go on. Momentarily I froze unable to think of how to help him. If I used my shield which would protect him I would be discovered. Not much else was known to block the Cruciatus Curse apart from the person's own will. Unless –

'_Stupefy!_'

I sent a Stunner at Amycus and Alecto. Amycus dived out of the way but Alecto was concentrating on Neville. It hit her square in the chest. At that moment I thought we were in the clear. The curse broke and Neville was able to get back to his feet. We ran off. We reached the changing staircase with no sounds of Amycus or Alecto following us. There was no sign of Seamus and the others. By now the both of us were desperate for air having run so much but the adrenaline kept us going. We finally stopped due to exhaustion on the third floor, both of us panting hard. The staircases weren't especially easy to climb at walking pace. Running was terrible. I was impressed though that Neville had kept going. I looked across at him to see he was really red in the face.

'Here,' I panted, trying to ignore the stitch in my side and the pain in my knee, '_Anapneo_.' I pointed my wand at Neville's chest. His breathing began to ease. I then did the same to myself, feeling my breathing slow down. 'That's better.'

'I wouldn't get too comfy,' breathed Neville. He pointed down to the corridor entrance between here and the Entrance Hall. My heart sank. Amycus and Alecto were there, wands drawn and pointing at us. Neville and I got up. They started up the first staircase. 'Here they come!'

Neville pushed me to the floor next to Julie as a curse was thrown at us. We just missed it. The curse smashed into the wall, bits of stone and wood exploding from it. The inhabitants of the portrait it hit ran screaming from their frame.

'RUN!' bellowed Neville.

Neville picked up Julie again and the pair of us ran for it. Amycus and Alecto followed, firing curse after hex after curse at us. Their bombardment of spells was endless. It was like Muggle machinegun fire. All along the staircase and wall we ran up bits of it were exploding from the impact of the curses. They didn't care at all about destroying half the school. Then and now Neville and I had to duck to avoid the debris; Julie was clutching on to Neville, terrified. We reached the fourth floor. I stopped for a moment and looked back. Amycus and Alecto were reaching the second. Neville shouted my name and I hurried after him. We got to the middle of the next when the staircase decided to change. Neville and I stumbled as it jerked alive. Quickly I sprinted up the last few steps on to the fifth floor platform just as the banister disappeared into the wall so the stairs could pull away, Neville still on them.

'Kayla, catch Julie!'

Neville quickly got Julie off his back. Hands on her waist, he helped throw her forwards. I reached out and caught her, pulling her on to the platform out of the way. I checked she was all right; Julie was shaking in terror. I told her to keep going to the seventh floor corridor and look for the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. With her running off, I looked up to see the stairs start to move away.

'Neville, come on!' I shouted. 'Before the stairs get too far away! Jump! You can do it, I know you can!'

Amycus and Alecto were making fast progress up the stairs below us. With a quick look down at them, Neville backed away to get a run up. I moved back as well so he'd have space to land. As fast as he could Neville ran to the top of the stairs, jumped on to the banister and jumped for the platform as the staircase pulled away completely. It looked like he was going to make it but at the last moment I saw he wasn't. With all his strength Neville held on to the edge of the platform.

'Neville!'

'Kayla, help me!' he shouted. 'I – I can't hold on much longer!'

I ran forwards to help him. At the same time, I heard Amycus shout, 'There they are! _Stupefy!_'

'_Confringo!_'

The spells hit the wall just above me, I was forced to duck. Bits of stone and wood splintered on top of me and Neville.

'Kayla!' His grip was slipping. Looking down I saw the staircase below also change position. There was nothing below him for two floors. 'Kayla, help me!'

His hands slipped further. I tried to get up but again my knee stopped me from the pain. I reached out a hand for Neville to grab. He tried to pull himself up further but he didn't have the strength. At the same moment Amycus threw another curse and it hit his back. He screamed from the pain and his hands lost their grip.

'NEVILLE!'

Without thinking of the consequences, I leapt to my feet and jumped off the platform after Neville. I instantly thought of a phoenix and transformed. I dove after Neville. As soon as I was close enough I grabbed on to his jacket with my talons. Flapping hard I slowed us down until I was able to fly back up to the stairs. I hovered above it and let go of him. Neville landed shakily on the platform. I landed beside him and transformed back.

'Are you all right?' I asked, kneeling beside him.

'I am,' breathed Neville. 'But you won't be.'

Neville pointed at me and I realised what he meant. I'd broken the spell by transforming! Below us Amycus and Alecto were staring at me from the third floor. Neville and I stood up and started to back away.

'It's the Black girl!' shrieked Alecto. 'She's in the castle!'

Suddenly a siren started in the castle. Neville and I jumped. I simply froze. I looked around in fear, wondering what was going to happen next. Pictures of Dementors swooping in on the castle floated into my head filling my heart with dread; I didn't want to go to Azkaban, I didn't want to face them again. Already the ghosts were floating through the walls of the castle to see what was going on. If it had roused the ghosts, it meant that it had certainly roused the students and other teachers.

'Jenna!' I looked behind me to see Neville had already started up the stairs. 'What are you waiting for? Run!'

I looked down at Amycus and Alecto. They were already starting up the stairs between the third and fourth floor. I moved back as they started to fire their curses again, turning to run. I caught up with Neville and we ran up the remaining staircases. Students were slowly appearing at the various levels to see what was going on. When I checked behind me for any oncoming spells my eyes saw someone at the foot of the changing staircase; Malfoy was watching me worriedly. Our eyes met briefly before I turned and ran on. Neville and I reached the end of the seventh floor staircase. We turned into the corridor and headed towards the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. Ahead we saw Gryffindors in the corridor who'd come to see what was going on. Lavender and Parvati were amongst them.

'Get back to the Tower!' Neville shouted at them. 'Don't let Amycus or Alecto catch you!'

'What about you?' shouted Parvati.

'Don't worry about us! Just get to the Tower. I'll let you know when!'

I didn't know or care what Neville meant by that. I just kept running. I saw the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and opposite it stood Seamus with the door of the Room of Requirement open. A few more feet and we were in the safety of the room. I only slowed once I was deep inside it, collapsing down on one of the cushions. My heart was racing and I couldn't breathe properly, I was so tired. Beside me Neville was already speaking to Seamus besides also being knackered. As my breathing steadied I sat up on my elbows staring at the sofa. They knew I was here. It would be a matter of time before I would be seeing the dark corridors of Azkaban.

'Jenna, you all right?' asked Seamus, him and Neville coming to join me. I couldn't reply as I was still panting.

After a few more minutes, I sat up properly and said, 'Yeah, I'm fine.' I sat round to face them, wincing as my knee ached. 'Well, apart from my knee.' I saw the rip in my jeans was drenched in blood. I pointed my wand at it and said, '_Diffindo._' My jeans tore. I saw I had a deep cut on my knee. 'Nice. What about you?' I then asked, looking between the other two. 'Did everyone get away?'

The pair of them both had various cuts and bleed over their face and arms. Merlin knows what Alecto had done to them.

'Yeah,' said Seamus. 'Euan and Demelza got back to Gryffindor Tower while I made sure the two Ravenclaws got back to theirs.'

'What about Julie?' I asked.

'Seamus sent her down the passage,' said Neville. I looked at him strangely. Neville pointed at the far corner where a small cupboard sat. 'There's a passage behind it which leads to a different part of the castle each day. Luckily today the passage led to somewhere near the first floor so it wouldn't be too hard for her to get back to her common room.'

I nodded, glad they were all OK. However, I then sighed, regretting so much coming back here.

'What's up?' asked Neville.

'I'm so sorry,' I said, shaking my head. 'I shouldn't have tried to break them out.' I got up and walked away. 'I should never have come here. All I've done is cause trouble.'

'What are you talking about?' said Neville. He got up and came over to me. 'You managed to free five kids from Merlin knows what punishments Amycus and Alecto had in store for them. You saved me. If that's causing trouble then I want you to do more of it.'

'Neville, all I bring is bad luck,' I said. 'You would not believe what I've done in the last nine months, and none of it I can take back. I destroy everything that's close to me. People get hurt because of me and I do not want to be responsible for anymore pain.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Seamus.

I didn't reply. My mind had instantly turned to what happened at Shell Cottage. My fight with Lupin and what had happened between me and Harry. Our last conversation replayed itself in my head.

'It doesn't matter,' I muttered. 'It's in the past. I can't change what I did and I can't go back. But I can't stay here either. Too many people will get hurt.'

'Then where will you go?' asked Neville. He stared pointedly at me, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows raised. 'You say you can't go back yet you say can't stay here, so where will you run away to now?'

'I'm not running away,' I replied, nettled.

'Could have fooled me,' said Neville.

'And what's that suppose to mean?' I asked. 'And what do you mean "run away to now"?'

'You've run away before.' How did Neville know that. I stared at him, shocked he knew. 'Dean said you ran away from where he and Luna are staying because of an argument with Lupin,' answered Neville. 'And after your dad died during the summer. Harry told me.'

'What else has Harry told you?' I asked.

'Nothing that's important,' shrugged Neville, 'not now at least. What _is_ important is that you remember what you said to me when you got here. You asked us, the _DA_, who's going to protect people? The half-bloods, families, friends, everyone who needs it? Not Harry, he's got enough on his shoulders; not the younger students, they can barely fight properly; not the adults, half are too scared to do so. That left us. The older students and the teachers and the first step was to protect the younger students and show them all is not lost.'

I stared speechlessly at Neville. He'd remembered what I'd said?

'You said that,' continued Neville. 'Jenna, you're one of the strongest fighters I've ever seen and if you run away, then the younger students won't have a chance, especially not now. So you've made mistakes, everyone does. If you've done wrong things in the past then correct them now. We need your help. Don't desert us.'

My eyes flicked away from Neville and Seamus as his words sunk in. I had said all that. We were the only ones who could protect the younger students. No one else would fight. If I left, particularly now Amycus and Alecto know I'm here, then they would interrogate everyone I know until they find me. I couldn't let more students get punished because of me but I couldn't leave them to fend for themselves.

'You're right.'

'What?'

'You're right, Neville.' I looked up at him. 'I can't go back to right what I've done. But I can make sure I don't make the same mistake again. I'm staying.'

Neville and Seamus grinned at me. I grinned back. I wasn't going anywhere, not this time.

According to Parvati and Lavender, the news of Jenna Black being back in the castle spread very fast. Because Neville, Seamus and I now had to remain in the Room of Requirement because of what happened on Saturday, we relied on Parvati and Lavender for news. They'd sneak to the Room after school to tell us what's been happening. Amycus and Alecto were looking for me everywhere. Neville and Seamus were also wanted for aiding me. Sounded a bit like they'd committed a Muggle crime. Anyway, we now all forced to lie low in the Room. Luckily it provided the essentials we needed, a place to sleep and stuff. But as the week progress we saw that my appearance had done more than simply anger Amycus and Alecto.

Over the next week we heard of more and more students, mostly DA members, beginning to fight back against Amycus and Alecto. We heard stories of various anti-Dark Lord posters and propaganda appearing in the castle and of riots and pranks being played throughout the castle. The students were rebelling. And each night more and more members of the DA would appear at the Room in order to go into hiding. Amycus and Alecto were on the war path and were now threatening any student who so much as mentioned the DA or Harry Potter so more were looking for refuge. The Room was more than happy to accommodate us, creating more and more beds and supplies for us to use. By Thursday that week the remaining original members of the DA were all living there.

It was no longer safe for any of them to go to class so all our opportunities to cause trouble were left for night time. Of course, we needn't have worried because Peeves was more than willing to make up for it during the day. In a small group we'd go to wherever the passage led to and graffiti the wall with a message while someone else snuck to the kitchen to get food. The system was simple enough to follow but over the week there were some close calls as the patrols on the corridors had tightened. Our only relief was if we were seen by any of the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff prefects, they let us go.

As for me, it wasn't safe under any circumstances for me to leave the Room of Requirement. That was Neville's orders, not my choice, but I had to admit he was right. I didn't particularly want to go to Azkaban. However, on Monday evening of the second week of May, I got a visitor I couldn't deny. A voice had sounded on the other side of the wall concealing the door to the Room of Requirement.

'I know you're in there, Longbottom!' it shouted.

It was Malfoy. I made for the door but Neville took my arm and held me back. Everyone else in the room had got up from their seats and had their wands drawn.

'What are you doing, Jenna?' he hissed at me. 'That's Malfoy! He's one of them!'

I looked between him and the wall. The only reason Malfoy would be coming here would be to find me, not to hand them in. Or at least, I hoped that was why he was here.

'Open up, Longbottom!' shouted Malfoy. I looked back at Neville but he shook his head. 'For fuck's sake, I'm not armed, Longbottom and I'm alone! Just let me speak to Jenna! I know she's in there!'

'Why would he want to speak to you?' asked Neville.

'Because I owe him my life,' I replied. 'He helped me escape Bellatrix.'

'That doesn't mean he won't hand you over now,' said Neville. 'Can you really trust him?'

'Let me speak to her! I know she's there!'

Malfoy was getting impatient. I looked back at the blank wall. There was a chance that Neville was right but … but would Malfoy hand me over to the Death Eaters when all he's really done is look out for me? He saved me and he told me to be careful before my detention.

'I'm going to have to,' I said.

Neville looked at me warily but released his grip on my arm. I gave him a reassuring smile then walked over to the blank wall where the door to the Room of Requirement usually appeared. I put my hand on the stone and leaned near to it to listen for Malfoy.

'Draco?'

'Jenna?'

'Yeah, it's me.'

'Come out,' he said. 'I need to speak to you.'

'I can't,' I replied. 'It's too dangerous now Amycus and Alecto know I'm here.'

'But it's important.'

'Draco, I –'

'Jenna, please. I really need to speak to you, I –' I hesitated. A part of me wanted to speak to him while another was telling me not to. 'I just want to know you're all right,' he whispered. 'Please.'

I remained silent for a few moments as I thought it through, then said, 'Where, when and for how long?'

'Meet me at the Astronomy Tower platform. In half an hour. I swear it won't be for that long.' I hesitated a second time. The Astronomy Tower was out in the open. I could get seen. 'Please, Jenna?'

'All right,' I replied. 'Half an hour.'

Neville and the others thought I was mad for agreeing to meet Malfoy. I have to say I doubted myself the reason in which I'd agreed to meet him. I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't hand me over to Amycus and Alecto. I'd just have to risk it. At quarter to nine while everyone was practicing some defensive spells, I shimmered invisible and snuck out of the Room of Requirement. As quietly and as quickly as I could I walked to the Astronomy Tower. At every corner I stopped and checked for anyone in the corridors before carrying on. It took slightly longer than usual but I reached the Tower and walked up the stairs towards the door leading to the platform. I pushed it open to see Malfoy already standing there, his back facing me staring into the grounds. I let go of the Thestral's invisibility and reappeared.

'Draco?'

Malfoy turned round. I saw he was somewhat dishevelled. The beginnings of dark circles were under his eyes showing he'd had little sleep in the last couple of days while his white hair lay messily around his face. He stared at me for a moment or two before suddenly walking over to me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into an embrace. I tensed at it, not knowing what to do or how to react. After a few moments he let go.

'What part of "be careful" don't you understand?' he asked straight away. 'You could have got yourself killed!' I didn't reply. It merely enraged Malfoy more. 'You're – you're unbelievable, do you know that?' said Malfoy incredulously.

'Rings a bell,' I muttered.

'Amycus and Alecto are searching the whole castle for you,' Malfoy continued angrily. 'Do you know what trouble you've caused by releasing those kids? No one's tried to break out of their punishments since that twat Corner tried it! You already nearly exposed yourself when you pulled that stupid graffiti stunt but no, you have to go one further and completely blow the only fucking protection you had!'

I didn't appreciate Malfoy swearing at me nor the fact he was talking to me like some child.

'I got away, didn't I?' I said, cutting him off. 'I'm standing in front of you, aren't I?'

'That's not the point,' snapped Malfoy.

'What is then?' I asked. 'Why do you care so much what I do? You never have before.'

Malfoy didn't reply, instead letting out an irritated sigh and walking away. I remained where I was, watching him. He walked over to the wall surrounding the platform. He rested his hands on it and looked out over the grounds. The sun was slowly beginning to sink in the distance. A weird shriek also sounded. Someone must have broken curfew down in the village. After a few minutes, Malfoy spoke again.

'You've seen what it's like to watch loved ones get hurt. You've seen people you love die in front of you. You know what it's like to lose someone you love.' I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. I didn't like where this was going. Malfoy stood straight and looked over his shoulder at me. 'I didn't ask to feel like this. Hell, if it could have been anyone, I wouldn't have picked you. You don't see how much you hurt people who love you! But still you go ahead and just risk your life, not caring how it affects them!'

Boy, that's one way to win a girl's affections, isn't it?

'I hate feeling this way!' said Malfoy. 'I don't want to feel these things for you but as long as I do, then I'll end up worrying about you! The least you could do is not ignore it!'

'I told you, I can't change who I am just like that and I won't,' I replied. 'And if you can't accept that then there's nothing more which can be said.'

Malfoy glared at me, then said, 'Then maybe I should have let Bellatrix kill you. Certainly would have been a relief for the werewolf.'

I gasped at Malfoy's words. A stab went straight through my heart.

'How dare you,' I breathed. 'You have no right to say that at all! You don't know him! If Bellatrix had killed me, Lupin would have lost everything! Letting Bellatrix take me was the hardest thing he ever –'

I stopped. It was hardest thing he'd ever done. I was everything to him. It would have hurt him more to let me go then it ever would hurt me to watch him do it.

'Lupin cared for me more than anything, more than I could ever know … and I threw it away. Letting Bellatrix take me must have torn him apart and I couldn't see it. I-I couldn't see it.' I fell back against the door, sliding down it. I stared numbly at the ground. 'I threw it away because I was so wrapped up in my own pain that I couldn't see how it had hurt him … How I hurt him.'

I swallowed. What had I done? I'd thrown away my family for nothing. And it was too late to go back. I blinked, a tear rolling down my cheek. I cursed myself for what I did. If I had just listened to him instead of being so selfish then maybe I'd still be with him. I should have listened to him!

_If you ever change your mind, my door is always open … And if you still don't believe me about what happened, just look at my memories …_

His memories. I still had them. I opened the back pocket of my bag and searched inside it. I pulled out a small phial of a silvery liquid. Lupin's memories. I couldn't listen to him but I could still see what he'd felt.

'I need to get into Snape's office.'

'What?' Malfoy looked at me strangely.

'I need to get into Snape's office,' I repeated. 'I have to use Dumbledore's Pensieve. I have to look at Lupin's memories.'

'Are you trying to get yourself captured?' asked Malfoy. 'Did you not listen to anything I just said?'

'Yes, I did,' I said. 'But this is more important. If I don't look at these memories then I could lose my family forever. You have to me get into that office.' I got up and walked over to Malfoy. 'Draco, you must know the password. You were one of Snape's favourite students. You've got to help me.' Malfoy looked at me unconvinced. 'Please, do this for me. I came out here for you, you've got to get me into that office. Please.'

I waited for Malfoy's answer. I had to get into that office, I just had to!

'I must be mental for doing this,' he muttered. 'I'll help you get in but I'm not hanging around. Once you're in there, you're on your own.'

'Fine.'

Malfoy looked at his watch.

'It's nine o'clock. Snape usually holds a staff meeting on Monday night. Come on.'

The corridors were empty as we the two of us made our way towards Dumbledore's old office. When we came to the stone gargoyle that guarded it Malfoy said the password to activate it. The gargoyle disappeared as the staircase started up the tower. There Malfoy left me and I hurried up the stairs. I checked the door for any Locking Spells to find some were present on the lock. However, there wasn't an Impervious Charm on it. Checking no one was coming I recalled Dumbledore's office and vanished into fire, reappearing seconds later inside it.

The office was dark. The only light was from the setting sun through the window and some dimly glowing candles floating around the room. Fawkes' perch stood empty in the corner while the tables still had their silver instruments whirring on them. All the portraits of the previous Heads were dozing in their portraits. Quietly I began to look for where Dumbledore kept his Pensieve. It didn't seem to be anywhere.

'I believe you'll find what you're looking for in the cabinet on the far left.'

I stopped and looked up. Not all the portraits were asleep. Looking down on me through his half-moon spectacles, eyes glinting softly, Professor Dumbledore sat in his chair with his fingers together at the tips in front of him as he observed me. I looked at the cabinet he had referred to then back at him.

'How did you know I was after your Pensieve?' I asked.

'Portraits communicate faster with each other than an owl can deliver a letter, Miss Black,' said Professor Dumbledore lightly. 'Portraits are some of the worse gossipers known in the wizarding world.'

'Er, right. I'm just going to do what I came here to do, Professor.'

Dumbledore nodded curtly then sat back in his chair. I turned towards the cabinet he said had the Pensieve in it. I let out a breath of bemusement and walked over to it. Dumbledore could be very spooky sometimes with the amount of things he knew. I opened the cabinet. Inside it stood a large stone basin covered in runes. The basin itself was empty.

I took out Lupin's memories from my pocket and uncorked them. I poured them into the basin. They changed instantly from the liquid in the phial to a strange substance that seemed neither liquid or gas. Now what do I do? I'd never used a Pensieve before. I took out my wand and gently ran it over the surface. Nothing happened. On closer inspection though I saw the memories begin to swirl on their own. There was a vague image in the ripples. I leant forwards for a closer look. The image slowly became clearer.

My feet suddenly left the floor and I fell into the memories. I closed my eyes and screamed as I continued to fall. It was such a weird sensation. I landed with an odd thump on a floor that wasn't in Dumbledore's office. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a place I didn't recognise at all. It was someone's living room in a flat by the looks of it. There was no one here. I got up. Where was I?

'You're what?' shouted a voice.

I jumped. That had been Lupin's voice. A door burst open and a girl no older than eighteen walk into the room. I gasped when I saw her. She had long auburn hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. My eyes. It was my Mum. Just behind her I saw a younger Lupin stride in the room after her. His hair was longer, the odd flecks of grey in it, and tied back in a ponytail while his face showed no signs of age at all. He followed Mum into the living room. He had an angry look on his face as he shouted at her. Neither had noticed me.

'Tala, you're eighteen!' he raged. 'How could you be so stupid?'

'It's not something I planned, Remus,' said Tala. 'It just happened.'

'Getting pregnant is not something that just happens, Tala!' he snapped. 'Did you even stop and think what you were doing? You have your whole life ahead of you, you've only just finished Hogwarts and already you're ruining all your chances!'

'You're making it sound like it's some terrible crime I've committed,' said Tala. She glared defiantly at her brother. Well I could see where I got that from. 'It's a baby, Remus, not an Unforgivable Curse. It was an accident, yes, but that doesn't mean I regret it!'

'Exactly! It was an accident! And if you'd stopped and thought then it could have been avoided! You are eighteen years old, for Merlin's sake, Tala. You are too young to have a child!'

'So what do you want me to do?' asked Tala. 'I can't hide the fact I'm pregnant forever. I've already used a Stalling Potion once and I'll start showing eventually.'

'You can't keep it, if that's what you're thinking,' said Remus straight out. 'You're not responsible enough –'

'You're not suggesting I get an abortion, are you?' gasped Tala. She stared shocked at Lupin. 'Remus, think about what you're asking me to do. You did Muggle Studies. You're asking me to terminate a baby. To kill a living thing! I could never do that.'

'I won't let you throw your life away for a baby when you have plenty of time for one later.'

'There won't be a later,' said Tala. 'Not if Voldemort gets his way.'

'That's not the point,' replied Lupin, frustrated. 'You are too young to have a baby, Tala. Mum and Dad would say exactly the same –'

'Mum and Dad aren't here anymore,' snapped Tala. 'When are you going to accept that and accept the fact I'm not a kid anymore? I can make my own decisions. And I'm keeping this baby whether you like it or not. You can't stop me, Remus. It's my child, it's my choice.'

The scene in front of me dissolved to be replaced by another. This time I knew where I was. I was in a corridor in St Mungo's. In front of me was a closed door. I walked over to it and looked through the window. Mum was in there. She was lying in a hospital bed. She wasn't moving. Instantly I made to open the door but found I passed straight through it. Slightly disturbed by it I went over to the bed. Mum was unconscious.

The door opened behind me. Lupin and a Healer came into the room.

'How is she?' asked Lupin. He seemed older this time, more grey colour in his hair and the traces of dark circles under his eyes.

'Your sister's remarkably strong,' replied the Healer. 'Not many can take the kind of punishment Lestrange dishes out. We've healed her wounds and given her a Blood-Replenishing Potion to replace the blood she's lost but she could be out for a few hours.'

'What about the baby?' asked Lupin next. 'Tala – she'd be devastated if she's lost it.'

'The baby's alive,' replied the Healer. Lupin let out a sigh of relief. 'The curse didn't hit the area where it is growing, however, the attack has increase the risk of miscarriage. We'll know for sure the baby's chances in a few hours.'

'No, Tala, she – she can't lose it,' said Lupin. I could hear the desperation in his voice. 'There must be something you can do to improve the odds.'

'I'm sorry, there isn't. You'll just have to wait.'

The Healer left the room. Lupin turned and looked down at Mum. I watched as he walked passed me and sat beside her on the bed. He took her hand and held it tightly. He placed his other on her stomach as if he was feeling for the baby.

The scene vanished to be replaced by a third, once again in St Mungo's but in a different area. There were voices coming from down the corridor. I walked down it following the noise. I came to a door. I went inside. Mum was lying in another bed, this time awake. Dad was beside her, his arm wrapped round her shoulders. He kissed her cheek and looked down. I followed his gaze to see a small baby in a pink blanket in her arms. The door opened behind me and, right on cue, in came Lupin. He stood awkwardly at the door, watching Mum and Dad.

'Remus,' said Sirius jovially, greeting him. He got up and walked over to him. They embraced like brothers. 'Thought you were never going to get here.'

'I wouldn't have missed this for the world,' said Lupin. 'Tala would have killed me if I had.' The pair of them laughed. They then turned and walked over to the bed where Mum was. 'So,' continued Lupin. 'Is this her?'

'Yeah,' said Tala quietly. She shifted the baby in her arms to show Lupin. 'This is your niece. Jennifer May Black. Jenna.'

Lupin was speechless. He just moved forwards and gently took me from Mum. He held me closely to his chest. His brown eyes gazed down on me. Nervously he moved his hand and began to run his finger over my cheek. A smile appeared on his face as I reached out and grabbed his finger. I was so small.

'Jenna,' he breathed. I let out a yawn, opening my eyes. The current me just watched. Someone who had insisted Mum had got an abortion had changed so much. 'Jenna,' breathed Lupin again. He seemed so overwhelmed. 'I'll be the best uncle you'll ever have. I am never going to let anything happen to you, never.'

The memory changed again. Once again I found myself somewhere I didn't recognise. There was a door slightly ajar in front of me. Voices were coming from behind it. I walked over to the door. I leant close to it to listen in. There were two voices, both male. It was Dad and Lupin. Dad's voice was strained. I didn't need to guess what they were talking about.

'They … they didn't show her mercy. I was too late.'

'W-what? No, Sirius, it can't be – tell me she's not –'

'I'm sorry, Remus. They killed her.'

Lupin's shout echoed in my head as the memory vanished. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms round my waist. Lupin and Mum had been so close and she was taken from him. How did he react when he found out I went missing. I soon found out.

The memory took place in Dumbledore's office. Lupin sat in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. His face was in his hands and he was hunched over in his seat. He was crying. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his face neutral.

'First Tala … then James and Lily … and now Jenna … How could – how could Sirius do it?' burst Lupin. He jumped from his seat. 'How could he betray his friends? How could he betray Tala? He said she meant everything to him! James and Lily were his best friends! How could he hand them over?'

'These are questions to which there are no answers, Remus,' said Professor Dumbledore.

'That's not good enough!' shouted Lupin. 'What about Jenna? She's a baby! Are you just going to sit there? She's still out there! We have to find her!'

'Our main concern at the moment is the welfare of Harry,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'The loss of your niece is unfortunate but we have to ensure first that Harry is accepted at his aunt and uncle's.'

'That's _your_ concern,' snapped Lupin. He turned away from Dumbledore's desk. He strode over to the door. '_I_ have to find Jenna.'

Another memory, another time. This one was years later and one I already knew. The day Lupin had adopted me. He, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were all sitting in Matron's office at The Refuge. Lupin had an anxious look on his face and was twisting his hands in his lap. His eyes were focused on the door. A few moments later it opened and in came Matron, a little girl by her side. I couldn't believe how different I looked. Lupin's eyes fell on me instantly.

_Jenna_ … A voice echoed in the memory. Lupin's thoughts.

'Jennifer, this is Mr Dumbledore, Mr Lupin and Ms McGonagall,' said Matron. 'They have come to talk to you privately. I'll just leave Jennifer with you.'

I watched as I asked Matron not to go. She did leaving me alone with the three adults. As the scene progressed I kept my eyes on Lupin. While Dumbledore spoke to me Lupin's eyes remained fixed on where I was. Then, like I remembered, he got up and came over to me. He bent down and looked right into my eyes, observing me.

'Long hair, black, blue eyes. Hmm,' Lupin mused. 'Just how I thought you'd look. Just like she looked.'

_It's her, I know it is. She couldn't be anyone else. I've found her at last._

However I saw my reaction was not one Lupin had wanted. I was frightened. I watched as I backed away from the three adults. I didn't want to hear lies about my family. Lupin approached me and I was surrounded by my shield. I saw it and snatched my hands away.

'Jenna, it's all right,' said Lupin gently. He ran his hand over my cheek. 'We've come to take you away. Take you to where you belong.'

'Where do I belong?' the young me asked him.

'With me, in the wizarding world. You're my sister's daughter and I've come to get you. I've been looking for you all your life since you went missing. Your dad, Sirius, asked me to keep searching for him while he had some … _things_ to do.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'Because you have the things I sent you.' He held up the picture. 'You have her eyes. The strange things that have been happening to you is your magic. You're a witch, Jenna.'

Lupin waited for me to say I believed him. I still needed convincing though so he showed me the letter from Mum. I read it silently before crouching down on the floor in tears. Lupin watched me with a soft expression on his face. It then lit up when I said I believed them. I ran off to get my things leaving Lupin with Dumbledore and McGonagall. They left the office and waited for me in the main hall. When I came back Lupin's eyes lit up when he saw me. With a goodbye to Matron I ran over to Lupin and he picked me up. The memory changed as we left the orphanage.

Another few years had passed since that first meeting. I was standing outside Moonlake Cottage. It was dark. A wand light was flickering in the distance. I could hear Lupin's voice calling my name. It was the night I'd ran away after fifth year. I watched the wand light run over the hills around our home until Lupin came back to the house. I followed him inside to the living room where he collapsed down on the sofa, dishevelled and tired.

'She's gone. I let you down, Tala. She's gone … Jenna …'

A more recent memory appeared next. I stood amongst the chaos caused by the Death Eaters at Bill and Fleur's wedding. People were running everywhere to get out of the protection barriers. Death Eaters were firing curses to stop them. Ahead of me I saw Lupin trying to protect the guests so they could escape. Suddenly I heard a scream. Both Lupin and I looked up. There I stood with Bellatrix behind me, her wand pointed under my chin.

'_LESTRANGE!_'

Lupin ran straight for Bellatrix. I followed. Lupin's shout roused Tonks' attention along with Bill and Mr Weasley. They shouted for him to stop but Lupin didn't listen. He drew out his wand and aimed it at Bellatrix. She saw him. She ordered me to raise my shield but I didn't listen. Bellatrix removed her wand from under my chin and pointed it at Lupin.

'_Stupefy!_'

'_Avada _–'

'NO!'

My shield surrounded Bellatrix and me. The spell collided with my shield. Lupin cast a Shield Charm to protect himself and Tonks. The spell was deflected.

'There's a good cub,' said Bellatrix silkily. 'Now let's see what the werewolf wants …'

'Give me Jenna, right now,' said Lupin calmly. Bellatrix didn't reply. She merely smiled. 'Release my niece!' Again Bellatrix didn't respond. 'RELEASE HER!' bellowed Lupin.

Bellatrix didn't comply. I watched as the scene played out. Two more Death Eaters appeared at her side as she threatened to kill him. She ordered him to lower his wand. Lupin did as Bellatrix said and threw his wand at the ground.

'I'm unarmed,' he said. 'Now give Jenna to me.' Bellatrix laughed.

'Ooh, I don't know,' she giggled. 'She's a lovely bargaining tool …'

Tonks made forwards to get me but Lupin threw his arm out in front of her.

'Don't!' he said warningly. 'If you make a move, Lestrange will kill her.'

Bellatrix laughed again. He shouted that he wouldn't hand me over but that only gave Bellatrix the excuse to use the Cruciatus Curse on me. I begged her to stop. Lupin also shouted at her to do so. The spell was lifted and I collapsed in her arms.

'You have a choice, werewolf,' said Bellatrix. 'Renounce your claim over this girl and leave her with me or I'll kill her.' She pointed her wand at my chest. 'Here and now in front of you.'

I looked across at Lupin. He was staring at Bellatrix and the other me. The fear on his face was so clear.

_Bellatrix will kill her if I refuse but I can't let Bellatrix take her. She'll kill her if I give her over. And if I don't, Bellatrix will kill me. I can't let Jenna see me die, it'll destroy her. There must be a way._ Lupin's eyes met mine. _I have no other options. I have to let her go to protect her. But … Jenna escaped her once. Please let her be able to do it again._

'Lupin,' I breathed. 'Please … don't …'

'I have no choice,' replied Lupin.

Within seconds of it happening, Bellatrix had Disapparated with me. Lupin ran forwards in a last desperate attempt to save me but it was too late. He stared at the place where I'd been seconds before. He let out a shout and fell to the ground, tears in his eyes. Tonks ran over to him. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off. He got back to his feet and walked away.

'Remus?' said Tonks. 'Where are you going? Remus?' Tonks ran after Lupin but he wouldn't listen. 'Remus, stop! Where are you going?'

'Where d'you think I'm going?' he shouted at her. 'I'm going after Jenna!'

'Remus, you can't!' shouted Tonks. 'Bellatrix will kill her if you do!' She stood in front of Lupin to stop him. He just pushed passed her. 'You'll put her in more danger if you go after her! Remus, please! Don't do this!'

'I'm not going to sit around for news of her death!' shouted Remus.

'You can't leave.'

'Why the hell not? I'm not leaving Jenna to fend for herself, not again!'

Lupin made ready to Disapparate. Tonks started after him desperately.

'Because I'm pregnant!' Lupin spun round. He stared at her speechless. 'I'm pregnant, Remus,' repeated Tonks. She looked like she was going to cry. 'I can't do this without you.'

'No,' breathed Lupin. He shook his head, taking a step away from Tonks. 'Don't make me choose …'

'Remus –'

A crack. The memory disappeared for the last time as Lupin Disapparated and Dumbledore's office came back into view. It took me a moment to realise. I looked round then back at the memories. Lupin cared about me more than I realised. He regretted so much letting me go and I threw it back in his face. He'd even made to leave Tonks just as he'd found at she was pregnant because of me. But he had to do it to protect me. I sighed and picked up the phial to replace his memories.

A noise sounded behind me. I spun round to face the door. My heart sank.

'Black.' Snape's eyes were staring at me. I swallowed and moved back from the Pensieve. 'What a pleasant surprise.'

* * *

**AN: it's been a long time but here's the next chapter. hope you enjoyed it and do leave a review and thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. cheers. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	44. Life and Death

Chapter 43

Life and Death

I backed further away from Snape so that Dumbledore's desk separated us. Snape stepped away from the door. He casually flicked his wand at it. The door locked. He then moved nearer to me, his black cloak billowing behind him, his black eyes observing me. I made a move to draw my wand. Snape was faster though and pointed his wand at me. He stepped closer; I moved round the table so it remained between us. I had to get nearer to the door.

'This is pleasant,' sneered Snape. 'A wolf always does return to its pack, isn't that right, Black?' I started. I'd heard that in a premonition I got from him. 'It was clever of you to use an alias to get around the castle, asking Minerva to hide you,' Snape continued. 'Pity you weren't smart enough to follow Longbottom's advice and keep your _head_ _down_.'

Snape emphasised those two words. He was leaning forwards on the desk, fingertips splayed as he rested on them. His black eyes drove into me. I remained silent though. I wasn't going to rise to Snape's taunts like Dad would. I wasn't going to let him get to me.

'It was foolish of you to come back here, Black. What did you hope to achieve? Getting little children to fight a battle which cannot be won, which isn't theirs to fight? Helping Longbottom in his pointless crusade? All you achieved was inflaming the anger of the Carrows. You would have been better off hiding in whatever cave you crawled out of like that foolish father of yours.'

I clenched my hands. I gave Snape a look of deep hatred. Snape saw this. His thin lips twisted into a smirk.

'Just like your father,' he sneered. 'He could never take criticism either. He always had to be right even when he was blatantly in the wrong.'

'Shut up about my father,' I warned him. Snape smirked.

'Just as stubborn, just as rash, and just as foolish.'

In a split second I drew my wand. Snape was ready though. A jet of red light burst from his wand and he sent a Stunner at me. I threw myself to the ground just in time and it collided with the cabinet behind me. Rolling over, I fired a hex back at Snape. He blocked it easily with a flick of his wand. I tried again this time using a Stunner. Again Snape deflect it wordlessly. The Stunner was dispelled. I got back on my feet, my eyes not leaving Snape.

'My point proven!' spat Snape in disgust. 'Foolishness is what got your _father_ killed in the first place! If he hadn't have been so foolish to go to the Department of Mysteries after you and Potter then he'd still be here. Mark my words, Black, you are going to come to the same miserable demise your father met until you learn to think before you act!'

'_Stupefy!_'

Again Snape blocked it with a silent flick of his wand. Nothing would work. I had to get out of here but the door was locked. I looked around for any means of escape but other than trying to get pass Snape for the window at the back I had no options. There had to be a way out of here. My eyes travelled over Dumbledore's portrait. He was staring at me. What did he want me to do? Looking back at Snape I saw him move closer. I backed away, thinking quickly.

'You're in way over you wand, Black,' said Snape quietly. 'Perhaps now you'll learn that doing things your own way won't work forever.'

'I dunno,' I replied, shrugging. I put my wand in my pocket. I needed my hands free. 'It's worked for me in the past.'

Snape snorted.

'Times change. What worked one day won't necessarily work the next.'

'Well then there's no harm in trying.'

I thrust my hand out in front of me. My shield burst from it. Snape wasn't ready for that. He was thrown backwards off his feet and over Dumbledore's desk. He landed roughly on the floor. Quickly I ran for the door and took out my wand. I was about to say the spell when another flew past my face. I looked back. Snape was on his feet, his face full of hatred.

'I've been tolerant, I've resisted giving you the punishment you deserve,' he growled, 'but seeing as you're not a student anymore, I'll make an exception. _Stupefy!_'

I drew up my shield and blocked the spell. But that wasn't the only one Snape was going to fire at me. He sent one after another at me. He wasn't holding back and with each one my shield was getting weaker. I had no choice to drop it. As soon as it was gone Snape increased the attack. I ducked behind a pillar trying to think desperately of what to do.

'On the defensive, Black?' jeered Snape. 'Not like you. Don't your kind like to attack rather than block?' Anger burned in me. I was nothing like my family. 'Bella certainly always preferred to torture her victims. I hear you two are quite similar, ditching people when they need help the most. Yourself first and foremost, am I correct?'

'I am nothing like Bella!' I shouted. I came out from behind the pillar. I glared at Snape. 'I am nothing like her or my family!'

'Your appearance begs to differ,' sneered Snape. 'If Bella was here it would be like looking in a mirror.'

That did it for me. Without knowing if it would work I ran forwards thinking of the phoenix's escape. I disappeared into fire just as I was about to reach Snape but I remained in the office. A red haze surrounded me and I ran at Snape. I knocked passed him hard causing him to lose balance. I reappeared on the stairs. Snape span round but I disappeared again doing the same again. Snape overbalanced and fell to the floor. I appeared on the opposite side of the room. I watched as Snape struggled to his feet to see he still had his wand in his hand. Quickly I thought of the Thestral's invisibility and vanished. I remained as quiet as possible. Snape was looking around for me.

'I know you're still here, Black,' he said slowly. His black eyes roved over the room. I tensed as he glanced at the area I was. 'The Charm on the door is still active and I can hear you breathe.'

I tensed. My heavy breathing was going to give me away. Snape continued to look around. He took a step forwards raising his wand. Carefully I crept out from behind a table holding some of Dumbledore's machines. I had to try and get close enough to the door.

'Zonko …' whispered Snape softly. He looked round again. I took another step towards the door. 'Polo …'

Snape turned away from the door. I made a dash for it.

A pain started up my back and I froze. I fought to keep my mind straight to not lose the invisibility but I could feel myself flicker. I gasped, fighting the Cruciatus Curse. It was almost as strong as Bellatrix's. I looked to my left. Snape had his wand pointed at me, his eyes fixated on my flickering form.

'Stop it!' I gasped. 'Stop!'

'Severus!'

I looked across at Dumbledore's portrait. His eyes were focused pointedly on Snape, his eyebrows furrowed and fingertips together in his lap. Snape too looked at the portrait. Then, to my surprise, he released the spell. I fell to my knees coughing. I gave up the invisibility to regain some strength. When I'd regained my breath I looked through my hair at Snape. He was staring down in disgust at me.

'Why did you stop?' I asked. 'I would have thought you'd want to finish me off seeing as you didn't get the chance to finish my Dad. Bella beat you to it.'

Snape's glare darkened and he said, 'I have my reasons to spare you which are no concern of yours. And believe me, it would have been my greatest pleasure to put your father in his place but even I don't kill for revenge.' Snape flicked his wand at the door. It unlocked. He then turned away to the desk, his cloak sweeping behind him. 'Now get out of my office.'

My eyes remained on Snape for a moment then I glanced at Dumbledore's portrait. Snape had stopped because Dumbledore had spoken. I got to my feet and picked up my wand from the floor. With a last glance at Snape, I left the office. I hurried down the stairs. The sooner I was back at the Room of Requirement the better. However, I didn't bank on who'd be coming to Snape's office.

'You!' I froze, my eyes wide when I saw Alecto standing at the foot of the stairs. Shit. She whipped out her wand. 'You are _not_ getting away from me again!'

Doing the first thing that came into I thrust my hands forwards and my shield threw Alecto away from the alcove concealing the steps to Snape's office. Alecto was thrown across the corridor and landed on the ground several feet from me. While she was down I cast a variation of the Four-Point Spell to show me where the tunnel to the Room of Requirement was. Neville and Ginny had created it for the DA. The blue spark burst from my wand and shot down the corridor. Behind me Alecto was starting to get up. I didn't hang around. I transformed into a dog and darted after the spark. It would be too dangerous going to the main door of the Room. The passage was my only option.

I ran as fast as I could after the spark. Alecto followed. I could hear her footsteps thundering along behind me. The spark took a sharp left. I followed, skidding slightly on my paws as I ran round the corner. Down a couple of staircases, round a corner and through a corridor. I saw the spark was leading me somewhere on the fifth floor. I kept running until I saw the spark disappear through a wall. I skidded to a halt. What did I do now?

'Where is she?' shrieked Alecto's voice. I looked behind me to see her standing at the opposite end of the corridor. She looked at me. '_Stop!_'

It was between trying to get through the wall or being caught. I looked between the wall and Alecto. She was getting closer. Wall it is. I backed away from the wall for a run up then charged at it. I closed my eyes and leapt through it to find I passed through without any trouble. I landed on the other side and turned back round. There was a thump on the other side of the wall. Alecto must have run into it. Seeing that I was safe I raced off down the passage. There weren't as many turns and stairs as there had been previously but it still made you feel dizzy. When it got to a flat bit I sped up. Neville was probably worrying like mad about me.

I felt my face suddenly collide with something in the middle of the corridor. I tripped on my paws and fell forwards. My mind let go of the dog and I changed back. I sat up and shook my hair out of my face thinking, _What the hell was that?_

'Jenna?'

I looked up. My heart stopped. It was Harry! He and Luna were sprawled on the floor and just visible from underneath his Cloak. Instantly I scrambled to my feet to run but Harry lunged forwards and grabbed my wrist. I flinched and took in a sharp breath as images flooded my mind.

_Death Eaters marching on the castle … Students and teachers defending the castle … Hogwarts at war …_

'No!'

Out of desperation to stop the images I flung my arms out, inadvertently creating my shield around me. Harry's grasp on my wrist was released and he was thrown away from me. I looked up to see him struggling to his feet. He stared at me, panting slightly. Without a second's more thought I vanished. Now was not the time to face him about why I left, not after what I'd just seen. I just ran. I heard Harry yell after me but I had to find Neville. Down another few staircases and I saw the doors to the cupboard. I returned visible and pushed the doors open. The sight that met my eyes was not one I'd expected.

Ron and Hermione were both there standing next to Neville. When had they got here? Not only them but Dean and Luna were back as well as Fred, George and Lee, Cho Chang, and Ginny. I stood there momentarily paralyzed when Ginny's eyes turned on me but was spared the confrontation when Ron called my name.

'Jenna!' I looked over at them. I glanced back at Ginny then quickly walked over to them. 'So this is where you've been hiding?' said Ron grumpily. 'Nice to know you were going to run out on us.'

'It's not something I planned, Ron,' I replied. 'Things happened which I couldn't handle.' I saw Hermione give me a worried look out of the corner of my eye. I swallowed. Had Harry told her? 'You don't know what it's like to lose your family.'

Before Ron could retort, I turned to Neville.

'It's tonight,' I said. He looked at me strangely.

'What is?'

'The war. It's tonight and there's no way to stop it. You-Know-Who's going to attack the castle with an army of Death Eaters.'

Hermione gasped, Ron's jaw dropped open. A silence suddenly dropped over the Room. I looked around to see everyone staring at me. They must have heard me.

'How d'you know?' breathed Hermione.

'It doesn't matter how I know,' I said, irritated. 'What matters is that we get as many Order members here as possible. Anyone who can Apparate and know the location of any of the Order members have to get them and bring them here. Any old DA members too.'

'Leave that to us,' said Fred. He indicated him and George. 'We know where most of them are and Mum and Dad will know where the rest are. And I reckon Oliver and the others will be up for it. Be good to see the old Quidditch team again.'

They headed over to the portrait which joined the Room with the Hog's Head.

'We'll be back before you can say Weasley's Wizard Wheezes,' said George. He was certainly jovial since his ear-losing incident. 'See you in a spark.'

They disappeared into the passage, closing the portrait after them.

'Now what do we do, Jenna?' asked Parvati. 'What if they attack before the Order get here?'

'All we can do is wait,' I replied. I glanced out of the window briefly. Night had fully fallen. 'And if You-Know-Who arrives before them, then we fight.'

People exchanged looks with each other and looked worriedly at me. I stared back at them then walked over to the window. I had no more answers for them. All we could do was wait.

The next half an hour was a stressful one. The wait before something you know could change your life forever was a horrible. I either stood staring out the window, arms folded, deep in thought of pacing back and forth in front of it, staring at my feet. I was scared. What was going to happen to us all? Who was going to die? Who was going to win? But the thing that penetrated my thoughts the most was the premonition I had back at Rick's house. Of Harry dying. In matter of hours that could come true and I would lose him forever.

'Jenna?' I looked behind me. It was Ginny. I turned away from her. I had nothing to say to her or rather she had nothing to say that I wanted to hear. 'Jenna, we need to talk.'

'I have nothing to say to you,' I replied, my back to her. But I couldn't help myself. 'How could you do that to Harry?' I asked, facing her. 'I thought you loved him.'

'Jenna, it's not something I planned,' said Ginny. 'Neville was there for me and –'

'That's no excuse,' I said. 'Harry broke up with you to protect you, not so you could move on to someone else. You are the most important thing in his life and trust me, I've been around him long enough to know when he truly cares about someone. He loves you.'

'But he loves you more,' replied Ginny. I was about to retort when I stopped. Huh? I stared at Ginny stunned, mouth comically half open. 'For someone who knows Harry so well and spends most of her time watching people, you didn't see that.'

I continued to stare at Ginny for a few more seconds. I then shook myself and said, 'What?'

'Harry loves you more than he'll ever love me,' said Ginny quietly. 'I've always known that.'

'Ginny,' I honestly couldn't understand where she had got that from, 'what in the name of Merlin's pantyhose are you on about? Harry's never loved me. In ten years he's never felt anything more than friendship for me. Never.'

Ginny laughed half-heartedly, shaking her head. I stared at her.

'Same old Jenna, can't see the things that are right in front of her.' She then looked up at me, her brown eyes glistening. There was a bitterness in her voice. 'You mean more to Harry than you realise. But neither of you could see it. That connection you had. Even when Harry and I were going out, Harry's attention always turned to you if you were there. He hated seeing you with Noah and he hated it when you weren't speaking to him. And I couldn't compete with it. I knew I would never have the relationship with Harry that you had with him.'

Now I was completely bemused. Where was all this coming from?

'From the moment when Sirius died, I knew you would always be the most important thing in Harry's life, the only one he'd truly love. Even if he did have feelings for me, and I'm not saying he didn't, his feelings for you would always be stronger.' Ginny paused, waiting for me to say something. I didn't so she continued, 'Has You-Know-Who ever gone after you?'

'No,' I replied. 'But Bellatrix has but only for her personal reasons.'

'But why would You-Know-Who let her if he'd want to keep his prized Death Eater safe for the war?'

'Ginny, I don't know the inner workings of You-Know-Who's mind,' I said. I then stopped as I remembered something Bellatrix had said to me. I didn't know what went on in his mind but he'd certainly seen into Harry's. My heart jumped as I thought this. Ginny saw my reaction.

'He only used me because Malfoy wanted to get back at Dad, otherwise he probably would never have picked me.'

I stared at Ginny silently. I didn't what to say. It – it wasn't possible. Harry having feelings for me? I just couldn't understand it.

'I always wondered how long it would take for the two of you to open your eyes and realise you're meant for each other.' Ginny turned away from me. She then glanced back and added, 'Maybe now you'll see what I've seen.'

Ginny walked away leaving me staring after her. Well … that was unexpected.

As time passed slowly more people turned up through the portrait. I looked to see who had appeared every time I heard new voices. The rest of the Weasleys turned up, apart from Percy; Oliver, Angelina, Katie and Alicia came in a group together; Kingsley was one of the last to come. But when I saw Lupin emerge from the portrait, I didn't know what to do. I watched as he spoke to Kingsley before his eyes turned on me. I swallowed. He watched me for a few moments then turned away. I sighed. If I could just go up to speak to him then … maybe we could sort it out. But I simply didn't have the nerve.

I turned back to the window after that exchange. Looking out of it I saw someone running through the grounds. I followed with my eyes to see him run out of the main gates where dozens of people were slowly appearing.

'Neville,' I said loudly. Neville came and stood beside me. 'Look.'

We looked out the window then looked at each other. At the same time the cupboard doors concealing the stairs out of here burst open and in came Harry.

'Harry, what's happening?' said Lupin, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.

'Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school – Snape's run for it – what are you doing here? How did you know?'

'Because I sent for them,' I said. Harry looked over at me. I avoided his gaze. 'You're going to need all the help you can get.'

'We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army,' Fred explained. It saved me saying anything else and it drew Harry's attention away from me. 'You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the DA let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed.'

'What's first, Harry?' called George. 'What's going on?'

'They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised,' said Harry. 'We're fighting.'

My heart skipped a beat when Harry said that. I remained still be the window as everyone else made their way to the stairs. This was it. I looked up as I heard shouts from across the room. It appeared Ginny was objecting to have to stay behind because she's wasn't of age yet.

'I can't go home!' she protested. 'My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and –' she looked at Harry for support. He shook his head. 'Fine.' Ginny strode towards the portrait leading to the Hog's Head. 'I'll say goodbye now, then, and –'

A sudden scuffling could be heard behind the portrait followed by a thump. Percy Weasley had come charging out of the tunnel, overbalanced and fallen over. Everyone stared at him as he pulled himself up on the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses and said, 'Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I – I –'

He came to a stop when he noticed everyone staring at him. I dropped my gaze and became very interested in the design on my belt. The uncomfortable silence drew out. It was Fleur's voice which broke it and she asked Lupin how Teddy was. I glanced at him.

'I – oh yes – he's fine!' said Lupin loudly. 'Yes, Tonks is with him – at her mother's.'

So that's where Tonks was. I'd wondered why she hadn't come. Least she was looking after Teddy like a mother should.

'I was a fool!' roared Percy, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped the photo he was showing Fleur. 'I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a –'

'Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry, moron,' fielded Fred.

'Yes, I was!'

Fred and George looked at each other for a moment. Then Fred stepped forwards with his hand outstretched to Percy, and said, 'Well, you can't say fairer than that.'

I stared bemused as Fred was about to shake hands with him when Mrs Weasley pushed him out the way and flung her arms around Percy. That's Weasleys for you. Strange family. With the reunion over and Percy having introduced himself to Fleur, he and the other Weasleys headed up the stairs followed by Kingsley and Lupin. I hung back briefly to wait for the others when I noticed Ron and Hermione weren't there. Harry too had noticed they weren't there.

'They said something about a bathroom,' said Ginny to Harry, 'not long after you left.'

'A bathroom?' Harry gave her a confused look then checked the bathroom within the Room of Requirement. 'You're sure they said bath—'

Harry suddenly let out a yell of pain, his hand clamped to his forehead. Ginny and I ran over to him as he swayed dangerously on his feet. We steadied him and waited for Harry to regain some knowledge of where he was. After a couple of minutes he opened his eyes. He was panting.

'Are you OK?' I asked.

Harry swallowed and said, 'He's here.'

With this news Harry instructed Ginny to stay in the Room of Requirement and wait for the others while we headed down to the Great Hall. With her word Harry and I set off down the passage to the fifth floor then ran onwards down the changing staircases in silence. I avoided Harry's gaze and we remained silent. At least this way I avoided the confrontation I knew I'd eventually get. We reached the Great Hall to see everyone was gathered and Professor McGonagall was giving instructions.

'… evacuation will be overseen by Mr Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give you the word, you will organise your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point.'

'And if we want to stay and fight?' shouted Ernie from on top of the Hufflepuff table.

'If you are of age, you may stay,' said Professor McGonagall.

Those of age students gathered began whispering to each other. You could tell the DA students as they were already getting their wands out. Another girl asked about possessions but we were to leave them behind. I had all of mine in my belt bag.

'Where's Professor Snape?' shouted a Slytherin girl.

'He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk,' replied Professor McGonagall. All the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws cheered. He really wasn't popular. 'We have already placed protection around the castle,' continued McGonagall, 'but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects –'

'I know that you are preparing to fight,' said a loud, cold voice, cutting off McGonagall. It echoed around the Great Hall. Some of the students screamed. 'Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you.' Yeah, right. 'I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.'

Voldemort paused. I looked up, waiting for him to continued.

'Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.

'You have until midnight.'

I glanced at my watch. It was already quarter past eleven. All of a sudden Pansy Parkinson's voice shrieked out in reply to Voldemort, shouting for someone to grab Harry. A sudden movement occurred in the Hall. Every student belonging to Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had all stood simultaneously and drawn their wands. They were protecting Harry. McGonagall thanks Pansy for her outburst and said she and the Slytherins would be the first to leave. They began to leave the Hall when I realised Ron and Hermione weren't here to guide the Gryffindors and Colin and Rowan Taylor, the boy fifth and sixth year prefects, were arguing with McGonagall.

'Gryffindors, form a line!' I shouted. 'Fifth years above, wands out just in case! Taylor, you and Frobisher lead them up to the evacuation point!'

Rowan gave me a nod and the two of them began to lead the younger students out of the Hall after the Ravenclaws. I looked back to see Kingsley was now standing at the front giving out orders. As the last of the Gryffindor students filed out the Hall, I followed after them to make sure they got there safely. Every so often I went onwards to make sure no one stopped then waited for the rest to catch up. Once we were on the seventh floor, I ran past the lines of students into the room. The Slytherins had all left and the Hufflepuffs were starting to evacuate. In groups of five, the students were taken down the tunnel to be Apparated out of the Hog's Head. I waited by the window as they left. I could just see Kingsley leading three groups into the grounds. Lupin was with them.

'Please be all right,' I breathed.

I kept looking at my watch while the students evacuated. Half past eleven … Quarter to … Ten to … Five to … Between these intervals I watched the grounds. Kingsley had the divided the groups of students into three positions to defend the entrance to Hogwarts. My nerves and fear steadily increased until – The Clock Tower bell struck. Twelve long, ringing chimes of the bell rang through the silent grounds. Everyone still left in the Room froze. I looked down at the grounds. Illuminated by the moonlight, Voldemort stood in front of his Death Eaters. With a single motion of his wand, they charged. The war had begun.

'Everyone, keep moving!' I said instantly. Some had come to the window to see what was happening. 'Get away from the windows! Don't pay attention to what they're doing! Pay attention to what you're doing!' Some of the remaining prefects were also trying to see what was happening. 'Taylor, Frobisher! Get the line moving again!' I shouted at the two fifth year Gryffindor prefects. 'Get them out of here then get out of here yourselves! This isn't your fight!'

Rowan and Vicky snapped to attention and began ushering the Gryffindors to leave while the Ravenclaw prefects left with the last of their students. I returned to the window in case any curses came out way, my hands ready to protect the Room. I didn't know if the Room of Requirement could protect us from a stream of curses. I could see jets of light fly in all directions outside. I ducked as a purple spark came flying towards the window. Suddenly an invisible shield blurred as it blocked the curse. The castle shook.

'Keep going!' I shouted as once again the younger students started to scream. 'Don't stop! Keep moving!'

'Black!' I looked round to see Aberforth Dumbledore climb through the students out of the tunnel. 'What's going on? How many are left?'

'The last few have just gone down,' I said. 'What about your end?'

'Rosmerta's in charge of Apparating them away with some of the locals,' grunted Aberforth. 'Using my pub like a train station.' I couldn't help roll my eyes. 'Where's Potter, then?'

'I don't know.' Aberforth shook his head.

'Bloody kids,' he grumbled. He headed towards the door drawing his wand. 'Be glad when this whole thing is over!'

As he left, I heard more footsteps and another two people came clambering through the tunnel into the Room of Requirement. _Who now?_ I groaned inwardly. I looked away from the door at the portrait. A woman dressed in a green dress and a moth-eaten hat with a vulture on top stepped daintily down from it followed by a younger woman with short, spiky, bubble-gum pink hair. Tonks. Ginny, who'd been helping with the evacuation, instantly ran over to her and gave her a hug. I, however, stared at her.

'Ah, Miss Black,' said Neville's grandmother promptly. I looked at her. 'So, where's the war, hmm? Ready to show those Death Eaters a thing or two!'

I was slightly taken aback by that. I didn't expect Mrs Longbottom to be so … lively, at her age. However, I shook it off and went straight to Tonks.

'What the hell d'you think you're doing here?' I asked her straight out. Tonks and Ginny looked at me.

'What d'you think I'm doing here, Jenna?' countered Tonks. 'I'm here to fight.'

'You shouldn't be here,' I said. 'You should be with your son.'

'Teddy is fine at his grandmother's,' said Tonks.

At that moment Harry, Ron and Hermione ran into the room. Ron and Hermione were carrying between them a broomstick and what looked like fangs. Tonks instantly walked passed me to speak to Harry.

'I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother's?' he said.

'I couldn't stand not knowing –' Tonks said. 'She'll look after him – have you see Remus?'

'He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds –'

Tonks took off. Instantly I thrust out my hand. My shield covered the door and blocked her from leaving. She stopped and stared at it then looked back to see where it was coming from. Harry and the others also looked at me. I kept my hand raised, the shield going.

'Jenna, let me out, now,' warned Tonks. I didn't react. 'Jenna, I'm not kidding –'

'And neither am I!' Hand still raised, I walked up to Tonks. 'You should be with your son! Not on the sidelines of a war!'

'I am an Auror, Jenna!' shouted Tonks. 'It is my job to fight and stop Dark wizards! They need all the help they can get!'

'You're a mother now!' I shouted. 'Your first job is to look after your son, not go gallivanting off to go throw a few hexes at some Dark wizards who would kill you without hesitation! I will not let my cousin go through what I went through! I will not let him lose his parents too!'

I stopped, panting from my outburst. I didn't realise there were tears in my eyes. Tonks was staring at me.

'I _will_ _not_ let him suffer like I did,' I repeated. 'It is not fair on a baby to not have any parents, to grow up alone. So I don't care if I have to hex you to do it, you are not fighting in this war!'

Tonks remained silent for a moment, then said, 'That is not your decision, Jenna. I know I'm a mother and I will not be lectured by a seventeen year old witch about what I should do. I am an Auror, first and foremost, it is my job to put others ahead of my own life.'

Tonks turned away from me. She was so stubborn! Good thing I was too. I dropped the shield and ran forwards. I grabbed Tonks from behind, my arms round hers to stop her getting her wand. She tried to throw me off but I kept a tight hold on her. I thought of the address of her mother's house and of the phoenix's escape. Fire bloomed around us and we vanished into the flame. We reappeared seconds later in a living room miles from Hogwarts. I let go of Tonks when my feet hit the ground. I swayed slightly and stumbled on my feet. That took a lot of energy.

'Nymphadora!' gasped Andromeda. She was standing by the doorway, baby Teddy in her arms. 'Jenna! What are you doing here?'

'Getting Tonks where she belongs,' I breathed. I stood straight, trying to regain some energy for the journey back. 'She belongs here with her son.'

'Take me back, Jenna, right now!' ordered Tonks. I shook my head.

'No. Make sure she stays here, Andromeda,' I said. 'Put an Anti-Disapparation Charm on the house if you have to. She is not to leave here.' I looked at Tonks. 'Don't make the same mistake my Mum made, thinking she could take on Death Eaters while being a mother. Don't put Teddy through what I went through. You said so yourself.'

Before Tonks could say anything more, I thought of the seventh floor corridor and disappeared again in a flash of fire. I reappeared seconds later in the Room of Requirement. Harry and the others were still there. My eyes widened when I saw what position Ron and Hermione were in. Arms around each other, the pair were joined at the lips in a fierce embrace. Harry was standing beside them. He glanced at me, then back at them and said weakly, 'Is this the moment?'

Neither responded.

'OI! There's a war going on here!'

Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.

'I know, mate,' said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, 'so it's now or never, isn't it?'

I saw Hermione glance at me. A heat suddenly grew in my cheeks and I looked away.

'Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?' shouted Harry. 'D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we've got the diadem?'

Hermione and Ron sprang apart and started to gather up the fangs and broom. They led the way silently back into the corridor where I saw that in the time I'd been in the Room the state in the castle had deteriorated quickly: the walls and ceiling were shaking worse than ever; dust filled the air and through the nearest window I saw jets of green and red light so close to the foot of the castle. The Death Eaters must be getting closer to the entrance. Even Grawp was joining the fight.

'Let's hope he steps on some of them!' said Ron.

'As long as it's not any of our lot!' said Ginny's voice. She was standing by the next window, wand drawn, and aimed a jinx into the crowd below. Aberforth, who came running through the dust, roared his approval, then vanished again. She glanced out of the window again before running over to us. 'Where's Tonks?'

'Where she should be,' I replied.

Ginny nodded. Next, Harry told her to keep out of the way before starting to pace back and forth along the corridor. He did this three times and a new door appeared. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I crossed the threshold and closed the door after us. The sound of the fight instantly cut out. An eerie feeling made a shiver go down my spine. I saw we were in a room the size of a cathedral, the one where Malfoy had attacked me. The diadem was in here? I looked at the towering walls of objects. Good luck trying to find it.

'And he never realised _anyone_ could get in?' said Ron, his voice echoing around us.

'He thought he was the only one,' said Harry. 'Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time … this way,' he added. Harry turned left and walked off. 'I think it's down here.'

We searched every stack, every pile, every place for the diadem. It didn't seem to be anywhere. Hermione even tried summoning it but the charm didn't work. After a few minutes of searching Harry told us to split up and look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara. I'm sure that looked very fetching on him. We separated into the adjacent aisles. The eerie feeling in me deepened. I walked slowly down the aisle. My footsteps echoed with every step. I looked around for any sign of a tiara on a bust. I couldn't see it. The further I went the more nervous I got. I stopped, looking around for the others. I couldn't see them either, nor hear them. I decided to turn back. I walked quickly back the way I'd come, only stopping when I heard voices.

'Good plan,' said Harry's voice in mock admiration. But who was he talking to? 'So how did you get in here?'

'I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year.'

I started. It was Malfoy. I started walking again. Their voices got louder the closer I got to the end of the aisle I was in. Goyle was there too (it was weird hearing him speak) which meant Crabbe would also be there. I was almost at the end of it and could just see the heads of the three Slytherins. I slowed and crept quietly forwards so I was hidden behind a pile of books and things when Ron's voice shouted out near to me.

Crabbe whipped out his wand and pointed it at the stack that separated the aisles Ron and I were in, and shouted, '_Descendo!_' It instantly began to crumble. I heard somewhere Hermione scream as Harry bellowed Ron's name. It was followed by a cry of, '_Finite!_' and the tower steadied. Instantly Malfoy scolded Crabbe for trying to destroy the tower. But Crabbe stood up to him. I moved silently closer to listen. I hid behind a nearby large chair. Crabbe was ignoring Malfoy. Ron's voice shouted out again.

'Harry?' mimicked Crabbe. 'What's going – _no_, Potter! _Crucio!_'

Crabbe had spotted Harry lunged for the diadem. The curse burst from his wand and sped towards him, only visible through the wave patterns it created through the air. Without thinking I ran forwards and pushed Harry to the ground to stop him getting hit; the diadem slipped from his hand into another pile of junk. The spell hit my back and I crumpled on the ground, not from the power of the curse but from it hitting my scars. I screamed from the pain.

'STOP!' bellowed Malfoy at Crabbe. 'The Dark Lord wants him alive –'

Crabbe only stopped because he had missed his target. While he and Malfoy argued, I sat up, wincing. I felt a hand raise my face and looked up to see Harry kneeling in front of me. He then forced me back to the floor as Hermione sent a Stunner at Crabbe from behind him. It missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the way. With the appearance of Hermione, it gave Crabbe (in his opinion) an excuse to start attacking openly, no matter how much Malfoy shouted, 'Don't kill him!'

Harry pulled me to my feet as Crabbe and Goyle both aimed spells at us. In their moment's hesitation, both of us grabbed our wands and shouted, '_Expelliarmus!_' Goyle's wand flew from his hand while Crabbe managed to avoid mine as well as a Body-Bind Curse from Ron. Malfoy also dodged Hermione's second Stunner. I ran for cover as Crabbe sent another Cruciatus Curse at me.

'It's somewhere here!' yelled Harry at Hermione. 'Look for it while I go and help R—'

'HARRY!'

Crabbe and Ron both ran passed where I was crouched. Harry spun round. I looked up as well to see why Hermione had screamed. My heart skipped a beat.

'Like it hot, scum?' shouted Crabbe as he ran.

The three of us turned and ran. We ran as fast as we could after Ron. Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy though had vanished.

Flames of abnormal size were slowly making their way up the aisle getting closer to us, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling into soot at their touch. Great fiery beasts began to form within the flames, rippling in and out of each other as they grew. Flaming serpents, Chimaeras, dragons and griffons rose and fell with the waves of the fire. One of the beasts swiped a flaming paw at us, forcing the group to split, Harry and the others on one side and me on the other.

'JENNA!'

Looking up I saw a flaming griffon rear up above me. The phoenix wings instantly sprouted at my shoulders and I was lifted out of the way to avoid a flaming talon swipe at the ground. I was momentarily stunned by it but then thanked Merlin that it was an automatic reaction. Across from me I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione had also managed to get out of the way by using some brooms they'd found. But where was Malfoy? I looked around but I couldn't see him anywhere. Ron was shouting for us to leave but Harry too was looking for something. He suddenly went into a dive.

'IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!' Ron bellowed, diving just in time as a Chimaera bore down on him and Hermione. Together they hauled Goyle on to their broom while Harry had gotten Malfoy on to his own. Crabbe was nowhere to be seen. They turned and flew in the direction of the door. I followed, weaving in between the monsters as best I could as they swiped at us. I flew after the others and followed them to where I saw the door was. Ron and Hermione reached it first with Goyle. Ron pointed his wand at it and it flew open. They flew straight through it. I followed seconds later only to find Harry and Malfoy were not behind me. I landed, the wings vanishing, and looked back at the door. Seconds later I jumped out the way as Harry and Malfoy came speeding through the door and collided with the wall behind me. Malfoy rolled off the broom and lay coughing beside Goyle; Hermione and Ron were panting next to him; while Harry sat up opposite me.

'C – Crabbe,' choked Malfoy. 'C – Crabbe …'

'He's dead,' said Ron harshly.

After a few moments silence when we regained our breath (and the Headless Hunt had charged through us, heads screaming under their arms) Harry, Ron, Hermione and I got to our feet to find Ginny had vanished.

'She was here,' said Harry. 'She was supposed to be going back into the Room of Requirement.'

'Blimey, d'you reckon it'll still work after that fire?' asked Ron. He brushed himself down then looked left and right. 'Shall we split up and look –?'

'No,' said Hermione. 'Let's stick together. I saw we go – Harry, what's that on your arm?'

He had the diadem. He'd managed to save it from the fire. It was all blackened from the soot. A blood-like dark and tarry substance was also leaking from it. Suddenly the tiara vibrated violently then broke apart in Harry's hand. Another Horcrux destroyed. The fire must have done it. It must have been Fiendfyre. That was one of the things that could destroy Horcruxes. But how could Crabbe have known it?

'Must've learned it from the Carrows,' said Harry grimly.

'Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really,' said Ron. 'If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry he was dead.'

'You don't seriously mean that, do you?' I asked. Ron looked at me as if I was crazy.

'But don't you realise?' whispered Hermione. 'This means, if we can just get the snake –'

But she broke off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of duelling filled the corridor. The four of us looked up to see that the Death Eaters had gotten through the defences and were now inside Hogwarts. Fred and Percy were slowly backing down the corridor, both duelling masked and hooded men. We drew our wands and the four of us ran forwards to help. A spell hit one of them and his hood fell down.

'Hello, Minister!' bellowed Percy. He was quite the duellist as he sent a jinx straight at Thicknesse and began clawing at his robes. 'Did I mention I'm resigning?'

The four of us joined in the fight, sending spells and jinxes at the Death Eaters to help Fred and Percy. I managed to Stun Thicknesse and he crumpled on the ground. I then turned to help Fred, Hermione and Ron. However, through all the noise I could hear a strange sound. A dangerous creaking. I looked across at the wall where it was coming from. There was a crack in the wall. It was slowly getting bigger.

'You're joking, Perce!' shouted Fred beside him. He glanced at his brother, a grin on his face. 'You're actually _are_ joking Perce … I don't think I've heard you joke since you were –'

Concentrating as hard as I could I closed my eyes and put my shield around everyone (apart from the Death Eaters) in the corridor as the air suddenly exploded. I could hear the screams and yells of the others as they got thrown back because I couldn't block the full force of the explosion. I fought to keep it going. But when a large piece of debris hit against the shield protecting me, my eyes snapped open and I lost concentration. The shield vanished and I fell to the ground, weakened. I tried to create it again but I'd used too much energy from earlier. A second piece flew at me –

-o-

Harry pushed himself on to his feet amongst the rubble, his hand still clasping his wand. He winced in agony from being thrown backwards and swayed slightly on his feet. Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three red-headed men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.

'Is everyone all right?' he asked. He and Hermione stumbled over to where Ron, Percy and Fred were gathered on the floor.

'Think so,' said Ron. He looked at his brothers. 'Fred, Perce?'

'All right, Ron,' coughed Percy.

'As can be expected,' added Fred. He winced slightly and grasped his arm. 'Think I've broken something though. Don't really appreciate being exploded.'

'Hang on,' said Hermione. 'Where's Jenna?'

They all looked round the blasted corridor. Harry's eyes searched every pile of rubble for any sign of Jenna, her black hair or the colour of her jacket, anything that told him where she was. His eyes roved the scene when he saw something lying still amongst the wood and stone.

'No – NO!'

Everything seemed to stop to Harry. The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and ever combatant laid down their arms? Harry's mind was in freefall, spinning out of control, unable to grasp the impossibility, because Jenna Black could not be dead, the evidence of all his sense must be lying. She was one of the strongest witches Harry knew, she could not be dead.

Harry stumbled over the debris, Ron and the others following. He threw the broken wood off Jenna's body and unburied her. Her eyes were closed. She didn't move. Harry placed his hand on Jenna's neck where he knew a pulse would be. It was weak but there. However, she wasn't breathing.

'Jenna!' Harry shook her shoulder, hoping she'd respond. 'Jenna, come on!'

Jenna didn't move. Harry couldn't think what to do. His mind was a blank. He'd been told once what a Muggle does in these situations but that was years ago. Something about resuscitation, breathing for them. Harry leant over Jenna and tilted her head back. He opened her mouth by gently pulling down her chin. Taking a deep breath himself, Harry pressed his mouth on to hers in a tight lip-lock, forcing air into Jenna's lungs. When he ran out Harry pulled back, took another breath, and repeated the action.

-o-

I felt a rush of air pass through my throat, a pair of lips pressed against mine. Instantly I started coughing, my eyes clenched shut. It felt like there was a brace around my chest limiting the air I breathed in. The pressure on my lips released. I opened my eyes. They were blurry at first but once they'd focused I saw someone leaning over me.

'Harry?' I winced as Harry pulled me up into an embrace. His hand was gripping my shoulder, his other wrapped tightly round my waist.

'Don't do that again,' he whispered to me. 'Don't scare me like that ever again.'

'Harry!'

Harry let me go and we looked up when we heard Ron's shout. Hermione screamed. I started when I saw why. A monstrous spider was trying to crawl through the hole that had been blasted in the wall moments before. Beside me, Harry pointed his wand at it and he and Ron's spells collided on the spider's belly. It was thrown back into the darkness. Harry got up and looked out into the grounds.

'It brought friends!' he shouted. Harry fired some Stunners at them before turning back to us. 'Let's move, NOW!'

Harry grabbed my arm and helped me up. Pushing Ron and Hermione ahead of him, we took refuge in a nearby niche in the wall. Percy helped Fred into it; he'd damaged his arm from the explosion and was limping slightly. When we were safe in it, Harry turned to me.

'Are you all right?' he asked. I swallowed, my chest still hurting slightly, then nodded.

'I'll be fine,' I breathed.

Harry gave my arm a gentle squeeze then the two of us chased after Ron and Hermione. Around us through the dust I could just see other people still fighting. Behind us, I heard Percy's voice bellow, 'ROOKWOOD!'

'Harry, in here!'

Hermione pulled the two of us behind a tapestry she and Ron were hidden. She was trying to restrain him. Ron's face, dirty from dust and smoke, was contorted with anger, pushing Hermione's hands off him. He wanted to fight the Death Eaters for injuring Fred.

'Ron, we're the only ones who can end it!' said Hermione. 'Please – Ron – we need the snake, we've got to kill the snake! We will fight! We'll have to, to reach the snake! But let's not lose sight, now, of what we're supposed to be d – doing! We're the only ones who can end it!'

Hermione was right. We were the only ones who could stop this war. We knew what had to be done and no one else could do it for us.

'You need to find out where Voldemort is,' said Hermione next, 'because he'll have the snake with him, won't he?' She then said something I didn't expect. 'Do it, Harry – look inside him!'

With what looked like no hesitation Harry closed his eyes. I watched nervously, hoping he didn't get sucked in; his eyes tensed shut and he started to pant. Harry clenched his fists tightly. He fought the yells I could see were wanting to escape his lips. Then suddenly Harry jerked back into reality. He let out a shuddered gasp and opened his eyes. He took a wobbly step backwards and looked at us.

'He's in the Shrieking Shack. The snake's with him, it's got some sort of magical protection around it. He's just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape.'

'Voldemort's sitting in the Shrieking Shack?' said Hermione, outraged. 'He's not – he's not even _fighting_?'

'He doesn't think he needs to fight,' said Harry. 'He thinks I'm going to go to him.'

'But why?'

'He knows I'm after Horcruxes – he's keeping Nagini close beside him – obviously I'm going to have to go to him to get near the thing –'

A twinge went through my stomach. I recalled the premonition again. If Harry went to Voldemort he'd die. I didn't get the chance to say anything though as Ron squared his shoulders and said, 'Right. So you can't go, that's what he wants, what he's expecting. You stay here and look after the girls, and I'll go and get it –'

Harry cut across Ron.

'You three stay here, I'll go under the Cloak and I'll be back as soon as I –'

'No,' said Hermione, 'it makes much more sense if I take the Cloak and –'

'Don't even think about it,' Ron snarled at her.

'Can you decide anything without arguing?' I asked. I wasn't heard because at the same time, Hermione continued, 'Ron, I'm just as capable –'

All of a sudden the tapestry we were hiding behind was ripped open.

'POTTER!'

Two masked Death eaters stood there, but even before their wands were full raised, Hermione had pointed her wand at the stairs below us and shouted, '_Glisseo!_' The stairs beneath our feet flatten into a chute and the four of us hurtled down it at speed. The Death Eaters sent Stunners in our direction but they flew over our heads. We were going too fast down the slide. We shot through the tapestry concealing the opposite entrance of the passage and collided with the opposite wall.

'_Duro!_' cried Hermione, pointing her wand at the tapestry. A second later there were two sickening crunches as the Death Eaters collided with the tapestry, now turned to stone.

Next moment I felt myself being pulled out the way by Ron. A herd of galloping desks thundered past us with Professor McGonagall in the lead. She'd been battered about a bit and her hair was flying wildly from its usual tight bun. As she turned the corner, we heard her scream, 'CHARGE!' It seemed like something out of a Muggle fairytale.

'Harry, you get the Cloak on,' said Hermione but Harry had already thrown the Cloak over the four of us. It was raised off the ground, showing our feet.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I ran down the next staircase into a corridor full of people duelling each other. The portraits lining the walls were shouting at them. Students and teachers alike were fighting the Death Eaters. Dean and Parvati were both taking on ones single-handedly. We all raised our wands ready as a precaution but the duellers moved so quickly we could easily hit one of our own. A great '_wheeeeeeeeeeee!_' shrieked behind us and I saw Peeves zooming overhead. He was carrying some Snargaluff pods. He dropped one on to the heads of the Death Eaters. The green worms covered them. But some had also landed on Ron's head and he let out a shout, drawing a nearby Death Eater's attention.

'Someone's invisible there!' He pointed at us but seconds later was knocked unconscious by a Stunner Dean had aimed at him.

'LET'S GO!' yelled Harry.

Gathering the Cloak around us, the four of us ran for it. We ran through the fighters, slipping on the Snargaluff juice, and ran towards the top of the marble staircase and into the Entrance Hall. In front of us I saw Malfoy begging with one of the Death Eaters. Some dragons really can't change their scales, something Malfoy had said to me last year. He was a coward. I was wrong to think he'd changed. Harry sent a Stunner at the Death Eater. Malfoy looked around beaming only to be punched in the face by Ron. OK, that was a little too far but I couldn't deny that he didn't deserve it. He stumbled back and fell on top of the Death Eater, utterly bemused.

'And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!' yelled Ron.

With Malfoy dealt with the four of us started to make our way through the duellers in the Entrance Hall. However, something that caught my eye made me stop, fear flooding my entire body. Two duellists, a Death Eater and someone from our side, were fighting one another in the corridor on the opposite side of the marble staircase. The Death Eater had the upper hand. I saw it was Dolohov, one of the more experienced ones, who'd obviously gotten away from duelling Dean. He threw curse after curse at the person he was fighting. Lupin. Instantly I ran in the opposite direction from Harry and the others.

I raised my wand, shouting, '_Stupefy!_'

Dolohov saw it and leapt out of the way. Lupin also looked round to see who the Stunner had come from.

'Jenna!' he shouted. 'Don't –!'

A curse hit Lupin on the back and he was thrown against the wall of the corridor. He crumpled on the ground unconscious. I gasped in fear. Looking at Dolohov I saw a smirk on his face.

'I think I'll recommend a new sport when the Dark Lord wins,' he sneered. He wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth. 'Werewolf baiting. It's not like he's going to give them what he promised. They're only half-breeds.' I saw him raise his wand at me. 'Then again, so are you.'

Dolohov made a violent slashing movement with his wand. A streak of purple flames sped towards me. I only just got out of the way by throwing myself to the ground. Instantly I rolled over and sat up, yelling, '_Stupefy!_'

A duel started between Dolohov and me. I got back on my feet as quickly as possible and sent another Stunner at Dolohov. He managed to block it along with the first. With a flick of his wand he sent a nonverbal hex at me. I tried to block it but the curse caught my wand arm, slashing through my jacket. I grasped it, blood starting to soak through. I ducked as another curse flew past me then raised my wand to fire a Trip Jinx at Dolohov. It caught him round the knees and he fell to the ground.

'_Petrificus Totalus!_'

'_Caedere!_'

I threw myself out of the way just in time. The red blade of light sped passed me and collided with the wall sending pieces of stone in all directions. I covered my face with my arm to protect myself.

'_Stultus!_'

A pure white spark burst from the tip of Dolohov's wand. I had no chance of blocking it because I'd been distracted by his previous curse. The curse hit my face. I screamed in pain, my eyes burning from the impact of the curse. Opening them I found I couldn't see anything. I'd been blinded. I'd never heard of this curse and had no idea how long it would last for. A deep laugh sounded to my right. I looked up, or at least tried to, to where I thought the noise was coming from. I tried to fire a Stunner at Dolohov but I knew it had hit nowhere near him.

'Not so good now, are we?' laughed Dolohov. 'It's a pity that curse isn't permanent but it's enough to disorientate your opponent.'

I stood up shaking. I felt so vulnerable now that I was blind. At least it wasn't permanent, that was a good thing, but I didn't know how long it would take to wear off. I grasped my wand tightly in my hand and looked around. Everything was white and cloudy. I could only make out tiny details but not enough to tell me where Dolohov was. I closed them again. Instead I tried to listen for Dolohov's movement.

'I must admit, you're a good duellist,' said Dolohov's voice. I turned in the direction I thought he was. 'Bellatrix was right to say not to underestimate you. But even you made schoolboy errors. You let injury hinder your attack.'

I felt a curse hit my stomach. I recoiled, stumbling on my feet and falling to my knees.

'But most importantly … you wear your heart on your sleeve.'

I forced myself back to my feet, steadying myself on the wall. I opened my eyes to see the cloudiness had begun to fade. I could just make out vague black shapes. They were slowly appearing as my sight returned. A solid black mass stood in front of me to my right.

'And now …' My sight focused a little bit more and I realised the mass was Dolohov. He raised his wand at me. 'I will do what Bellatrix has yet failed to do.

'_Avada Kedavra!_'

I froze. The green light sped towards me. My mind instantly thought of the Great Hall and I felt flames start to consume me. At the same time I felt a force grab me and I fell backwards. A yell filled my ears as the fire surrounded me and the person who'd grabbed me. I reappeared seconds later in the Great Hall. I landed with a heavy thump on the ground, a weight pressing on my chest. I opened my eyes to find my sight had returned. I deeply wished I hadn't.

'Lupin!'

Instantly I pushed Lupin's body of mine and sat up. Fear consumed my entire body as I turned Lupin over to look at his face. His brown eyes were blank staring up at the magical ceiling of the Great Hall; his hair fell messily round his face which was covered in cuts; his skin was pale white. I knelt beside him, staring into his empty face. Tears appeared in my eyes until they trickled down my cheeks. I felt like I could barely breathe. Hesitantly I reached forwards. I ran my hand over his face, brushing back his hair. Nothing.

'Please, no,' I breathed. 'No.' I wanted so much for Lupin to respond to my voice. I swallowed. 'Lupin, no …' It was no use though. Lupin was dead. Tears were now streaming down my cheeks. I brushed them away but more kept coming. Lupin was dead. 'I'll come back for you,' I whispered. 'I'll come back, I promise.'

I leant forwards and gently kissed Lupin's forehead, just like he used to do with me.

'I'll come back for you.'

I remained there by Lupin's side for what seemed like forever but were barely minutes. An all too familiar laugh started behind me, drawing me away from Lupin. I glanced through my hair behind me. She was the last person I wanted to see. I closed my eyes, not turning to face her, and said, 'What do you want, Bellatrix?'

'To see what a broken witch looks like.'

I heard Bellatrix's footsteps behind me. She was moving closer. Slowly I got to my feet. I turned and faced her, my wand in my hand. I didn't raise it. She smiled at me. Her black orbs glanced at Lupin's body behind me, then back at me.

'The werewolf died to save you, how cute,' she said dryly. 'I'm so emotional right now, I might just throw up. It's just such a pity that you're so predictable. And so weak.'

Anger burned in my heart. Bellatrix began to pace around me, exactly like she did before.

'To think, you didn't even get to make up before he died,' continued Bellatrix. 'All because you were too stubborn to listen … just like Sirius.'

'What do you want, Bellatrix?' I asked again. 'You didn't come here just to taunt me. You always have a motive. What do you hope to gain?'

'Oh, that's easy,' said Bellatrix plainly. 'What I hope to gain … is you.' I looked at Bellatrix. My eyes narrowed. What did she mean? 'I can see the Dark magic pulse inside you. You are a strong witch, you've proven yourself more than enough times and I recognise your power and what it's fuelled by. The hatred and bitterness, the longing for revenge, the desire for power.'

I followed Bellatrix as she paced around me, turning on the spot so I didn't lose eye contact with her.

'It's all over now, you have nothing left. Nymphadora won't accept you now. You caused the death of her husband. Do the right thing … join our side,' she whispered in my ear. As she did so a weird feeling started in my body. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. 'Punish Potter for all you've suffered because of him. The loss of your father … the werewolf …'

As Bellatrix spoke I felt a strange feeling start deep down in my chest, deep in my heart. My eyes remained closed and my breathing slowed. The feeling deepened within me. It pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat. It felt like a heavy weight in my chest and seemed to try to consume me. A darkness threatening to get out.

'Feel it …' whispered Bellatrix. 'Embrace it … Use it … It's always been there inside you. Let it out and do the right thing, Jenna. Join our side.'

'I will never join you,' I snarled slowly. I opened my eyes, glaring darkly at Bellatrix. Still she smiled.

'But think of the power you could have,' Bellatrix replied. 'The Dark Lord would reward you greatly for your services. He values all who are most loyal, like myself. Your power is almost equal to mine. You would be invaluable to him.'

A smirk appeared on my face.

'If I was the only powerful witch at the Dark Lord's side, I'd want to keep it that way, wouldn't you, Bella?' I asked. Bellatrix looked at me strangely. I smiled and raised my wand. Bellatrix stepped back from me. 'And it isn't Harry I want to punish … it's you.'

Bellatrix visibly recoiled when she realised what I was going to do, something I didn't realise I was doing.

'_Avada_—'

When I heard those words escape my lips I jerked back to reality, stopping the curse before it was complete. What was I doing? It had felt like I wasn't in control of what I was doing at all. Inside me a voice had been telling me to kill Bellatrix, something I could never do, not even because of what she'd done to me. My hand fell to my side, my wand being held loosely in it. I felt numb, cold.

'No,' I breathed. 'This isn't me. I can't do it …'

A high, mad cackle drew my attention away from thoughts. I looked up to see Bellatrix staring at me, a glint of pure malice and pleasure in her eye.

'Just as I thought,' she sneered. 'You don't have the guts to accept who you are. You could have finished me off like you wanted but no, your heart got in the way. Face it, Jennifer. You are what you are and it will always haunt you. A Dark witch. But you're weak and pathetic. Just like your father.'

'I am not weak,' I said slowly, my voice quiet. I gripped my wand, finally standing up to her. 'I have more power than you can imagine. I just choose not to use it for evil. Sure I wear my heart on my sleeve but it's that which make me stronger. Which keeps me going. You see, Bellatrix … I have people who I love, people who love me. Who've always loved me. Unlike you. The Dark Lord never loved you.'

'Silence!' shrieked Bellatrix suddenly. She seemed genuinely scared. She drew her wand and pointed it at my chest. I stared at it. I was way past fearing her. 'You speak lies!' she shrieked. 'I am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant! Only I remained loyal when he was first defeated! Only I remained a true supporter while others fled in fear! He loves me more than any other!'

'But he doesn't love you,' I said incredulously. I don't know what it was that was making me say this, but it seemed to make sense. 'not like you think he does.' Bellatrix's look of shock turned to a glare. 'Like you want him to. He doesn't love you, nor he ever will. He doesn't understand love. I even doubt that your husband ever loved you or he'd be here with you.'

'Silence, you little brat!' shrieked Bellatrix. '_Crucio!_'

The spell shot towards me. My blue shield surrounded me and the curse was dispelled. Bellatrix screamed in frustration and in somewhat fear. I looked at her with a neutral face.

'Love is the most powerful magic you can ever wield.' My mind briefly thought of Harry. For the first time I saw a glimmer of hope. 'And as long as I know there are people out there who love me whether as a friend or as something different, I will always be more powerful than you. And you can't change that.'

I glanced back at Lupin's body. I flicked my wand at it and cast a Protection Charm over it. Looking back I saw Bellatrix still had her wand pointed at my chest. I'd had enough of her and I wasn't in the mood to fight her. I had to find Harry and the others. I had a job to do. I started to walk for the door to the Great Hall but Bellatrix blocked my way.

'This isn't over,' snarled Bellatrix dangerously. 'You're not leaving until I'm finished with you.'

'I'm afraid you don't have a choice in that,' I replied simply.

I thrust my hand in front of me. The shield burst from me and pounded towards Bellatrix. She tried to block it but couldn't. Bellatrix was hit full on by my shield and thrown backwards. She hit the floor several feet from where she'd started. She tried to get up but was unable to, collapsing again.

With a last look at her, I raised my wand and said, 'Point me, Harry.' The blue spark burst from my wand and sped out into the Entrance Hall. I transformed into a dog and chased after it. Four paws were faster than two legs after all.

The spell led me out into the grounds where the battle continued. Jets of red and green light were flying everywhere. The lake crashed against its banks like the sea. Yells rent the air, bellowing shouts that seemed to shake the ground. I hesitated when I saw what was creating the yells. The spell darted off into the darkness.

'HAGGER!' I looked up.

I leapt out of the way as a massive foot came down on the place I'd been standing seconds before. Large hands locked against each other, Grawp fought against one of his larger counterparts. He was barely half the size of the twenty-foot tall giant he was fighting and had half the strength. The brute he fought was pushing him down closer to the castle. Grawp slipped on a patch of torn up grass. I ran forwards as he came crashing to the ground, a yell echoing in the grounds. I looked behind me to check if he was all right when my eyes caught the blue spark I'd cast. It shot of to my right, towards the Whomping Willow where Harry, Ron and Hermione were running from another giant. I sprinted after them as fast as I could.

Another of the giants spotted me and decided to use me for target practice. I sped up, panting like mad from exhaustion. Every so often I felt the ground behind me shake as the giant's fist bore down upon me. Ahead I saw the Whomping Willow, it's branches whipping the air. Ron levitated a branch and pressed the knot in its trunk. The tree froze. Behind me the giant was getting closer as I was tiring quickly. Harry, Ron and Hermione disappeared from view. With a last burst of speed I ran straight at the trunk. The branches snapped back into motion and tried to attack me. I dodged the branches and jumped into the hole. I landed and slipped on the mud, colliding with the person in front of me.

I sat up and transformed to see I was lying on Hermione. I got off her and the pair of us got to our feet. The tunnel seemed much smaller this time but we were a lot older than the last time we were here.

'Did I miss much?' I asked, brushing myself down.

'Not really,' said Ron. 'Just giants fighting and Dementors trying to kill us.'

'Nothing unusual then.'

I glanced at Harry to see him giving me a disgruntled look. I guess he wasn't pleased I'd run off again. The words "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" came to my mind. I avoided his gaze and he turned away up the passage. Looking at Ron and Hermione, the rest of us got to our knees as there was barely any space to walk. Harry lit his wand and led the way. Nobody spoke as we made our way up the muddy passage. As we reached the end, Harry extinguished his wand light.

'The Cloak!' whispered Hermione. 'Put the Cloak on!'

Hermione passed the Cloak forwards to Harry and he put it on. We inched forwards a little more. Voices started above us meaning we were nearing the entrance into the Shrieking Shack. But it was blocked. A crate or something had been put over the hole. Harry moved closer and stood up as best he could. Ron, Hermione and I waited behind him. There was two voices speaking to each other. Ones was most definitely Voldemort's. The other's was Snape's.

'… my Lord, their resistances is crumbling –'

'– and it's doing so without your help,' said Voldemort smoothly. 'Skilled wizard though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make much difference now. We are almost there … almost.'

'Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please.'

Footsteps passed overhead. Harry drew back from the gap in the floor briefly, then moved closer again for another look.

'I have a problem, Severus,' said Voldemort softly.

'My Lord?'

'Why doesn't it work for me, Severus?'

_What not work for him?_ I thought. But then I remembered. Voldemort had the Elder Wand. He'd taken it from Dumbledore's grave when we were at Shell Cottage. Harry had seen it happen. But why wasn't it working for him?

A silence drew out, then Snape's voice spoke.

'My – my Lord?' said Snape blankly. 'I do not understand. You – you have performed extraordinary magic with that wand.'

'No,' said Voldemort. 'I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary, but this wand … no. it has not revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no difference between this wand and the one I procured from Ollivander all those years ago. No difference.'

Snape didn't reply. Footsteps started above us again. They were light, barely making a sound. I looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel. What was happening up there?

'I have thought long and hard, Severus …' said Voldemort softly, 'do you know why I have called you back from the battle?'

'No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return,' said Snape. 'Let me find Potter.'

'You sound like Lucius. Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I know his weakness, you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He will come.'

'But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by one other than yourself –'

'My instructions to my Death Eaters have been perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends – the more, the better – but do not kill him.'

_Pity Crabbe didn't follow that_, I thought bitterly. Arrogant twat.

'But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not Harry Potter,' continued Voldemort. 'You have been very valuable to me. Very valuable.'

'My Lord knows I seek only to sever him. But – let me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to you. I know I can –'

'I have told you, no!' I flinched. Voldemort's voice had a strange power in it, especially when he was angry. 'My concern at the moment, Severus, is what will happen when I finally meet the boy!'

'My Lord, there can be no question, surely –'

'– but there is a question, Severus. There is.'

Voldemort paused. The silence seemed deadly.

'Why did both the wands I have used fail when directed at Harry Potter?'

'I – I cannot answer that, my Lord.'

'Can't you?' Again a silence. 'My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. Twice it failed. Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, told me to take another's wand. I did so, but Lucius's wand shattered upon meeting Potter's.'

'I – I have no explanation, my Lord.'

Snape's voice was getting increasingly nervous. What was coming?

'I sought a third wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore.'

'My Lord – let me go to the boy –' Snape's voice was bordering on desperation now.

'All this long night, when I am on the brink of victory, I have sat here,' said Voldemort, his voice so quiet it was as deadly as when he was silent, 'wondering, wondering, why the Elder Wand refuses to be what it ought to be, refuses to perform as legend says it must perform for its rightful owner … and I think I have the answer.'

Snape didn't reply. He knew what was coming. And for a horrible second, I knew too. Legend said the Elder Wand's power transfers when its previous owner is defeated in battle. And Snape was the one who'd killed Dumbledore.

'Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen.'

'My Lord –'

'The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed the last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot be truly mine.'

'My Lord!' protested Snape.

'It cannot be any other way,' said Voldemort. 'I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last.'

Silence. What was going on? I looked up the tunnel to Harry but he didn't move. A terrible scream suddenly ripped through the air. I closed my eyes and covered my hands over my ears. The scream went right through me. It lasted only a few seconds before the scream cut out. There was a thump on the ground and I knew Snape was dead.

'I regret it,' said Voldemort softly. There was no remorse in his voice. He didn't regret it.

Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other through the darkness of the tunnel. None of us said anything. We then looked at Harry. He too was silent, staring through the gap in the floor. A soft sound moved above us telling us that Voldemort had left the Shrieking Shack.

'Harry!' breathed Hermione.

Harry had pointed his wand at the crate above him. It lifted a few inches of the ground and floated to the side. He then hauled himself out of the hole. Ron, Hermione and I followed. I gasped at the sight that met us. Snape was lying on the floor, his entire body shaking. Bite marks lay in his neck, blood pouring from them. His face was white. His fingers attempted feebly to stem the blood. Harry approached him slowly. He knelt down and leant over Snape. Snape seized the front of Harry's jacket and pulled him closer.

'Take … it …. Take … it …'

Snape's voice was raspy and strangled. A part of me was telling me help him, use the phoenix tears and heal him. Another part was telling me he deserved to die. But no one did, no one deserved to die.

Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. A silvery substance , neither liquid nor gas, came from Snape's mouth, eyes and ears. His memories. Beside me Hermione conjured a phial and shoved it into Harry's hands. Using his wand, Harry lifted the memories into phial, filling it up. When none were left Snape grabbed Harry's jacket again and pulled him closer.

'Look … at … me …' he whispered.

But as soon as he said it, air vanished from Snape's body. His black eyes became empty. The hand holding Harry's clothes released him and fell to the ground. Snape was dead. None of us spoke. Harry remained by Snape's side until quite suddenly a high, cold voice spoke so close to us that Harry jumped to his feet. We looked round for the source of the voice but no one was there.

'You have fought,' said Voldemort's cold voice, 'valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

'Yet you have sustained heavy loses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

'Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately.

'You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.'

At least the battle had halted for now, giving us a chance to heal those who needed it. But when he mentioned the dead I thought of Lupin. No one was to touch him, not while my spell protecting him was active.

'I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.'

Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other, than at Harry. He stood there resolutely, his hand gripping his wand. Voldemort, however, had not finished.

'And this time, I take someone you treasure beyond anyone else to ensure you take me seriously. For if you do not appear … she will be the first to die.'

My mind immediately went to Ginny. Voldemort was going to use her as bait and Harry was too far away to protect her. He wouldn't get to her in time.

'NO!'

I looked at Harry. At that moment I felt a tug around my body as Harry grabbed me. Black smoke appeared at my feet, slowly surrounding me. I tried to get away from it but the smoke sucked me in. Harry tried to pull me away but I was trapped. I slipped from his arms. Harry grabbed my hand in a last attempt to pull me from the smoke. Our hands gripped each other for a moment until they slipped apart and the smoke pulled me away from him.

'The memories!' I shouted quickly. Harry had to look at them. 'Look at the memories!'

The smoke surrounded me and I was hauled from the Shrieking Shack.

-o-

'NO!' Harry looked around the Shrieking Shack, knowing Voldemort's presence was still there. Anger burned in his entire body. 'BRING HER BACK! BRING HER BACK, VOLDEMORT! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! GIVE HER BACK NOW!'

Voldemort's voice did not reply. Harry's anger increased. He knew Voldemort could hear him. He knew Voldemort would kill Jenna whether he appeared or not. He strode to the entrance to tunnel.

'Harry, stop!' shouted Hermione. She grabbed his arm to pull him back. Harry threw her off. 'Harry, stop! You've got to think this through! You have to look at Snape's memories first!'

'He's taken Jenna!' bellowed Harry. 'Did you not hear him? If I don't go to him, he will kill her!'

'But if you don't look at Snape's memories, you could miss something vital!' cried Hermione. Tears were starting in her eyes. 'You got to look at them! Jenna told you to!'

'I can't leave her with him! He'll kill her!'

'Jenna will be fine!' shouted Ron. 'He won't kill her yet –'

'You don't get it!' snarled Harry. 'Voldemort doesn't care! He'll kill her regardless because that's what he does! He knows what she means to me! He knows how important she is to me! That's why he's taken her! Because he knows I –'

Harry froze. His eyes widened and his heart sunk. Dread took over him as he remembered what Luna had said to him back at Shell Cottage. Ron and Hermione stared at him.

'He knows what?' asked Hermione.

-o-

The smoke disappeared and I landed on the ground. I looked up from behind my hair to see I was in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest. There in front of me, standing over me, his red eyes glinting in the darkness, was Voldemort. Behind him stood his Death Eaters. Bellatrix stood beside him, her black eyes focused on me and her wand ready in her hand. Behind them I saw Hagrid, his large outline still.

'Miss Black,' said Voldemort curtly. He made a small bow. 'How lovely it was of you to join us.'

I moved back from him over the foliage. I could feel myself shaking. Voldemort's thin lips twisted into a smile.

'BRING HER BACK! BRING HER BACK, VOLDEMORT! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! GIVE HER BACK NOW!'

Harry's voice echoed in the Forest. Voldemort looked up until it had finished. His red eyes turned to me.

'It appears that Harry Potter is demanding your release,' said Voldemort softly. 'He knows the terms. For your safety, he has to come. I do not want to spill pure blood.'

'What do you want with me?' I asked. I got to my feet, not daring to turn away from Voldemort. I pulled out my wand and raised it as a precaution. 'I am of no use to you. Bellatrix knows that.'

Bellatrix glared at me.

'My Lord,' she said, 'do not wait for Potter. Give me the pleasure of finishing her now.'

She pointed her wand at me and started forwards. Voldemort threw his arm out in front of her and she stopped.

'She is not to be harmed,' Voldemort snarled at Bellatrix. 'Only when Harry Potter is dead may you kill her. Until then,' his eyes glanced at me, 'let her wonder the reason why Harry Potter seemed so desperate to get her back.'

I stared at Voldemort and swallowed. It wasn't possible.

The next hour seemed the longest in my life. I sat on the Forest floor with my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped round them. I kept my eyes closed. A fire burned beside me. At every noise I flinched in fear, unable to control it no matter how hard I tried. Every so often I glanced through my hair at the Death Eaters. Voldemort paced back and forth where he was; Bellatrix still had her wand in her grasp, her eyes focused on me; the other Death Eaters were restless. As the hour began to die away Voldemort sent Dolohov and Yaxley into the Forest to see if Harry had appeared. They came back to report.

'No sign of him, my Lord,' said Dolohov.

_This is it_, I thought. _Harry's not come. _I couldn't stop the thought from crossing my mind. _I'm going to die_. Voldemort's face remained expressionless. The fire reflected in his red eyes. I saw Bellatrix look across at me, an excited look in her eye.

'My Lord –'

'I thought he would come,' said Voldemort quietly. 'I expected him to come.' I watched the group. None of the Death Eaters spoke. 'I was, it seems … mistaken.'

'You weren't.'

I looked round to see Harry standing at the entrance of the clearing.

'Harry!'

I got up to run over to him. A pair of ropes tied themselves round my arms and I was pulled back. I saw Bellatrix holding on to the ends. I looked back at Harry to see him looking at me. He then turned to Voldemort.

'I'm here,' he said. 'Now let Jenna go.'

'Always so forward, Harry Potter,' said Voldemort softly. He stepped away from his Death Eaters. Harry raised his wand. 'I see the … welfare of this girl is your main priority.' Voldemort looked at Bellatrix and nodded. Reluctantly she released the binds holding me. 'As promised, no harm has come to her. We have not laid a wand on her.

'Although, a question still remains unanswered in my mind,' mused Voldemort. He began to pace from side to side. Harry's eyes didn't leave him. 'You care for this girl, this half-breed. But the question is … why?'

I stared at Voldemort. What did he mean?

'Why do you care so much for this lower being?' persisted Voldemort softly. 'What is it that drives you to protect her more than others?'

I looked at Harry. He didn't move nor react. His eyes were narrowed and he clenched his wand in his hand. Harry didn't reply.

'Haven't you ever found her … a burden? This girl has been nothing but a bother for the both of us. Why, she blamed you for her father's death; played with both your emotions as well as another Mudblood boy's; turned her back on your Mudblood friend; left you when you needed her the most. She is no better than the rest of her family, just as Dark, just as heartless, just as cruel. So why should I let her go? Why shouldn't I kill her now and rid you of her presence?'

'We both know why,' growled Harry through clenched teeth, 'otherwise you wouldn't have taken her. Now let her go.'

'I believe I am not familiar with the reason, Harry Potter,' said Voldemort silkily. 'Is it something you wish not to divulge because you do not wish for others to know? Or perhaps … you don't want her to know?'

I watched Harry worriedly. He seemed to hesitate at Voldemort's words. The way he'd put it made me sound no better than any other Dark wizard. It worried me that Harry would agree.

'What is the reason, Harry Potter, that you wish for her life to be spared?'

Harry remained silent. I closed my eyes. My heart sank.

'Because I love her.'

I gasped, my heart stopping, and looked up. Harry was staring straight at me, right into my eyes. My throat had gone dry. What? Harry didn't just say that, did he? This wasn't supposed to happen. This didn't happen in my premonition. This wasn't meant to happen … was it?

'You love her?' repeated Voldemort. He looked at me, his red eyes flashing, then back at Harry. 'You love this half-breed? This blood traitor?'

I stared at Harry, waiting for his answer. He glared at Voldemort. I'd never seen him look so angry.

'Yes,' he replied. 'Now release her. This is between you and me.'

'So … touching,' said Voldemort lightly. Harry's glare deepened. 'Young love. A flame, a need for someone …' Voldemort's eyes turned on me. 'Isn't that right, Miss Black?'

I didn't reply. Voldemort looked at Bellatrix and nodded. She pushed me forwards and to the ground at Harry's feet. With a cautious glance at Voldemort, Harry helped me up. He threw the Invisibility Cloak around us, telling Voldemort he wasn't going anywhere. Once we were out of sight Harry pulled me closer and held me tightly.

'Are you OK?' he asked. He let go and held me in front of him. 'Did they hurt you?' Harry brushed back my hair and raised my face. I didn't look at him. 'Jenna? What's wrong?'

'I'm fine,' I muttered. I kept my eyes lowered. 'Voldemort kept his promise. He didn't touch me, or let Bellatrix.' I paused. A question ran through my head. Did Harry mean what he said? I didn't want to ask it but I couldn't help it. 'You didn't have to say that. You didn't have to lie to him to make him let me go. Voldemort would have seen through it.'

'I meant what I said,' said Harry firmly but quietly. 'He already knew how I felt about you before even I did. When I saw you lying still earlier, when he took you … It opened my eyes and I realised what I'd been missing.'

I didn't dare look at Harry. It sounded too good to be true. But I couldn't bear to look into his eyes to find out knowing they'd soon be empty.

'Jenna?' Harry's fingers touched my cheek. Shivers ran down my spine. 'Don't you believe me?'

'I want to,' I breathed. I opened my eyes. I looked straight into his. 'Your words say one thing, but your eyes say something different. I can't.'

I lowered my eyes. It hurt too much to look into his eyes, those green eyes.

'If you don't believe what I say,' he muttered. 'Then believe this.'

The instant I looked up, Harry took my face and pressed his lips on to mine. My eyes widened. A small squeak escaped my throat. But as the kiss continued I relaxed, finally responding by wrapping my arms round Harry's neck. Harry's hand moved round and held my face; his thumb gently stroked my cheek. His arm travelled round my waist and brought me so close, I couldn't tell where I ended and he began. It felt so nice, so passionate, so right regardless of the situation we were currently in. I didn't want it to end. But then I remember the situation we were in and what was going to happen.

I broke the kiss. I opened my eyes and looked down. Harry did so too. He raised my face, his finger curled under my chin.

'Why did you stop?' asked Harry. His voice was slightly husky, barely above a whisper.

'Because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to let you go,' I cried, voice shaking. I felt a tear escape my eyes. Harry's thumb brushed it away.

'Jenna, I have to die to stop him,' said Harry softly. 'There's no other way. Don't be afraid –'

'I know you have to die and I'm not afraid of that.' I looked straight into his eyes. 'I never have been.'

Harry sighed. He brought me closer, resting his forehead against mine.

'I'm so sorry,' whispered Harry. His hand brushed back my hair, running over my cheek. 'I was so blind, I should have just followed my instincts and asked you …' he muttered. 'But seeing you with that guy … it tore me up. Who knows where we could be. But I can't let him win. I have to stop him.'

'I know but –' I began but I felt Harry's lips touch mine. I broke the kiss. I had to tell him. I had to tell him I loved him too. 'You don't know –' Harry kissed me again but still I stopped it. 'Harry –' Harry kissed me a third time. This time I didn't react. I allowed the kiss to continue for a few moments before I finally tore myself away. I didn't step from his grip though, instead moving closer to whisper in his ear, 'Don't leave me …'

'I'll always be here,' whispered Harry. 'It's time this ended …'

-o-

The moment Jenna looked at him, Harry brought her face closer and pressed his lips to her own. He had to make Jenna believe him. He poured all his heart into the kiss. Harry heard a small squeak of surprise. He couldn't help but smile, gently letting his lips move against Jenna's. Her hands ran up his chest and round his neck. His own held her face, his thumb stroking the soft skin of her cheek. Harry loved the feel of Jenna's skin. He let his arm go round her body. He didn't want to let Jenna go. For a brief moment a part of Harry told him to forget about Voldemort. He needed to make things right with Jenna first but Harry knew he had to be stopped.

The kiss ended, Jenna pulling away. Harry opened his eyes and looked down on her. Her head was bowed. Harry curled his finger under her chin and raised her face.

'Why did you stop?' he asked. His voice was oddly husky and dry.

'Because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to let you go,' cried Jenna quietly, her voice shaking. A tear fell from her eye. Harry brushed it away.

'Jenna, I have to die to stop him,' said Harry softly. 'There's no other way. Don't be afraid –'

'I know you have to die and I'm not afraid of that.' She looked straight into his eyes, her blue orbs glistening. 'I never have been.'

Harry sighed. He brought Jenna closer, resting his forehead against hers.

'I'm so sorry,' whispered Harry. He brushed back her hair, running his hand over her cheek. 'I was so blind, I should have just followed my instincts and asked you …' he muttered. 'But seeing you with that guy … it tore me up. Who knows where we could be. But I can't let him win. I have to stop him.'

'I know but –' Harry leant down and kissed Jenna again to stop her. He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say. He already knew she did. He didn't want to hear it though, knowing that he might never get to hear it again. Jenna broke the kiss. 'You don't know –' A second kiss but still Jenna pulled back. 'Harry –' A third. This time, Jenna didn't end it. The kiss was soft and gentle, lasting as long as either dared it to. When it did Jenna moved closer to Harry in his arms. Her voice whispered softly, 'Don't leave me …' in his ear.

'I'll always be here,' Harry assured her though he knew in a matter of moments his life would end. 'It's time this ended …'

-o-

Harry turned away from me and pulled the Cloak off us. Voldemort and the Death Eaters looked up at us. I swallowed. I felt Harry's hand take mine and give it a reassuring squeeze. I glanced at him. He was looking at Voldemort.

'All finished with the goodbyes?' he asked softly. Harry didn't reply. 'Are you prepared to face death, Harry Potter?'

Again Harry didn't reply. Then a voice yelled –

'HARRY! NO!'

Harry and I turned and saw Hagrid bound and trussed, tied to nearby tree. He'd regain consciousness from what I knew. His massive body shook the branches overhead as he struggled against his binds.

'NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT'RE YEH –'

'QUIET!' shouted Thorfinn Rowle, and with a flick of his wand Hagrid was silenced.

'And will she be joining you?' asked Voldemort.

'You hurt her, you don't get me. Her status protects her. She's not to be harmed.'

'Don't worry,' said Bellatrix. She still had that smile on her face, the one where you knew she was planning something. She twirled her wand in her fingers. 'We'll take good care of Jenna.'

'You lay a wand on her,' warned Harry, raising his own.

'No wand will be raised to her,' said Voldemort.

He looked at Bellatrix then back at Harry. He tilted his head to one side as he stared at Harry. A mirthless smile appeared on his pale face.

'Harry Potter … The boy who lived …'

I felt Harry's arm push me to the side. Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry remained where he was. He didn't look at me. His eyes were solely focused upon Voldemort's. I saw Voldemort take the breath but the words never reached my ears. The green light shot from his wand and hit Harry square in the chest before I even had time to scream.

* * *

**AN: just in time for christmas though it's probably meant my spanish coursework takes a blow. oh well, i had more fun writing this. well enjoy and leave me a review. and please read my other HP oneshots and stories and review them. cheers and merry xmas or whatever you're celebrating. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**P.S. thank you anyone who reviewed the last chapter.**

**P.P.S about not killing Fred, i honestly couldn't do it. i always thought if the twins were going to die, they'd die together or not at all so i just badly injured him instead**


	45. The Last Stand

Chapter 44

The Last Stand

The green light faded away to reveal Harry. He just lay there on the ground, completely still. I ran over to him and dropped to my knees beside him. I didn't know what to do. His face was pale; his eyes were closed and his glasses had been knocked askew from hitting the ground; his mouth lolled open. I reached out to touch him but hesitated. I was shaking; tears were falling down my cheeks. Gently I ran my fingers over Harry's cheek; I brushed back his hair and trailed my fingers lightly on his skin. Harry didn't react.

Behind me there was a rush of movement. I looked back to see the Death Eaters hurry towards Voldemort. He was lying on the ground unconscious. They were surrounding him and peering round each other to see what had happened. A rush of whispered questions among them was the only sound in the Forest. Bellatrix was by his side, her hands gripping his arm.

'My Lord … _my Lord_ …'

Voldemort didn't respond. I moved round on my knees to get a better look. What had happened?

'_My Lord_ ...' whispered Bellatrix again. Her voice was much softer than it normally was. It sent shivers down my spine.

'That will do,' said Voldemort's voice.

The Death Eaters backed away. Voldemort rose to his feet. Bellatrix remained by his side, clutching his arm to help him. I watched silently. Voldemort was visibly shaken. He put his hand to his head and caressed it like he was checking he was still in one piece. His wand lay at his feet. Voldemort bent to pick it up. Bellatrix did so too.

'My Lord, let me –'

'I do not require assistance,' said Voldemort coldly, and he retrieved his wand. Bellatrix's hands withdrew immediately. Next, Voldemort's eyes turned on where I was beside Harry's body. 'The boy … is he dead?'

I did not respond. I glared back at Voldemort. Did he really have to ask that question? Harry had just been hit by the Killing Curse! Of course he was dead! None of the Death Eaters answered him either. Voldemort looked around them, then pointed his wand at Narcissa. She was standing near the back.

'You,' he ordered. Narcissa recoiled, fear evident in her eyes. She shook her head slightly only to receive what looked like a stronger version of a Stinging Hex. Narcissa screamed. 'Examine him. Tell me whether he is dead.'

Slowly Narcissa stepped out of her position from the group. Her eyes met mine as she walked to where I knelt beside him. She looked scared. Narcissa knelt down on Harry's opposite side. Her hand ran over Harry's face while the other went beneath his shirt. She was checking for a heartbeat. I almost hexed her. I didn't want her to say those words, the ones that would confirmed my fear. Next, Narcissa bent her head low and listened for Harry's breathing. Her hair created a curtain covering his face. A moment later she stood.

'He is dead!' she called.

A shuddered cry shook my body as the Death Eaters yelled in triumph. They raised their wands and shot red and silver sparks into the air. They had been victorious. I watched them with tears in my eyes. Did none of them show remorse? I looked at Narcissa bitterly for confirming it. She didn't react and went to join the other Death Eaters. I turned back to Harry. I blinked, more tears falling. I ran my hands over my cheeks to stop them but they wouldn't end. I remained by Harry's side. It wasn't fair. He tells me he loves me and …he's taken from me, just like everyone else.

'You see?' shouted Voldemort. 'Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive can threaten me now! Watch! _Crucio!_'

Harry's body was lifted into the air above me. His glasses fell off his face. I got up to grab him but Voldemort lifted him higher. Harry hung there limp and lifeless.

'Stop it!' I screamed. 'Leave him alone!'

Voldemort laughed at my boldness. My anger burned inside me. I drew back my hand and a fireball appeared in it. I flung it at Voldemort. It sped towards him. Voldemort saw it. He made to block it but the flames broke through and hit his face. Voldemort yelled in anger, his red eyes blazing.

'You dare to challenge me?' he shouted. He flicked his wand. The curse was lifted and Harry fell to the ground. 'I am Lord Voldemort! No one stands in my way!'

A force suddenly lifted me off the ground. It threw me back and I collided with a tree. The Death Eaters threw their heads back in laughter. I got back to my feet, surprised that the curse didn't hurt that much. A twinge then shot up my spine. I was pulled towards Voldemort, my feet skidding over the Forest floor.

'You see where Dumbledore's precious gift has got him?' laughed Voldemort softly. 'Harry Potter is no more. Your precious hero is dead.'

The curse holding me was lifted. I stumbled to the ground at Voldemort's feet.

'Now,' said Voldemort, 'we go to the castle, and show them what has become of their hero. Who shall drag the body? No – Wait –' A bang sounded. Hagrid yelled in pain. 'You carry him. He will be nice and visible in your arms, will he not? Pick up your little friend, Hagrid. And the glasses – put on the glasses – he must be recognisable.'

Voldemort kicked me forwards to get Harry's glasses. I glanced at Hagrid. Tears too were falling from his beetle black eyes and rolling down his face, soaking into his mangled beard. He bent and lifted Harry from the ground. I picked up Harry's glasses and walked over to him. Swallowing my sadness I placed them on Harry's face. I let my hand linger on his cheek for a moment before it was pulled in front of me. A pair of manacles appeared around my wrists. A cold hand took hold of the collar of my jacket and I was pulled away from Hagrid.

'Move,' ordered Voldemort.

Hagrid lurched forwards as Rowle sent a curse at his back. Behind me Bellatrix pushed me in front of her. She kept her wand pointed at my back. I followed silently behind the procession through the Forest, Hagrid in the lead with Voldemort ahead of him, his snake draped round his shoulders like a shawl. I kept my head bowed, silent tears staining my cheeks. We walked in silence. I stared numbly at the ground. Something caught my eye. It glinted amongst the foliage in the receding darkness. I stopped and stared at it.

'Move, brat!' sneered Bellatrix behind me.

Her hand pushed me forwards in the back. I staggered forwards and purposely stumbled to the ground. I saw what the thing had glinted was; a small gold ring lay amongst the leaves and mud, a black stone set in the metal. I felt Bellatrix kick me to make me stand. I pushed myself up on to my hands and knees. Furtively I placed my hand over the ring and clasped it. I got up properly when Bellatrix kicked me again. I started walking again ahead of her; I slipped the ring into my pocket.

The procession continued through the Forest. Two giants marched along behind us causing more trees to fall in their path. All of a sudden Hagrid yelled out. He had spotted some centaurs watching us. He shouted at them for not helping in the fight before breaking down into more tears. Slowly the air began to freshen as we approached the Forest edge. I looked ahead to see the school grounds were empty, void of people. Voldemort ordered us to stop.

'Harry Potter is dead,' said Voldemort, his voice magically magnified like before. It echoed around the grounds. 'He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone.'

What? I stared at Voldemort's back. My fists clenched in anger. Harry would never do that!

'The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together.'

Voldemort removed the spell on his voice and told us to follow. Bellatrix pushed me forwards again. I glared at her then walked on. Hagrid's sobs rang in the silence, drowning out the voices of the Death Eaters. The lights were on in the castle as we approached it and the doors to the Entrance Hall were open. A single scream broke the silence and I saw Professor McGonagall standing there. More people filled the doorway and I saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville all gathered there. The Death Eaters lined up outside, Voldemort in front of Hagrid in the middle. Bellatrix kept a hold on my jacket.

'No!'

'_No!_'

'Harry! HARRY!'

Their voices were worse than McGonagall's shout. At once more cries and shouts started, the survivors shouting and yelling in anger at Voldemort.

'SILENCE!' cried Voldemort. I recoiled as a bang and a flash followed. Silence fell on everyone. 'It's over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet where he belongs!'

Hagrid moved forward and lay Harry on the ground.

'You see?' said Voldemort. He began to pace in front of Harry's body. 'Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!'

'He beat you!' bellowed Ron, and the charm broke. The defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a second, more powerful bang extinguished their voices ones more.

'He was killed while trying to sneak out of the grounds,' said Voldemort, relish in his voice, 'killed while trying to save himself –'

'You liar!' I screamed. The charm broke a second time. Voldemort's red eyes turned on me. 'Harry didn't run! You're a liar and a coward –!'

'SILENCE!' bellowed Voldemort. He pointed his wand at me; another bang and I fell to the ground. I coughed, winded. 'Bring her here, Bellatrix!'

Bellatrix pulled me to my feet and pushed me in front of Voldemort. I stood between him and his Death Eaters and the crowd gathered at the castle entrance. He looked down his snake-like nose at me. His red eyes glinted malevolently.

'I took this girl,' he told the crowd, 'as a way to convince Harry Potter to come to me, for she is one of those who continued to oppose me. For her freedom he was to appear otherwise her life was to be mine. If he had come then she would be standing with you, would she not? As a merciful Lord, I have not killed her for I value every drop of pure blood, but if she continues to resist then I will uphold my threat.

'The choice is yours,' Voldemort told me. I glared at him. 'Your love has been lost, your hero fallen. Bow to me and I will spare you. Refuse and I shall eliminate you.'

Everyone's eyes, both the Death Eaters and the defenders of Hogwarts, were on me.

'I will never bow to you.'

'Bow to me now or your life is mine!' snarled Voldemort.

Again I refused. Voldemort's eyes narrowed; he raised his wand and pointed it at me. I flinched as I felt a force press down on my back. I fought against it. I was not going to submit to him. The pressure increased but I remained on my feet. A shout sounded behind me and the pressure released. A flash of light flew over me and hit someone who had run from the crowd. I looked back to see Neville on the ground. Disarmed, Neville pushed himself back to his feet. Voldemort threw his wand aside, laughing.

'And who is this?' he hissed. 'Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?'

'It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord!' laughed Bellatrix. 'The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?'

'Ah, yes, I remember,' said Voldemort. 'But you are a pure-blood, aren't you, my brave boy?'

Neville stood facing him, his fists curled into fists.

'So what if I am?' said Neville loudly.

'You show spirit, and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom.'

'I'll join you when hell freezes over,' said Neville. 'Dumbledore's Army!'

A cheer came from the crowd. His Silencing Charm had broken again. Voldemort stared at them all.

'Very well,' he said. 'If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head,' he said quietly, 'be it.'

Voldemort raised his wand and waved it. Seconds later, something black and ragged flew from one of the broken windows of the castle. It landed in Voldemort's outstretched hand. He shook the mildewed object by its pointed end. It was the Sorting Hat.

'There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School,' said Voldemort. 'There will be no more houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone, won't they, Neville Longbottom?'

He pointed his wand at Neville. He froze. Voldemort strode forwards and forced the Sorting Hat down on Neville's head over his eyes. Movements behind him made the Death Eaters raise their wands as one, ready to hold back the remaining fighters. I watched Neville, my hand, still in their shackles, poised by the trouser pocket that concealed my wand.

'Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me,' said Voldemort.

With a flick of his wand, the Sorting Hat burst into flames on Neville's head. The silence between the opposing armies was broken by his screams. He was frozen to the spot surrounded in fire. He couldn't escape it. I watched helplessly.

All of a sudden the ground shook. Everyone froze. Slowly I turned round and looked away from the castle towards the Forbidden Forest. The Death Eaters too looked round. From the boundary of the school a low rumbling noise was gradually getting louder; the sounds of war cries were being shouted by a number of voices. At the same time, Grawp came lumbering round the side of the castle and yelled, 'HAGGER!' His cry was answered by roars from Voldemort's giants: they ran at Grawp like bull elephants making the earth quake. My eyes widened in fear. The sounds of hooves followed; a shower of arrows flew through the sky towards us. The Death Eaters broke their ranks to avoid the arrows.

Behind me I heard a yell; Neville had broken free of the Body-Bind Curse. The Sorting Hat fell from him and from its depths he drew a long silver sword, rubies glittering in the light in the hilt. The sword of Godric Gryffindor. Amongst the disarray of the fleeing Death Eaters, Neville ran past me towards Voldemort; with a slash of the blade, Neville sliced off the head of the snake. It spun high into the air and its body fell to the ground. Voldemort's scream reached my ears through the din of the giants and centaurs charging on the castle. His red eyes turned on Neville, narrowed, pupils thin slits.

'HARRY!' Hagrid shouted suddenly. 'HARRY – WHERE'S HARRY?'

I turned and ran for the Entrance Hall as Thestrals and Buckbeak joined the fight, using their talons to scratch at the faces of the giants; they swung and punched at the winged beasts, their feet trampling the ground and anything in their path. The Death Eaters followed and they along with the defenders of Hogwarts were forced back into the castle. I broke off from the crowd as it flowed into the Great Hall. Curses and spells were being fired as once again the fight between the two forces started. I pulled out my wand from my trouser pocket and pointed it at the manacles on my wrists.

'_Alohomora_.'

They sprang open and fell off with surprising ease. With my hands free I ran towards the Great Hall. I could hear the shouts and see the curses but there was no way to get in. Pairs were still fighting while others watched. I tried to get through the crowd but there was no way. I thought for a moment then backed out of the doorway. I needed a run up. I braced myself.

_One … two … three _…

I ran. As I reached the doors I bent down ready to jump; the phoenix wings spread from my shoulder blades and I flew up to the ceiling over the crowd. I looked down for any sign of Ron, Hermione or any of the Order. I saw Yaxley was slammed to the floor by George and Lee; Dolohov was at the mercy of Professor Flitwick; Macnair had been thrown across the room by Hagrid; Ron and Neville were fighting Greyback; Aberforth Stunned Rookwood; and Arthur and Percy had floored Thicknesse; Voldemort was near the centre of the room fighting Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn and Kingsley all at once. But it was fight next to Voldemort's which caught my attention. Bellatrix was fighting Hermione, Ginny and Luna, three on one. They were only just equal to Bellatrix's power. All of a sudden a green light burst from Bellatrix's wand; it missed Ginny by an inch.

'NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!'

I saw Mrs Weasley run forwards. She threw her cloak to the side to free her arms and drew her wand. Bellatrix laughed at the sight of her. Instantly she sent a curse at her.

'NO!'

I flew forwards and thrust out my hand. My shield surrounded Mrs Weasley and all those close to her. Bellatrix's curse was repelled. Bellatrix screamed in frustration and looked for the source of the shield. She saw me floating above them.

'YOU!'

'Yeah, me.' I landed on the floor. The wings vanished. I walked forwards so I was opposite Bellatrix. My eyes focused on her, blue staring into black. The crowd seemed to back away from the pair of us. 'You're mine, Bellatrix. You're fight's with me. Black against Black, just how you want it.'

Bellatrix smiled.

'Do you really think you have the magical skills to take on me?' she sneered. 'I am the Dark Lord's greatest fighter. You're just a pathetic little orphan witchling who believes love is the key to everything. You saw where love got your hero. He lies dead outside, probably squashed by those giants. Do you really believe you can win?'

'I don't know,' I replied honestly. I raised my wand and prepared myself. 'But I'm not afraid to try.'

Bellatrix threw her head back in laughter.

'Oh this will be fun,' she laughed. Bellatrix ran her tongue over her top lip in excitement and levelled her wand with me. 'First Sirius, now his daughter.'

'Enough of the chit-chat, Bella,' I said tiredly. 'I do hope you're ready for this.'

A moment passed as we readied ourselves until –

'_Expello!_' cried Bellatrix.

'_Protego!_' The shield blocked Bellatrix's Banishment Charm. I dropped it and proceeded to attack. '_Stupefy!_'

Bellatrix blocked the Stunner and sent another curse back at me. I stepped back and blocked it again. Bellatrix shouted another spell. Ropes flew from her wand and attempted to grab me. I leapt out of the way and shouted, '_Reducto!_' The spell hit the ropes turning them to ash. Bellatrix glared at me.

'So you've stopped a few curses,' she sneered. 'I'm only getting started.'

'If that was the warm up, Bella, I doubt the proper fight's going to be any harder,' I replied. Bellatrix glared at me.

'You think you're so hot,' snarled Bellatrix. 'Perhaps I should cool you down!

'_Glacius!_'

'_Incendio!_'

A beam of white blue light shot from Bellatrix's wand as a funnel of fire burst from mine. The two spells collided with each other in the centre; they battled against each other, fire melting the ice while the ice froze the flames. I focused myself to increase the strength in my spell. The fire grew larger and forced Bellatrix's back. The spells then abruptly exploded creating a shockwave. Bellatrix and I were both thrown back. I managed to stay on my feet, skidding backwards but keeping my balance. I shook my hair out of my face to see Bellatrix fire another curse at me.

I blocked her curse. With another swipe of my wand, I lunged forwards and shouted, '_Acule!_'

The Stinging Hex hit Bellatrix in the face. She recoiled, screaming. I stood straight, panting. Bellatrix glared at me, her hair messed over her face. I saw the spell had cut across her face. Her lip was bleeding.

'I have had enough of you!' screamed Bellatrix, spitting the blood from her lip. 'Time to finish you _once and for all!_'

With a long wave of her wand Bellatrix stepped forwards and screamed, '_Secto!_' A red blade of light shot towards me. I dropped my wand and threw up my hands in front of me. My shield appeared just as the blade hit it. The force of the curse was unbelievable. It fought against my shield forcing me back into the crowd behind me. They backed away as I stepped into them. Bellatrix stood feet away, her wand pointed at me as she poured all her hatred into the curse. Step by step she moved closer, the curse getting stronger. I fought to keep the shield going but I didn't have the energy. It was getting weaker by the second. Soon Bellatrix was about a foot away from me.

Bellatrix drew back her wand and performed a downward slash; the curse cut through the shield and slashed across my stomach. I let out a small gasp. Looking down I saw my blood start to soak through my top. I swayed on my feet before I sank to my knees. The pain was unbearable, more than I'd ever felt before, worse than the Cruciatus Curse. The curse took effect on me very quickly and soon I was lying on the floor struggling to breathe. My eyes were starting to blur. I could just see the crowd watching me. I pushed myself up on to my hands and placed one over my waist. Footsteps approached me. I lifted my eyes. Bellatrix stood over me, wand pointed at my heart, with a mad look of glee on her face.

'Now where have I seen this before?' she mused to herself. 'Let me think, hmm … Ah yes, I remember,' she said happily. 'This is exactly how your mother looked before Sirius rescued her.' Bellatrix bent down. She put her wand tip to my chin and raised it. 'But this time daddy's not here to save you. This time you won't escape me. This time … your luck's run out.'

I pushed myself off the ground. I stumbled to my feet and picked up my wand, pointing it at Bellatrix. Bellatrix moved back from me.

'I'm not out yet,' I breathed. I could feel my whole body was shaking. My side ached so much. I could feel the blood trickling down my waist. 'I'm not giving up. _Expelliarmus!_'

The spell was countered with a flick of her wand. Bellatrix laughed incredulously.

'Still she fights. She has nothing left and yet she carries on. You're weakening as we speak.' She was right. I felt weaker with every second I stood there. 'Just give up. You're not going to beat me. I'm going to kill you, Jennifer …' whispered Bellatrix. She moved so close that our faces were barely centimetres apart. 'Kill you with the same ease I killed your father with.'

'No.' I shook my head. 'I won't give up.'

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. Next moment her hand was clasped round my throat. I gasped at her grip.

'A Black through and through,' said Bellatrix coldly. 'Too stubborn to know when to give up.' Bellatrix pressed her wand against my chest. 'Ready to join Sirius and the werewolf?'

I didn't reply, mainly because I was concentrating on breathing. I tried to pull her hand from my throat but her grip was too strong.

_Don't give up, Jenna._ I started as a voice whispered in my ear. I felt something warm touch my back. It felt like a Patronus. The warmth seemed to spread through my body. _I said I'd always be here. Don't give up … I love you …_

I stopped struggling against Bellatrix. Without thinking about it I placed my hand against Bellatrix's chest.

'No, I'm not.'

I focused all of my magic and it burst from my hand. Bellatrix was thrown back from me by a eruption of flame; her hand let go of my throat and I fell to the ground, coughing. Bellatrix was thrown back several feet. Her body landed with a sickening crunch. I looked up to see her body lying at an awkward angle on the floor; her neck was twisted so her face was towards me; her black eyes were blank; her mouth lolled open. I let out a breath. It was over.

-o-

Mrs Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms. Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of her new challenger. She pointed her wand at her and a curse burst from it.

'NO!'

A blue shield appeared round Mrs Weasley and the people nearest her. Harry looked up along with everyone gathered there. Bellatrix too looked up. Floating above them was Jenna, her hand outstretched in front of her. The shield was coming from her. Harry's eyes widened when he saw what was making her float; a pair of wings came from Jenna's shoulder blades, red and golden feathers almost flowing down her back. How was she doing this?

'YOU!' screamed Bellatrix.

'Yeah, me.' Jenna landed on the floor and the wings vanished. She walked forwards so she was opposite Bellatrix. Their eyes were focused on each other. The crowd seemed to back away from the two duellists. Harry watched with a mixture of increasing fear and hope. 'You're mine, Bellatrix. You're fight's with me. Black against Black, just how you want it.'

Bellatrix smiled.

'Do you really think you have the magical skills to take on me?' she sneered. 'I am the Dark Lord's greatest fighter. You're just a pathetic little orphan witchling who believes love is the key to everything. You saw where love got your hero. He lies dead outside, probably squashed by those giants. Do you really believe you can win?'

'I don't know,' replied Jenna. She raised my wand. 'But I'm not afraid to try.'

Bellatrix threw her head back in laughter.

'Oh this will be fun,' she laughed. Bellatrix ran her tongue over her top lip in excitement and levelled her wand. 'First Sirius, now his daughter.'

'Enough of the chit-chat, Bella,' Jenna said. 'I do hope you're ready for this.'

A moment passed until –

'_Expello!_' cried Bellatrix.

'_Protego!_' Jenna blocked the spell then sent another at Bellatrix. '_Stupefy!_'

Bellatrix blocked the Stunner and sent another curse back at Jenna. Jenna stepped back and whipped her wand beneath her arm to block it as Bellatrix shouted, '_Incarcerous!_' Ropes flew from her wand at Jenna. She only just managed to avoid them.

'_Reducto!_'

The spell hit the ropes turning them to ash. Bellatrix let out a growl of frustration.

'So you've stopped a few curses,' she sneered. 'I'm only getting started.'

'If that was the warm up, Bella, I doubt the proper fight's going to be any harder,' replied Jenna. Bellatrix glared at her.

'You think you're so hot,' snarled Bellatrix. 'Perhaps I should cool you down!

'_Glacius!_'

'_Incendio!_'

A beam of white blue light shot from Bellatrix's wand as a funnel of fire burst from Jenna's. Harry recoiled as the two spells collided with each other in the centre; they battled against each other, fire melting the ice while the ice froze the flames. Harry could see the concentration on Jenna's face as she fought to hold the spell but she was no match for Bellatrix's experience. The spells exploded. The two duellists were thrown back. Bellatrix was flung to the floor while Jenna barely managed to stay on her feet, crouching to stay balanced. Bellatrix was first to her feet though and immediately threw another curse at Jenna while she was distracted.

'_Protego!_' The shield appeared around Jenna in the nick of time. When she released the spell, Jenna took another step forwards and flicked her wand and sent a Stinging Hex at Bellatrix. It hit her in the face. She recoiled, screaming. Jenna stood straight, panting from the fight. Harry's eyes turned to Bellatrix; he feared what she would do next. Her black eyes glared at Jenna, her flyaway hair covering her face. Harry saw the Hex had cut her lip; there was a trickle of blood coming from Bellatrix's mouth.

'I have had enough of you!' screamed Bellatrix, spitting the blood from her lip. 'Time to finish you _once and for all!_' With a long wave of her wand Bellatrix stepped forwards and screamed, '_Secto!_'

A red blade of light shot towards Jenna. Instinctively Harry ran forwards forcing his way through the crowd. He had to protect Jenna. A force blocked his path. Harry placed his hand against it. He knew what it was, and sure enough when he looked up, Harry saw Jenna standing with her hands in front of her. She was fighting the curse. Her wand lay forgotten at her feet. With every step Bellatrix took towards Jenna, her curse got stronger; with every step Bellatrix took towards Jenna, Jenna's shield got weaker. Harry watched as she used all the strength she had to protect herself but she didn't have enough.

With a slash of her wand, Bellatrix's curse cut through Jenna's shield. Harry's heart stopped. Jenna let out a small breath as she stood there for a moment before falling to her knees. Beneath her jacket Harry could see a gash across Jenna's stomach. Blood slowly started to seep through from it, staining her clothes.

Harry pushed his way through to get to Jenna but he couldn't get through. He had to help her. He saw Bellatrix approach her. His fear increased. Jenna lay at her feet, holding herself up on her hands.

'Now where have I seen this before?' Bellatrix mused. 'Let me think, hmm … Ah yes, I remember,' she said happily. 'This is exactly how your mother looked before Sirius rescued her.' Bellatrix bent down. She put her wand tip to her chin and raised it. 'But this time daddy's not here to save you. This time you won't escape me. This time … your luck's run out.'

Jenna got to her feet. She stumbled slightly but raised her wand. Bellatrix looked down at her.

'I'm not out yet,' breathed Jenna. 'I'm not giving up. _Expelliarmus!_'

Bellatrix blocked the spell with ease. She laughed incredulously at the sight of Jenna.

'Still she fights. She has nothing left and yet she carries on. You're weakening as we speak.' She was right. Harry saw Jenna was shaking on her feet. 'Just give up. You're not going to beat me. I'm going to kill you, Jennifer …' whispered Bellatrix. She moved closer to Jenna, their faces centimetres apart. 'Kill you with the same ease I killed your father with.'

'No. I won't give up.'

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. With one swift move her hand was round Jenna's throat.

'A Black through and through,' said Bellatrix coldly. 'Too stubborn to know when to give up.' Bellatrix pressed her wand against my chest. 'Ready to join Sirius and the werewolf?'

In a matter of moments Bellatrix was going to kill Jenna. Harry tried one last time to get through the crowd but it was no use. He looked helplessly at Jenna. She was going to die and he couldn't help her. But he had something that could!

Harry pointed his wand through a small gap in the crowd.

'_Expecto Patronum!_'

Prongs flew from his wand, virtually invisible amongst the bright lights and the spells flying in all directions in the Great Hall. It cantered through the crowd effortlessly and over to where Jenna and Bellatrix were. Bellatrix's wand was pressed into her chest.

'Don't give up, Jenna,' whispered Harry, closing his eyes and imagining himself as part of Prongs. 'I said I'd always be here. Don't give up …' Harry swallowed. This was not how he'd imagined himself saying this. 'I love you …'

Harry opened his eyes to see Jenna freeze in Bellatrix's grip. She placed her hand against Bellatrix's chest, directly over her heart. Her hand started to glow. Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge; for the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened. A burst of flame threw Bellatrix away from Jenna. Her hand released Jenna and she fell to the ground. Bellatrix landed several feet away from Jenna, her body hitting the stone floor with a sickening crunch. Her body was twisted, her head facing one way while her body went the other. The watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.

Harry felt as though he turned in slow motion; he saw McGonagall, Kinglsey and Slughorn blasted backwards, flailing and writhing through the air, as Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb. Voldemort raised his wand and directed it straight at where Jenna stood, exhausted from her fight.

-o-

I pushed myself back to my feet, my arm clutching my waist to stem the blood. Around me I could hear the crowd roar but I couldn't focus. I unzipped the pocket of my bag and pulled out the phoenix tears. I felt like I was going to collapse. I let a drop fall from the phial on to the wound; it began to heal itself much to my relief. It was then I heard another shout and I looked up.

'You have defied me for the last time!' bellowed Voldemort, his wand pointed at me. '_Avada _–'

'_Protego!_'

A shield expanded in the middle of the Hall, protecting me from Voldemort. Voldemort span round, his curse forgotten. Various shouts went around the entire Great Hall but I heard none of them. My eyes were focused on who stood in front of me. With his back towards me facing Voldemort, Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak and revealed himself. He was alive.

The two began to circle each other. Both had their wands drawn; their eyes were focused only on each other. I started forward but found Harry's Shield Spell was still active. I was trapped inside it, or rather, I was trapped with everyone else outside it. I stared at Harry … and I stopped. I didn't try and fight it. I stepped back from the shield and watched and listened silently. This was between Harry and Voldemort. No one else. Nobody in the Hall moved but them.

'I don't want anyone else to try to help,' said Harry loudly. The Hall fell silent. His voice carried over everyone there. 'It's got to be like this. It's got to be me.'

'Potter doesn't mean that,' hissed Voldemort. 'That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?'

'Nobody,' said Harry simply. 'There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good …'

'One of us?' jeered Voldemort. He stood straight, his body poised like a snake ready to attack. 'You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings.'

'Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?' asked Harry. 'Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?'

'_Accidents!_' screamed Voldemort. I expected him to attack at that outburst. He did not. 'Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and snivelled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!'

'You won't be killing anyone else tonight,' said Harry. His eyes stared straight into Voldemort's, green into red. 'You won't be able to kill any of them, ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you hurting these people –'

'But you did not!'

'– I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?'

'_You dare _–'

'Yes, I dare,' said Harry, 'I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots more of important things that you don't. want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?'

Voldemort did not speak, but continued to prowl in a circle with Harry. His red eyes were narrowed on Harry, the pupils thin slits like a snake's.

'Is it love again?' said Voldemort. I saw his red eyes flick on to me. 'Dumbledore's favourite solution, _love_, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the Tower and breaking like an old waxwork? _Love_, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter – and nobody seems to love you enough to run forwards this time and take my curse.'

Once again Voldemort's eyes flicked towards me, then back at Harry.

'Or perhaps, you won't let her?' Harry didn't respond. 'So what will stop you dying now when I strike?'

'Just one thing,' said Harry.'

'If it is not love that will save you this time,' said Voldemort, 'you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?'

'I believe both,' said Harry. I stared at him. He did? Voldemort's face too showed his shock at this but it was instantly dispelled. He began to laugh, a sound which sent shivers down my back; humourless and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall.

'You think _you_ know more magic than I do?' he said. 'Than _I_, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?'

'Oh, he dreamed of it,' said Harry, 'but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done.'

'You mean he was weak!' screamed Voldemort. 'Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!'

'No, he was cleverer than you,' said Harry, 'a better wizard, a better man.'

'I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!'

'You thought you did,' said Harry, 'but you were wrong.'

I gasped along with everyone else gathered in the room.

'_Dumbledore is dead!_' Voldemort screamed. 'His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!'

'Yes, Dumbledore's dead,' said Harry, surprisingly calmly, 'but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant.'

Who was he talking about? Who had been on Dumbledore's side that Voldemort believed to be on – My eyes widened as I realised. Snape!

'What childish dream is this?' said Voldemort, still not striking.

'Severus Snape wasn't yours,' said Harry. 'Snape was Dumbledore's, Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realised it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?'

Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart. I kept my eyes on Harry, waiting and listening.

'Snape's Patronus was a doe,' said Harry. I started. That meant – it was because of the very same reason my Patronus was a doe. 'The same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realised,' he said, 'he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?'

'He desired her, that was all,' sneered Voldemort, 'but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him –'

'Of course he told you that,' said Harry, 'but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!'

'It matters not!' shrieked Voldemort. He was practically hanging on Harry's words but then let out a cackle of laughter. 'It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great _love_! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!

'Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy – I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it. I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!'

'Yeah, it did,' said Harry. 'You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done … think, and try for some remorse, Riddle …'

Was Harry crazy? Voldemort try remorse? That was like asking a Basilisk not to petrify you. Voldemort too was shocked at Harry's statement. His pupils contracted and the skin around his eyes whitened.

'It's your one last chance,' said Harry, 'it's all you've got left … I've seen what you'll be otherwise ... be a man ... try ... try for some remorse …'

'You dare –' said Voldemort again. We'd already established that Harry dares.

'Yes, I dare,' said Harry, 'because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle.'

_Then why don't you let us in on the secret?_ I thought to myself, watching them.

Voldemort's hand was trembling on the Elder Wand's handle. He was moments away from striking.

'That wand still isn't working properly for you, because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore.'

'He killed –'

'Aren't you listening? _Snape never beat Dumbledore!_ Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!'

'But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!' Voldemort's voice shook with malicious pleasure. 'I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against its last master's wishes! Its power is mine!'

Voldemort seemed madder than I'd ever seen him before. If power could do this to a person …

'You still don't get it, Riddle, do you?' said Harry. 'Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? _The wand chooses the wizard_ … the Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realising exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance …'

Harry paused. Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly, his attention rapt with Harry's words.

'The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy.'

I drew in a breath. Malfoy was the one who that wand belong to? Blank shock showed in Voldemort's face for a moment, but then it was gone. But hang on … Harry had been using Draco's wand since we escaped from the Malfoy Manor. Did that mean …?

'But what does it matter?' said Voldemort softly. 'Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: we duel on skill alone … and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy …'

'But you're too late,' said Harry. 'You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him.' Harry twitched the wand in his hand. 'So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?' whispered Harry. 'Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does … I am the true master of the Elder Wand.'

A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall, an edge of the dazzling sun appearing through the windows. It was morning. Harry and Voldemort were illuminated in the centre of the Hall. And, as one voice, the pair of them striked.

'_Avada Kedavra!_'

'_Expelliarmus!_'

The bang was like a canon-blast and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells had collided. The people nearest them all covered their faces, shielding themselves from the bright light. I did so too, squinting from behind my arm to see what was happening. A wand spun high into the air, spinning across the enchanted ceiling. A hand reached up and grabbed it. Voldemort's body hit the floor, his red eyes rolling back into his head, while Harry stood victorious, two wands clasped in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

There was a silence for a shivering second, the shock of the moment suspended. A tumult suddenly broke around the Hall. Everyone nearest Harry ran towards him to congratulate him, grabbing any part of him they could. I, however, remained where I was as people ran past me. Ron and Hermione were the first to reach him, followed closely by Ginny, Neville and Luna, then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout. Everyone was celebrating. A tired but relieved smile was on Harry's face as he looked round at them all. I saw his eyes travel round the room until they found the place I was standing. Our eyes met. I smiled at him. Harry smiled back in a wondering way. I just shrugged then turned away.

I made my way through the crowd still trying to get at Harry, sliding past them to the doors of the Great Hall. I saw Malfoy and his family standing near to them, looking uncomfortable in amongst the celebrations. I stopped, torn between what I was going to do and them. I turned and walked over to them. Malfoy's grey eyes turned on me. I smiled. Narcissa and Lucius both looked at me silently.

'So …' he said quietly. 'It's all over.'

'Yeah,' I said. 'You and your family are free to go.'

Malfoy and I stood there in an awkward silence for a moment. I made to leave but Malfoy grabbed my hand.

'Thank you.' I looked at him strangely. Malfoy smiled at me; he took a step closer and gently kissed my cheek. He then pulled back. 'Thank you for showing me there are better things in life than power. Family and … and friendship.' Malfoy glanced over his shoulder at his parents. 'Thank you, Jenna.'

'No problem. Oh, and here.' I dug into my bag and pulled out the phial of phoenix tears. I pulled out a second phial and let a small amount of them drip into it. I then handed the first to Malfoy. 'Use these to heal anyone who's injured. Show them you've changed and help them. If they refuse just say Jenna told you to.

'Oh, and Draco …' I paused, wondering how to phrase the words, 'maybe if things had been different between us, maybe something could have happened.' I raised my hand and gently stroked Malfoy's cheek. He placed his hand on mine and held it. 'You'll find someone better suited to you than me and you'll knock them off their feet. You've just got to find them.'

Malfoy nodded. I gave him one last smile then walked away. The smile remained on my face as I walked out of the Great Hall. I looked back to see Harry still being enveloped by everyone. No one would be going to sleep straight away, that was for sure. Still, there was time for me to give him my congratulations later. Right now, let him have his glory. I walked through the destroyed Entrance Hall and up the marble staircase. I had somewhere I wanted to be. A thought still remained in my mind from earlier and it was compelling me to return to where it had all started, to the place where Harry and I first kissed. The Astronomy Tower. Perhaps there I'd get my answers.

I put my hand in the pocket of my trousers. I looked down at the ring in my hand. With a smile I clasped it then put it back. Though absolutely knackered and aching, I started to run. I transformed into a dog and darted off. Four paws were better than two feet after all.

-o-

'The thing that was hidden in the Snitch,' Harry began, 'I dropped it in the Forest. I don't know exactly where, but I'm not going to go looking for it again. Do you agree?'

'My dear boy, I do,' said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. 'A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone else know where it fell?'

'No one,' said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction.

'I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though,' said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed.

'But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!'

'And then there's this.'

Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see.

'I don't want it,' said Harry.

'What?' said Ron loudly. 'Are you mental?'

'I know it's powerful,' said Harry wearily. 'But I was happier with mine. So …'

He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly still, just, connected by the finest thread of phoenix feather. Hermione had said that they could not be repaired, that the damage was too severe. All he knew was that if this did not work, nothing would.

He laid the broken wand upon the Headmaster's desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand and said, '_Reparo_.'

As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end. Harry knew that he had succeeded. He picked up the holly and phoenix wand, and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion.

'I'm putting the Elder Wand,' he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, 'back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will never have been defeated. That'll be the end of it.'

Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other.

'Are you sure?' said Ron. There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand.

'I think Harry's right,' said Hermione quietly.

'That wand's more trouble than it's worth,' said Harry. 'And quite honestly,' he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, 'I've had enough trouble for a lifetime.'

With a last smile and nod from Dumbledore, Harry, Ron and Hermione turned away and left his office. They walked together in a blissful silence to the Gryffindor Tower. With every step Harry finally began to feel like he belonged; there was no more war, no more fighting, and no more Voldemort. The long battle was over at last. The three turned the corner and saw the welcoming sight of the portrait of the Fat Lady. She beamed at them.

'Violet just told me,' she said. 'Well done, Mr Potter.'

'Thanks,' said Harry. The Fat Lady started to swing forwards when a thought suddenly occurred to him. He told Hermione and Ron to go through then waited for the portrait to close. When the Fat Lady saw him still standing there, she gave him a strange look. 'Has Jenna come back yet?'

'No,' said the Fat Lady. 'I believe I saw her heading towards the Astronomy Tower though.'

_The Astronomy Tower_, thought Harry. A grin appeared on his face. He should have known Jenna would go there first. With a thank you to the Fat Lady, Harry turned in the opposite direction and headed for the Astronomy Tower. His desire for sleep would just have to wait a little longer. There was one last thing he had to sort out first.

* * *

**AN: only two more chapters left i'm afraid. it's been over a year since I started this thing and it's almost over. quite sad actually. well, hope you enjoyed it and do leave me a review. thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter. cheers. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**P.S. i've almost finished the next chapter so if you want to find out what happens, better leave a review ...**


	46. Tying Up Loose Ends

Chapter 45

Tying Up Loose Ends

'Harry!'

Harry looked behind him. Red hair flowing behind her and eyes blazing, Ginny ran up the corridor towards him. There was a sense of urgency about her. Harry stopped walking and turned to face her. Ginny stopped in front of him. She didn't speak straight away, instead looking uncomfortable. As if she was about to tell him something she didn't want to. Harry had a feeling he knew what this was about.

'Harry,' Ginny started awkwardly, 'there's something I –'

Harry placed his finger over Ginny's lips. Her brown eyes looked at it, then up at him. Harry smiled and ran his hand over Ginny's cheek.

'I know about you and Neville,' said Harry quietly. 'Luna mentioned the, er … love bugs.'

A flush crept into Ginny's cheeks. Harry chuckled.

'I honestly didn't intend it to happen, Harry,' said Ginny. 'But it did. We knew it was wrong but neither of us wanted it to end. I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' replied Harry. 'I don't blame you for finding someone else. There was no guarantee I'd live. I would have wanted you to move on if I didn't. I'm glad you've found someone else. Neville's a great guy.'

Ginny nodded, then said, 'Have spoken to Jenna?'

'Not yet.'

'Well, make sure you do,' said Ginny, smiling. 'She needs to know.'

Harry gave Ginny a strange look. She just shrugged and turned away. Harry watched as she walked down the corridor and turned the corner. To say he was disappointed is true, but Harry was glad she'd found someone else. Once she'd gone Harry continued to the Astronomy Tower. Taking the stairs two at a time Harry jogged towards the top of the Tower. He slowed as he approached it. Harry climbed the last few steps and stopped in front of the door. He couldn't hear anything behind it so Harry pushed it open and stepped on to the platform. His eyes travelled around it until they saw who he was looking for.

Sitting on the wall with her jacket lying on the ground behind her, Jenna silently faced away from him looking into the grounds. She hadn't noticed he was there. She sat back on her hands, her hair blowing behind her in a gentle breeze. Harry made a mental note to tell Jenna to grow her hair back; she didn't look right with short hair. Her fringe hid her eyes for a start. As Harry watched her his eyes were drawn to what Jenna was looking at. A silver doe, bright as the sun but pale in the rising daylight, was cantering about in the midair. And the only source of her was right in front of Harry. A smile came to his face.

The Patronus vanished as Jenna stirred. She swung her legs back over the wall to the platform. Bending to pick up her jacket, Harry caught a glimpse on the scars on her back as her top rode up. She'd been through so much for him. Now it was time for something to go right for her. As she stood straight, Jenna's eyes met his …

-o-

I ran all the way up to the seventh floor when I returned to my normal form. I slowed to a walk. My footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. I walked passed the one which led to the portrait of the Fat Lady and the warmth of the Gryffindor Tower. I turned the corner and walked down the next corridor. At the end was the door leading to the Astronomy Tower. It had been repaired since the fight last year.

I took hold of the handle and pushed the door open. I didn't rush, taking each step up the Tower slowly, my fingers brushing the wall as I walked. I past the door to the classroom and continued upwards. At the top of the stairs was another door. I opened it and stepped on to the observation platform of the Astronomy Tower. I shielded my eyes from the bright sun which had risen fully by now. It dazzled over the water of the lake creating an atmosphere so warm you wouldn't have thought a war could have just been fought on this ground.

I closed the door behind me and walked over to the wall. Pulling off my jacket I stretched, my camisole riding up slightly. I climbed on to it and swung my legs over the edge. I leant back on my hands and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze on my face. Such bliss. I sighed and looked out over the grounds. The remnants of the war were still there but none of that mattered to me. Voldemort was gone and so was Bellatrix. I was finally free from this ongoing battle.

I sat there for half an hour or so in silence, just staring into space. It was so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb it. I turned my wand in my fingers idly. With a smooth flick, I pointed it in front of me. I drew up my happiest memory and whispered, '_Expecto Patronum._' The doe Patronus burst form my wand and cantered around in a circle in front of me. I smiled at it. She continued to run, enjoying her freedom. Some said a Patronus was a representation of the soul. Well that was certainly true in my case.

As I watched the doe gamble about in the air a thought occurred to me. I still had to talk to Harry about what I did. About leaving him and … about my feelings. I sat up and sighed, running my hand through my hair and pushing my fringe back. He'd said he loved me but I hadn't reciprocated it yet. A part of me was still scared to do it. I glanced at the doe.

'It's easier for you,' I muttered to it. 'You just change and appear as the one I love. You don't have to say it.'

The doe looked at me then vanished. I sighed again then swung my legs back over the wall to the platform. I slid off the wall. I picked my jacket off the floor and turned for the door. I stopped when I saw who stood in front of it.

'Hey,' said Harry quietly.

Butterflies instantly rose in my stomach. He hadn't seen my Patronus, had he? I bit my lip nervously as Harry walked towards me. I couldn't tear my eyes from him. His clothes were dirty and torn from the fight; his body was covered in various cuts and scars; his hair was as wild as ever but a smile was on his face despite his tiredness. Well we'd all been up since yesterday. Harry stopped just in front of me. I stared up at him, not knowing what to say.

'Are you for real?'

'Why don't you see for yourself?' Harry suggested.

My heart rate sped up when Harry said that. I swallowed nervously and raised my hands. I looked down as I placed them on Harry's abdomen. I could feel him. I let out a short laugh. I couldn't believe he was here. I let them trail slowly up Harry's chest, feeling every part of him to make sure. Next I ran my hands over his shoulders and upper arms. I looked up at him. Harry smiled gently at me. I bit my lip and moved my hands to his neck and face, my fingers brushing his cheek. Harry raised his own and placed them on my waist.

'You're here,' I breathed. I wrapped my arms around Harry and hugged him. Harry hugged me back, holding me tightly. 'I wasn't dreaming … You're really here …'

'I said I'd always be here,' whispered Harry. He pulled back, his arms loose around my waist. He brushed back my hair and tucked it behind my ear. 'I said I'd never leave you.'

'But how is it possible?' I asked. 'I saw you die. I saw the Death Curse hit you.' My eyes travelled down to the area where he had been hit on the centre of his chest. I placed my hand over it. 'You were dead.'

Harry's hand took hold of mine making me look up.

'Not entirely,' he told me. I gave him a confused look. Harry chuckled. 'When Voldemort took my blood three years ago, he took my mother's protection and unintentionally tethered himself to me. So when he tried to kill me tonight, he _did_ kill me but also injured himself in the fact that … part of his soul lived inside me.'

'What?' Harry raised his hand and pushed back his fringe, revealing his scar. I stared at it. 'Your scar … You were a Horcrux.'

'As long as a part of Voldemort lived in me, I was protected,' said Harry. 'When he killed me, he destroyed that last part of him, hurting himself but saving me. He knocked us both unconscious and I saw what he'd become. Both our souls appeared in this sort of King's Cross limbo. Then Dumbledore appeared and he explained everything.'

'Dumbledore was there?' Harry nodded. But he was dead, how –? 'Of course,' I breathed. 'Fawkes said he'd be back.'

'What d'you mean?'

'Last year, when he died and Fawkes performed that lament, I could hear what was being said,' I explained. 'Fawkes said Dumbledore would return and I guess he did in some ways. He returned to you, to guide you for the last time.'

'Well, he came back either way and gave me a choice,' said Harry. 'To move on or to come back. And I chose to come back. It turned out that Voldemort had knocked us unconscious for a few moments. I felt and heard everything that happened in the Forest and castle. From you defending me,' Harry raised my hand and linked his fingers with mine, 'to the soft touch of your hands. I felt and heard it all.'

Harry smiled at me. I smiled back. A thought then occurred to me.

'If you had the chance to move on then why did you come back? You had the chance to leave all this. Why come back?'

'I think Hermione called it my "saving people thing",' Harry joked. I laughed. 'I decided to come back because it started with me, it had to end with me. Plus, I'd worked out all that stuff to do with the Elder Wand so … I had to end it.'

I nodded.

'I'm just glad you're all right,' I said. I could feel the flush start to rise in my cheeks and I automatically looked down. 'I – I thought I'd lost you.'

I looked at Harry from beneath my eyelashes. I half expected him to laugh in my face at that. But when I saw that warm look in his eyes … It merely made my heart race even more.

'Speak for yourself,' said Harry. 'Watching that fight between you and Bellatrix. Were you trying to get yourself killed?'

'I had it under control,' I said reproachfully.

'Says the blood on your jacket.' Harry looked at me pointedly. I shrugged. I was fine now, wasn't I? 'Talking of that fight actually, it's just reminded me of something.'

'Really?' I asked.

'D'you want to explain the, er, wings you had back in the Hall?' asked Harry. 'And the healing tears back at Shell Cottage?'

'Oh …' I hesitated. 'Yeah well, um, about that …' Harry raised his eyebrow. 'It's kind of a long story.'

'Then give me the short version.'

I bit my lip in thought. There wasn't really any other way to get round it, was there?

'You remember I told you Bellatrix almost killed my Mum when she was pregnant with me?' I said. Harry nodded. 'Well, it was that same curse that she used on me last night. And, like me, Mum used phoenix tears to heal herself. Phoenix tears from Fawkes. And because she was pregnant with me and the gash was on her abdomen, some of their magic got through to me.'

I stepped back from Harry and raised my hand. I thought of Bellatrix. A fireball appeared in my hand. I extinguished it then thought of the wings. They sprouted from my shoulders and lifted me slightly off the ground. I let go of the thought and dropped back to the ground.

'So you can use a phoenix's magic?' asked Harry.

'Sort of,' I shrugged, 'but it won't last forever.'

I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out the ring. If this was what I thought it was, I could finally try that task I'd been set. Harry's reaction told me it was. His eyes widened when he saw it.

'That's the Resurrection Stone,' he said. Harry walked up to me and took the ring. 'I lost this in the Forest. How did you find it?'

'I saw it lying there when Voldemort marched us back to the castle. I purposely fell over and picked it up.'

'Jenna, you can't keep it,' said Harry, straight away. 'That Stone is dangerous. It won't give you what you want. It won't give you back your parents.'

'I don't intend to keep it,' I told him. 'But I do intend to use it.'

I took the ring back from Harry and faced away from him. I closed my eyes and turned it over three times in my fingers, thinking of who I wanted to see. A warmth started in my fingers and I opened my eyes. Five small balls of white light floated from the Stone. They floated away from where Harry and I stood then divided into a group of two and three. A few seconds later five people stood before us. James, Lily, Lupin, Dad and Mum were all smiling at us. They were here. I slipped the ring back into my pocket.

To look at James was like looking at an older version of Harry. He was the same height and wearing the clothes which he had died in, and his hair was untidy and ruffled exactly like Harry's. They had the exact same thin face and upon James's nose sat his round glasses, slightly lopsided.

Lily was as beautiful as I thought she would be. She had shoulder length hair pulled casually over one shoulder which she brushed back from her face; her green eyes were exactly the same as Harry's and her smile was warm and kind.

Dad was tall and handsome, looking younger than I'd ever seen him before. His grin was exactly how I remembered it, his shoulders slumped and his hands in his pockets in a casual elegance. His grey eyes fell on to me and his grin widened as he winked at me.

Lupin was younger too, and much less shabby, and his hair was thicker and darker than normal. So this is what he looked like. He looked much happier than I'd seen him before, glad to be back with his friends and his sister.

Mum was the shortest of the group, also the youngest. Her face was warm as she smiled at me, her blue eyes almost glinting with life. Her long hair was drawn back in a plait which went down the full length of her back, as sleek as my own black hair used to be before it was cut off. It was her I had most wanted to see.

Harry and I looked at each other then he went to join his parents. I watched as he went and spoke to them, being enveloped in Lily's arms, then looked back at my own. They were all watching at me. Lupin smiled warmly at me; Dad grinned and put his arm round Mum's waist; but to look at my Mum was like looking in a mirror. She looked like an older version of me and was as beautiful as I'd always imagined her.

'We are so proud of you, Jen,' said Sirius. He held out his arm, like he was welcoming me to them. I stepped closer to them but did not go right up to them. Dad looked at me strangely.

'What's wrong, sweetie?' said Tala. Her voice was so soft.

'Nothing,' I replied quickly. 'It's just … are you really here?'

'We're not here as such,' said Sirius. 'We're neither ghost nor human. More the souls of who we were. We _are_ here but are still separated from this world by … a veil, if you want.'

'But otherwise we're as real as you want us to be,' finished Tala gently.

She held out her hand to me. I looked at it. I hesitated. I wanted so much to reach out and touch it, to be held by my Mum, but something was holding me back. Nonetheless when I looked at the group again I knew Mum was right. They were as real as I wanted them to be. Stepping closer I reached out my hand. My fingers touched Mum's. I couldn't feel her skin as such but I could feel her warmth. Mum smiled at me. Instantly I went and hugged her.

'I can't believe you're here,' I breathed. I felt like I was going to cry. Dad stood beside her gently stroking my hair while Lupin watched. 'There is so much I want to ask you, so much I want to tell you. So much …' I pulled back and looked at the three of them, 'so much I wish I could have done with you.'

I couldn't hide the sad tone in my voice. Mum and Dad looked at each other.

'We are so sorry, sweetie,' said Tala. 'We wish so much we could have been there for you properly. To help you discover and guide you through your magic like a parent should. It wasn't fair on you or Harry what happened.'

'But I had Remus,' I said, glancing at him. Lupin smiled at me. 'He helped me. He saved me from a life of loneliness, of never knowing. He was there whenever I needed him, doing what he promised to do when I was born. Being the best Uncle I'd ever have.'

'I tried, but even I made mistakes,' said Lupin. He was as modest as ever.

I smiled at Lupin for a moment but then I had that guilty feeling again.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about Bellatrix.'

'You have _nothing_ to apologise for,' said Lupin firmly. 'I was as much in the wrong that day as anyone else. There were things I shouldn't have done which I did that I can't take back. However, it is our present actions that really count. You defending me was apology enough.'

I nodded, then proceeded to ask, 'Why didn't they tell me?' I blinked. A single tear fell from my eye. 'Why didn't my premonitions tell me you were going to die?'

'Because you had to learn there are some things you can't stop,' said Lupin gently. He placed his hand on my cheek; like with Mum, I could feel it was there but I couldn't feel his touch. His thumb wiped away the tear. 'You tried to stop both your Dad's and Cedric's deaths because you were warned about them. If you had been warned about mine, you wouldn't have tried to help me and I wouldn't be dead. But I was meant to die, just like the others were.'

'Everything happens for a reason, Jenna,' said Tala. 'But as you proved last night, you _can_ go against what is predicted. What _is_ meant to happen.'

'What d'you mean?' I asked.

'The future is fluid, always changing,' explained Tala. 'A month ago you had a premonition depicting Harry's death. In that premonition, you and Harry both walked into the Forbidden Forest and into Voldemort's grasp. However you made that premonition change.'

'How? I didn't do anything related to that premonition to try and stop it. I just … left it to play out.'

'Exactly,' said Tala. 'You didn't stop it. You followed your own path and it led you back to Harry the way it was meant to.' I glanced over my shoulder at where Harry stood with his parents. He was happily talking to them. In a brief moment our eyes met. He smiled. 'If you had gone back to Harry the moment you had that premonition to warn him then it would have changed. Harry would never have let you go with him. But what did make it change was what happened in that corridor last night. You didn't have to protect the others in the corridor but you did, weakening yourself greatly, and what happened after that changed the premonition.'

I thought about it. Harry had saved me in that corridor. That had made the premonition change? He'd said in the Forest that seeing me lying there made him realise … If I hadn't of protected the others, Harry would never have saved me. Did that mean Harry would have never told me how he felt? Was it really that which made him tell me?

'You made that premonition turn out the way it did, Jenna,' said Tala. 'Just like you've made mine turn out the way it has. Or at least, has so far.'

I knew the premonition Mum meant.

'That premonition you had before you died,' I muttered, 'it showed you guys all dead.' Tala nodded. 'But it also showed me … using Dark magic, didn't it?'

'Bellatrix had managed to corrupt you,' said Tala. 'That confrontation you had with her earlier was what almost made you what I saw, made you feel what you did. If she had managed to do what she wanted, then your natural magical skill combined with the magic you possessed from the phoenix would have made you a force to be reckoned with.'

'I know,' I said. 'When she said all that stuff, it was like I could feel something inside me trying to claw its way out. It threatened to take over me. Like there was a darkness inside of me. I just wanted to cause her so much pain and –'

'But it was your compassion for others which saved you.' Mum raised her hand and gently touched my cheek, just like Lupin used to. I looked at her. 'Like you said, it's that which makes you stronger. Your compassion for others. You showed Bellatrix compassion by sparing her life.'

'Mum, I still killed her,' I said. 'I fought and killed her barely two hours ago.'

'And showed remorse for it afterwards. Jenna, sweetie, you are not a killer and you are not a Dark witch. You are a kind, compassionate, strong young witch, and it was that which changed my premonition, allowing for my other one the possibility to come true.'

I smiled and nodded. I finally understood. Mum smiled back.

'Harry,' I called over to him. He turned and looked at me. 'Can I borrow your parents for a moment?' Harry nodded. He and his parents came and joined mine.

'What's this about, Jen?' he asked me.

'You'll see,' I replied.

Harry looked at me strangely as he came and stood beside me. I merely smiled then turned and faced the others. Mum, Dad, Remus, James and Lily were all watching us. I paused for a moment trying to think what to say.

'Every one of us has a part to play in the story of lives,' I said, telling them what Dumbledore had said to me. 'We find the tasks set to us sometimes difficult, sometimes unwanted, sometimes draining, but we all must do our parts. Only then do we realise our purpose in this world and see that there is always something worth fighting for. We must use our gifts, whether they be power, or wisdom, or love, for what they are intended for and live with the consequences they bring.

'Well … now I know what my part to play in this story is. It wasn't just to help Harry,' I glanced at him, 'but to give him something no one else could. I was given a gift and a task and I finally know how to do it.' I looked over at Mum. She beamed at me. 'Thanks for showing me the way.'

'What task were you given to do?' asked Sirius.

I took a breath, preparing myself for the worse, then said it.

'If you could have the chance to come back, if someone gave you the chance to come back, to have a family, would you take it?'

'There is nothing in the world we would want more than to be there for our children,' said Lily. I looked across at her. Harry really did have her eyes. 'But everyone knows no spell can bring back the dead. We have all moved on.'

'But if you had the chance, would you take it?' I asked again.

'Without a second's hesitation,' said James.

'We would take it the moment it was offered,' agreed Sirius. 'To have a second chance to be with you and Harry again … Nothing would compare to it.'

'Then it's a good thing I'm offering you that chance,' I said simply. Everyone stared at me. 'I have a gift, a gift from a phoenix, and the power to give you all a second chance to be with your children. I don't know if it will work but I believe in myself enough to give it a try. All I need to know is if you are also willing to try it too.'

'Jenna, hang on,' said Harry behind me. He took my arm and pulled me aside. 'Jenna, if you're saying what I think you're saying –' he whispered.

'I know what I'm doing, Harry,' I said quietly. 'Just trust me.'

'Jenna, if you try this, you could die,' said Harry.

'I know,' I replied simply. I looked Harry straight in the eye. 'But I've got to try. Don't you want to know your parents?'

'More than anything but it's not worth risking your life to do it.'

'You've got to let me try, Harry. There are some things in life we have to do and this is one of them. You've got to let me do it.' Harry looked at me worriedly. 'Just trust me.'

Harry continued to look worriedly at me for a minute or two more, then released my arm. I took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

'So, do you want to try?' I asked our parents and Lupin.

James and Dad looked at each other while Lily seemed unconvinced. Mum remained silent. I knew her view already. Lupin was the one to speak out.

'If you're willing to try it, then so am I,' he said. 'I believe in you, Jenna.'

'Dad? Mr and Mrs Potter?'

'What d'you reckon, Padfoot?' James asked Dad. 'She's your daughter.'

Dad looked at me, then smiled.

'I reckon she knows what she's doing,' he said.

'Then I'm in too,' said James.

'Go for it, Jen.'

Now I just needed Lily to agree. She was still looking warily at me. I could tell she didn't believe me.

'Lils?' James put his arm round her waist and brought her closer. He brushed back her hair. My heart skipped a beat as I saw how much like his father Harry really was, the exact same motions. 'What d'you think?'

'I just don't want to be disappointed,' said Lily. 'We're putting our future happiness in the hands of a seventeen year old witch who thinks she can defy all laws of magic. I don't want to get my hopes up for my son only to be disappointed.'

'Well I believe in her.' James and Lily both looked up; I looked behind me. Harry walked straight up to me and took my hand. My heart fluttered. Knowing that Harry believed in me seemed to make all the difference. 'I always have and I always will. I know how strong she is and she doesn't give up without a fight. If I can believe in her then surely you can too, Mum?'

Lily looked between her husband and her son. After a few minutes thought, she conceded.

'All right. I believe in you, Jenna.'

With everyone's agreement I sat down on the Astronomy Tower platform and started to work. I unclipped my bag and began digging around in it for various things. Everyone else watched from where they were. From my bag I pulled out a cauldron, my box of potion ingredients, the phial I'd poured some of the phoenix tears into and then most importantly, the letter that had the phoenix feathers inside.

'Jenna, are you sure you know what you're doing?' Harry asked me.

'No, I'm not,' I said. 'But I'll never know until I try.'

I pulled out my wand and placed my cauldron in front of me. Tapping my wand on it I used the Multiplying Charm to create four more cauldrons. I'd need those later. Next I created a fire with phoenix flame beneath the first cauldron and set about making the base that all potions needed. The only downside to making a potion was that the base always took nearly half an hour to make as it needed to simmer slowly until ready to start adding the ingredients. While the base simmered, I started to dig around my potion kit. I had the general ingredients that we used every year in Potions class along with several herbs and things I'd collected while on the run. But there was one thing I saw I was missing.

'I need Voldemort's wand,' I told Harry. 'I need the wand he used to kill your parents.'

'What good will that do?' asked Harry.

'His wand was made of yew. Some of the yew tree's magical properties are used in Healing Potions. It's associated with both life and death so it's magic will help reverse the effects of the Killing Curse. Or at least, I hope it will.' Harry looked at me sceptically. 'You said you believed in me,' I reminded him. 'Please, Harry.'

I could see Harry wasn't entirely willing. He finally conceded and said, 'I'll try and summon it. You get on with the rest of the potion.'

I smiled and thanked him. Harry stood up and, with a squeeze of his hand on my shoulder, walked over to the other side of the platform to summon Voldemort's wand. While he did that, I got on with the potion.

The base was now simmering gently. It was ready. Firstly I added some shredded nettle leaves. They were supposed to help remove curses and spells. I cut them up and put them into the cauldron and gave it a couple of stirs clockwise. All of this was pure guesswork. The potion turned a darker green, smoke rising up from it in gentle waves. Next I took out some asphodel and dittany, ingredients used in the Wiggenweld Potion, and threw them into the mix. The potion changed from green to a blood red. So far so good.

I let the potion simmer for ten minutes or so while I prepared the next ingredient. I pulled out from my potion box one of the ingredients I had collected. It was a small plant with delicate pink petals called a Spiritu and was supposed to restore life. It had seven petals. Gently I pulled each one off and put them into the potion. The colour paled slightly and let off spirals of red smoke. It smelt almost like roses.

'All I need now is the wand,' I muttered.

As if on cue, Harry appeared beside me. In his hand were two wands; his brown holly and phoenix feather, and its twin, the yew and phoenix feather white wand of Voldemort. He handed it to me then reassumed his seat beside me. From my bag I took out another phial. I broke the wand in two and put them inside it. Sparks hissed angrily like a snake from it. I pointed my own wand into the phial and said, '_Reducto._' The white wand instantly turned to ash from contact with the spell. I poured it into the potion. It turned grey.

'How much longer d'you think it'll be?' asked Harry.

'Shouldn't be too long,' I muttered. 'I need to let the potion mature for a few minutes and then there're a couple more ingredients I need to add.'

I gave the potion one last stir and it changed from grey to silver with a smooth texture. I then let it sit for five minutes. While it did that I sorted out the last of the ingredients. I checked the phial of phoenix tears. There was just enough in there for each potion. One drop would do. Next I picked up the letter from Dumbledore which told me about my powers. Inside were the phoenix feathers. I took out five of the six leaving one still in there. I placed them on the ground next to the tears.

'Right, now I have to divide the potion.'

I dug a ladle out from my bag and scooped up some of the potion. I divided it equally into the four other cauldrons I'd created, leaving some in the first. I lit phoenix fires underneath each of them to keep them simmering. The five separate potions bubbled gently in front of me in a semicircle, each giving off silvery wisps of smoke. The last ingredients were ready, the potion was ready. Now to see if this would work.

'Feathers of fire and life …'

I dropped one feather into each of the cauldrons. The potion changed instantly from silver to a gleaming mixture of gold and red.

'And the tears that heal …'

I picked up the phial of tears and uncorked it. Carefully I let a single drop fall into each. It was at that moment though I realised something was missing.

There was one last ingredient I needed. Blood from me and Harry. We had the blood that ran through our parents. It was a vital part of the potion to bring back our parents. Sure, my blood wasn't exactly Lupin's but I was his niece and I couldn't use baby Teddy's. Besides he'd always said I was his blood. I search around in my bag for a few moments to look for something to prick my finger with. You'd think in a bag of bits of bobs with the most random objects ever inside it I'd have a knife of some sort. I was sure Dad's knife was in here somewhere ... Found it.

'Harry, give me your hand,' I said. Harry held it out to me. I picked up the knife and placed it on his palm, folding his fingers around it and mine around his. 'This may hurt a bit.'

Harry gasped as the knife cut across his palm. I pulled it from his hand and gently squeezed it. A trickle of blood appeared at the hole. Quickly I held his hand over one of the cauldrons and squeezed it again. A single drop fell into the cauldron. It instantly turned emerald green in colour. I moved Harry's hand over a second cauldron and let another drop fall into it, again turning the potion emerald green. I let go of Harry's hand.

'Here,' I tapped it with my wand and whispered, '_Sanare_.'

The cut healed itself leaving Harry's hand mark free. I then proceeded to do the same with my own. I placed knife in my hand and curled my fingers around it. Taking a breath, I pulled it out and felt it slice across my palm. The blood began to trickle to the edge of my hand so I held it above the remaining cauldrons. This time when the blood fell into it the potion turned pale blue.

'Blood of the children …'

I healed my hand then conjured five glasses and filled each with a separate potion, one for each of our parents. I handed Harry two of them to give to James and Lily and took the remaining three for Mum, Dad and Lupin. I got up and walked over to them.

'You all need to drink this,' I told them. 'If you can touch and hold Harry and me, you surely should be able to hold these.' I handed Mum, Dad and Lupin one of the glasses. Harry gave his to James and Lily. 'OK, drink them.'

'Cheers, Moony, Prongs,' said Sirius and he upended his glass, drinking the potion. Mum, Lupin, James and Lily followed suit.

'And souls of the ghost …' I took a deep breath while they finished their potions. 'Return what was lost. Let them now be real.'

I stepped back from my parents, Harry doing the same, and watched. They each put down their glasses on the wall behind them and waited. Nothing seemed to be happen. I sighed; the potion hadn't worked. I'd wanted so much for that potion to work, to be able to be with my parents. I let out a sigh of disappointment and went to clear up my things. I took a step forwards –

-o-

'Jenna!' Harry ran forwards and caught Jenna as her legs gave way. He put his arms around her to help her stand but Jenna didn't have the strength. Her skin had paled and she was barely breathing. 'Jen, what's wrong?'

'I don't know,' she breathed. 'I feel … weak …'

Jenna let out a breath and fell unconscious. From her chest a small flame rose up, hovering above her. Harry watched as it floated in front of him. It grew larger until there was a bright flash. Harry shielded his eyes with his arm. Fawkes appeared in place of the flame. He floated in front of him, his black eyes focused on Harry.

'Harry Potter,' said a voice. Harry looked at Jenna; it was coming from her but it wasn't her voice. 'It is not Jenna who is speaking,' said the voice. Harry automatically looked up at the phoenix. He bowed his head at him. 'I have temporarily borrowed her body so I can speak to you. Do not fret, she is safe,' Fawkes added as a look of fear crossed Harry's face. 'But only until you have made your decision.'

'What d'you mean?' asked Harry.

'I am here to present you with a choice,' said Fawkes. 'I bestowed upon Jenna some of my powers before she was born. She has used them wisely, to help others. Now, in according with a vision her mother had, she is trying to help you by returning your parents to you. However, it is not as simple as that.

'Jenna does not possess the magical strength to complete the spell. It is that which called me here. You now have to make a choice, Harry Potter. A life for a life, a wand for a wand.'

'What are you talking about?' said Harry. 'Where is Jenna? What have you done with her?'

'I have told you, she is safe,' said Fawkes. 'Her soul is intact but momentarily absent from her body while I speak to you.'

'But what is this choice I have? A life for a life, wand for a wand?'

'Because Jenna does not have the magical strength to complete the spell on her own, she cannot sustain her life as well as the others in order to return them to this world. Her life is now in your hands; it is up to you who you decide to save: choose Jenna, you will reclaim her soul; restore the life of your parents and Jenna takes their place.'

'Hey, wait a minute!' said Harry. 'Are you saying if I choose my parents, Jenna dies? That isn't fair! I can't choose between her and my parents. It's not a fair choice!'

'You cannot save both, Harry Potter,' said Fawkes. 'A life for a life, a wand for a wand.'

'That's not fair!' repeated Harry. 'I can't choose.'

'You must,' said Fawkes. 'Choose wisely, Harry Potter.'

It appeared that Harry didn't have any other option. He looked across at his parents. His father was smiling at him, his mother beside him, her green eyes blazing with life. Harry turned and looked at Jenna in his arms. She just lay there in his arms unconscious, her eyes closed and breathing steady as Fawkes used her body to communicate with him. He couldn't lose her, not now, not after all they'd been through. It just wasn't fair. Harry wanted both to be with his parents and Jenna. He had to choose.

After a few moments thought, Harry looked up at Fawkes.

'Have you chosen, Harry Potter?' he asked.

'Yes,' replied Harry. Fawkes waited expectantly. 'And I choose Jenna.'

Fawkes bowed his head, and said, 'You have chosen well, Harry Potter. I stay true to my word. I restore Jenna's soul to you.'

The phoenix let out a cry and vanished into flame.

-o-

I opened my eyes to find myself resting against Harry, being held up by his arms. I swallowed and took several deep breaths. What had just happened? All I could remember was going to clear up my potion equipment then passing out. My head was thumping and I felt like I was going to faint again. It was like my magic had been drained.

'What happened?' I asked. I stood straight with Harry's help.

'You passed out,' said Harry. 'You didn't have the energy to complete the spell. Fawkes had to restore you.'

I looked across at our parents to see they were still there but no more solid than before.

'I really wanted it to work,' I said. I buried my face into Harry's shoulder and held on to him. 'I just wanted to give you back your parents.'

'I know you did,' said Harry gently. 'But I couldn't risk you.' I pulled back and looked at Harry strangely. 'Fawkes gave me a choice. I could either choose you and lose my parents, or have my parents back and you take their place. I wasn't going to choose them over you. I had my time with them. Now … it's my time with you.'

'But why?' I asked. 'You had the chance to be with your parents. Why choose me?'

Harry looked straight into my eyes. My heart skipped a beat at what I saw inside them.

A strange glow started behind us causing Harry and I to turn round. It was coming from our parents. Slowly their souls became more opaque and solid; colour appeared in their faces from the black of Dad's hair to the green of Lily's eyes; they no longer seemed to float above the ground but their feet stand firmly on the stone. A voice suddenly spoke to us.

'You chose well, Harry Potter, and because of your love for this woman, I aid her spell and give your parents a second chance. I return them all to you.'

A bright flash. Harry instantly pulled me into him. After a few seconds I felt Harry's grip relax and I looked up. Our parents were still there, standing in front of us. They looked at each other, their eyes scrutinizing every inch of themselves and the person they were next to, their hands touching their bodies and faces. I looked at Harry then stepped away from him towards them. I approached our parents cautiously and held out my hand, just like Mum had done with me. I waited for one of them to respond. They all looked at me but Mum was the first to respond. She reached out and touched her fingertips to mine.

'I can feel you,' I breathed. 'I can feel you.' I pressed my hand against Mum's, linking my fingers with her own. 'It worked! Harry, it worked!'

I stepped forwards and wrapped my arms around Mum. I heard Harry's footsteps approach us and he too was hugged by his parents. The potion had worked! I could feel Mum's arms around me, feel her breath on my neck as she held me, feel Dad's hand stroking my hair. I felt like I was going to cry. I was just so happy. I finally had my parents! But I noticed someone wasn't there.

'Where's Remus?' I asked. I pulled back from Mum and looked between her and Dad. 'Where'd Remus go?'

We looked around but there was no sign of him. Surely the potion had worked for him too? He was nowhere. I heard a noise start from behind the door. I turned round as Mum and Dad looked up. The door to the stairs was pushed open. Standing in the doorway, breathing heavily from the sprint he'd just done and back in the worn clothes he died in, was Lupin, looking the same young self his soul had been. His brown eyes met mine. Instantly I ran at him and into his open arms. Lupin picked me up in his embrace, holding me tightly and swinging me around. After a few moments Lupin put me down but his arms remained around me. He held me tightly, his hand stroking my hair. I buried my face in his robes, breathing in his comforting smell. Eventually he pulled back. Lupin took my face in his hands, his eyes roving over me.

'Thank you,' he breathed. 'Thank you so much, Jenna.'

'I said I'd come back for you,' I cried, unable to hide my happiness. 'I promised.'

Lupin smiled at me, a smile so warm it almost didn't seem like him. I'd never seen him look this young or happy. Mum and Dad then came and joined us.

'I knew you'd figure it out,' said Tala. She smiled at me. 'My brave little girl.'

'Enough of the little, Mum,' I replied. It felt weird to be able to say "Mum". 'I'm seventeen, you know.'

'You'll always be my little girl, no matter how big you get.' She gave me a kiss on my forehead. It felt so nice. 'I am so proud of you.'

'We all are,' said Sirius. He stood next to Mum, his arm around her waist and his other round me, the grin I'd seen so often before gracing his handsome face. 'Our little firebird.'

'Firebird?' I repeated. 'Why that?'

'Why not?' countered Sirius. I laughed. Same old Dad.

The next half an hour or so I remained with my parents, Harry with his, on the platform of the Astronomy Tower simply talking. In that time I saw that the potion had brought back our parents exactly how they were when they died. Of course, Mum was a bit annoyed she'd aged seventeen years without her knowing but, what are you going to do? But what made Lupin the happiest was that because I'd used my blood to bring him back he was no longer infected with lycanthropy. The werewolf inside of him was gone for good. He could finally have his life back.

'Jenna, I don't how to thank you,' said Lupin. 'You've brought me more happiness in my life than I could have ever had alone.'

'Just love Teddy the same way you loved me,' I said. 'Teddy needs his father.'

'Who's Teddy?' asked Sirius.

'Teddy is mine and Dora's son,' explained Lupin. Mum looked at him astounded.

'Sorry, is this my brother speaking?' she said. She put her hand on his face and turned it from side to side. 'The brother who believed that no one would ever love him? Who resigned himself to loneliness at sixteen? Hang on, I have a nephew?'

'More importantly, who's Dora?' said Sirius. He looked at Lupin pointedly.

'Nymphadora, Sirius.' Lupin held up his hand. His wedding ring glinted in the sunlight. 'I married her last year and she gave birth to Teddy in April.'

'And you got ratty at me for falling for Tala!' said Sirius. 'You're such a hypocrite, Moony!'

Mum and I looked at each other as Dad and Lupin began arguing. I guess this was what they used to be like when they were my age. Mum merely sighed and shook her head in exasperation at her husband and brother. I laughed in agreement.

'I think someone over there wants to speak to you,' she then said to me. I looked at her strangely. She nodded at someone behind me. I followed her nod and saw Harry watching me as he spoke to his parents. 'He's been watching you for the last five minutes,' said Tala quietly. 'Why don't you go speak to him?'

'Only if he wants to,' I muttered. Mum raised her eyebrows. I just shook my head.

Coincidence or not, a few minutes after that Harry, Lily and James came and joined us. Mum, Dad and Lupin greeted their old friends warmly. The Marauders were reunited at last. Just behind them I saw Harry waiting silently, his eyes on me. He smiled. I smiled back nervously. I felt a flush creep into my cheeks. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mum look at me pointedly. She nodded in Harry's direction. I took the hint. As our parents began talking, I walked over to Harry.

'Hey,' I said quietly.

'Hey,' said Harry in return.

Silence followed for a moment or two. I stood there, my hands in front of me twisting in nerves, looking up at Harry. He smiled back, that warm glow deep within his green eyes.

'Thank you,' said Harry after a while. 'Thank you for giving me back my parents.'

'Don't thank me,' I replied. 'Thank Bellatrix and Fawkes. It was his magic and because of her that I got it. And because of you …' I felt my cheeks get hotter, 'because of your choice.'

Again silence. We just looked at each other, not saying a word. I still felt slightly drained from what had happened. I stumbled slightly but Harry caught me just in time before I fell. His arms went round my waist and held me up while my hands grabbed on to his arms to keep my balance. He helped me stand, his arms remaining round me.

'You OK?' he asked, worried.

'Yeah,' I breathed. I ran my hand over my face. It felt quite hot, like I had a fever. I pushed back my hair and took a deep breath. 'I just feel a little dizzy at the moment, that's all. I guess I've used those powers on what they were intended for.' I looked up at Harry. 'I'm finally normal. Well, as normal as I'll ever be.'

Harry chuckled.

'Before I forget …' I took the Resurrection Stone back out my pocket. I gave it to Harry. 'D'you want to do the honours?'

Harry took the ring and pulled out his wand. With a tap, the ring was Banished, flying towards the Forbidden Forest to be lost forever. Harry then turned and faced me. 'Done.'

Another silence was held between us. We just stood there in each others arms, Harry's around my waist and my hands resting on his chest. As the seconds ticked by I felt Harry's hand move up to my face. He gently ran his fingers over my cheek as he brushed back my hair, his finger then curling under my chin. He raised it ever so slightly. It was then I noticed how close we were to each other. My heart began to race again. I saw Harry move closer to me. I knew what he was going to do. However, as he was about to kiss me, I placed my finger on his lips and stopped him. Harry pulled back.

'Why did you stop me?' he asked, confused.

I had a more important question on my mind before anything else happened between us. Preparing myself for what could happen, I said, 'Have you spoken to Ginny?'

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. I guess he'd expected this.

'I knew this was coming,' he said. Thought so. 'What if I haven't?'

'Then you know I won't do anything,' I replied.

'Why?' asked Harry.

'Because I can't let myself do that. I would never get in between you and whoever you were with, no matter how I felt.'

'Then I guess it's a good job I have,' said Harry. 'I already knew about her and Neville.' I looked at Harry strangely. He did? 'Luna told me about the love bugs the day after she and Dean snuck out to Hogwarts. On your request, I believe.'

Harry raised his eyebrow at me. I automatically looked away. Yeah, about that …

'What happened, Jenna?' Harry continued. 'Why did you leave?' I turned away from Harry. I wasn't ready for this. 'Because you didn't want to accept you had feelings for me?'

I didn't reply. Footsteps approached me. I felt a hand on my face. Harry stood in front of me, his hand holding my face.

'Do you have feelings for me?' asked Harry softly. His voice was so deep, so soft. How could I have never noticed this before? A shiver ran down my spin. I tried to look away but Harry's hand kept my face raised to his 'No, don't run from me. Just tell me the truth. Do you have feelings for me?'

I swallowed trying to repress my nerves. I lowered my eyes then said, 'Yes.'

'How long for?'

'Since our kiss at Christmas at The Burrow.'

I raised my eyes to see Harry gazing down on me, an almost disappointed look on his face.

'Jenna, why didn't you tell me?' asked Harry. 'Why didn't you tell me you had feelings for me?'

'Because I couldn't,' I said. 'Because … because I was scared.'

'Scared of what? Of Voldemort? Of me dying –?'

'I was never scared of you dying.'

I broke free of Harry's grip and turned away. It hurt to much to look at him as I admitted the reason why I couldn't love him, something which was surprising me as well. I stood away from him. My arms were crossed over my chest and clutching each other, my eyes were focused in front of me.

'Then what were you scared of? Because, Jenna, I sure as hell don't know.'

'Of losing you to someone else. Seeing you kiss Ginny, it was like someone had ripped out my heart. It hurt so much to watch the two of you together, knowing I would never have that with you. But no matter how much it hurt watching you with someone else, it always hurt more when we kissed, knowing you couldn't be mine.'

I let out a silent sigh. I couldn't believe I was saying this.

'I thought if I kept my distance, I'd get over you. I thought if I pretended I was imagining these feelings then they would go away. I was wrong. All it did was make those feelings stronger. But every time I saw you with Ginny, I knew that my feelings weren't returned, that you felt nothing for me, and it felt like I no longer had a place in your life.'

I heard footsteps approaching me followed by his hands resting on my shoulders. I tensed slightly, closing my eyes. He then proceeded to hold me, his arms travelling round my waist and across my chest so his hand gripped my shoulder. I held on to him.

'That works two ways,' said Harry quietly. 'Like I told you, seeing you kissing that other guy, the temptation to just walk up to him and punch him, to stop him from kissing you, was unbearable to hold back. It felt like he was trying to steal you away from me.'

I felt myself being turned around and I opened my eyes to come face to face with his own, my blue ones gazing into his green, our faces so close together. A soft smile was on Harry's face as he gazed down on me. My heart raced. His arms held me round my waist, our bodies just touching each other.

'Since that kiss in the snow, I'd been feeling things for you too. Things I'd never felt before, not even for Ginny. I couldn't get you out of my head after that. You made my heart beat faster every time I saw you. Made me forget what was happening every time we kissed. Each time I wondered if you ever got the same feelings I did or whether I'd ever get the chance to kiss you again, hoping I would. But the more times we kissed, the further apart we became. I hated it and I wanted to know why you were pushing me away. But you ran. Why?'

I swallowed, not wanting to say it. I was scared what would happen, that this would drive Harry away from me.

'The hardest part of loving you was watching you love someone else so when you found out, I ran,' I muttered. 'I didn't want to admit my feelings because that would mean admitting to what I'd pretended wasn't there. The trap I didn't want to fall into but already had. You see … I screwed up. I did fall for you.'

I waited for Harry's reaction. The smile was still on his face as he gazed down at me. For a second time Harry moved closer and leant down to kiss me. And a second time, I stopped it, this time by looking away. Harry let out a frustrated sigh.

'Jen, come on, why do you still block me out?' he asked. I could hear the anger simmering in his voice. 'I know you're scared, hell, I am too, but this is the first time in my life I've ever been sure about something. So sure that what I'm feeling for you is real, sure I want to be able to hold you and kiss you whenever I want. Sure that it's you I want to be with.'

I looked at Harry, shocked. He was really serious about this, wasn't he?

'I can't lose you, Jen. Watching you fight Bellatrix was like watching Voldemort personally torturing you. Don't do this to me. I want to know you'll always be by my side, be there when I need you. I love you. You're my world and I don't know what I'd do without you.'

I didn't reply straight away. I just watched him. Harry sounded so genuine. I could see the desperation in his eyes. A smile slowly came to my face. Gently I placed my hand on his cheek, stroking it, before running my fingers through his wild hair. It was so soft, gliding through them with such ease. I let out a short laugh at how pathetic we both were.

'That's the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me, Harry James Potter,' I told him. 'But somehow … it worked.'

If it was possible, the smile on Harry's face grew as he gazed down on me. I was at least half a foot shorter than him. He ran his hand over my cheek, brushing back my hair, while his other took mine. His fingers linked with my own.

'You know … I met a little girl years ago after she was bullied by my cousin in a playground. That same girl then told me a few years later that if you looked into someone's eyes, you could sometimes see into their hearts, as if they were a key to them …' I bit my lip, blushing. I remembered the necklace he'd given me. 'Now that girl has grown into a beautiful woman and she stands before me. And I love her more than anything.'

I raised my eyebrow at Harry.

'I too met a little boy years ago when his cousin tried to hassle me. Never did I think we'd go through so much together. Never did I think that scrawny kid could turn into such a handsome man …' I ran my hand through his hair again, 'even with his unruly hair.' Harry laughed. 'In sixth year he told me no one would be good enough for me unless they could win the key to my heart. Well someone has won it …'

I picked up the chain that hung around my neck and pulled it out from underneath my top. On the end of it lay a heart pendant. But no key. Harry eyes flicked down to it, then back to me. I removed my hand from his hair and placed it on his collar bone. Reaching beneath his t-shirt, I pulled out another thin chain, a small key hanging from it. Nonverbal Switching Spell and Multiply Spell on the chain.

'If you told me back then that he'd be the man I fell in love with, I'd say you were under a Jesting Charm. But the thing is, I am in love with him … I always have been and I always will be.'

There was a moments silence in which Harry and I just stood there. One of his hands was gently resting on my waist while his other gripped my, our fingers interlocked, while my free hand rested on his chest. Our eyes looked into each others, blue into green, until I had to look away out of sheer nervousness. I looked at my hand, my fingers pulling at some loose threads in Harry's shirt.

'When you first met me, did you ever think this would happen?' I asked quietly. 'That we'd fall in love?'

'No,' replied Harry. 'But I'm glad it did.' Harry released my hand. He brushed back my hair and raised my face. 'Now how about I give you that kiss I owe you?'

'But we've kissed twice since then,' I replied.

'Ah well, yeah, we have,' said Harry casually, 'but the first time, you kissed me, and the second time, I thought I'd never get to see you again. Different circumstances.'

'Just because we know how we feel about each other now doesn't mean you can think you'll get to kiss me whenever you want,' I teased.

'We'll just have to see about that,' said Harry slyly. He wrapped his other arm round my waist, bringing me even closer. 'After all, third time's a charm.'

He lifted his hand and touched my cheek. My eyes remained on him, watching. Harry moved closer, leaning down to me. I knew what was going to happen and this time I wasn't going to stop it. Instinctively I tilted my head, my eyes closing. I felt Harry's lips brush mine sending a shiver down my spine. I took in a sharp breath and tensed but then Harry's lips were on mine and everything seemed to no longer matter to me.

Harry's grip around me tightened as the kiss continued, our bodies pressing together. Our lips moved slowly against each other. I held and savoured each one of them. Harry's hand stroked my face and I felt his fingers run through my hair. Our kisses deepened, taking me by surprise when Harry pulled back, his teeth gently grazing my bottom lip, then went for another kiss. I felt Harry's tongue run over my lips asking for access. A shiver ran down my spine and I denied him at first, only granting him passage as my own need increased. Hesitantly I ran my hand up Harry's chest to touch his face. My fingers stroked his cheek until I raised my other arm, wrapping them both round Harry's neck in an effort to pull myself closer to him. I was in heaven and I didn't want this dream to end.

-o-

For the last half an hour or so, Lily, James, Tala, Sirius and Remus had been talking. It was exactly like how it used to be. The five of them together again talking about whatever they felt like, all thanks to the belief of their children. As they did so, Tala's eyes drifted to the other side of the Astronomy Tower platform where Jenna stood with Harry. The two of them were facing each other as they spoke. Tala watched curiously. There was a strange closeness being shared between the two of them. It seemed so familiar to her. As the others continued to talk, Tala's attention remained drawn to the two teenagers and when she saw Harry move in closer to Jenna, realisation hit her.

'Guys,' said Tala quietly. 'Remember when we found out we were in love? Me and Sirius, Lily and James, now Remus and Dora.' They all nodded. 'Well, I think there's just that little bit more love in the air. Look.'

James, Sirius, Remus and Lily all looked at her. Tala nodded her head towards the other side of the platform. The four of them looked over to where she was indicating. They saw Harry and Jenna standing together, Harry's arm wrapped round Jenna's waist while her hand rested on his chest. Their eyes were focused on each other, not realising that they were being watched by their parents. The five of them watched in silence.

Harry wrapped his other arm round Jenna and brought her closer, their bodies touching. He lifted his hand and stroked Jenna's cheek. He loved the feel of Jenna's skin beneath his hand. Actually, Harry loved everything about her. He leaned down to her, his eyes closing. Almost instinctively Jenna raised her face to his, her blue eyes closed as well. Their lips gently brushed each other for the briefest of seconds until, unable to wait any longer, Harry closed the gap and pressed his lips against Jenna's.

A spark seemed to shoot through the pair of them as the kiss continued, their lips slowly starting to move against each other in long, passionate movements. Harry's grip instantly tightened around Jenna to bring her closer, holding her and not wanting to let her go. He raised his hand and let his fingers run through Jenna's hair. It was so soft. Their kisses deepened. A shiver ran down Jenna's spine when she felt Harry's tongue run over her lips and, after denying him first, she responded hungrily to his motions by granting him passage. Her hand which had resting on Harry's chest made its way up to his face. Jenna's arms continued until they were wrapped around Harry's neck, removing any remaining space between their bodies.

Their kisses continued, the pair of them oblivious to the fact that their parents and family were watching them. They were content in a world of their own, not wanting to be disturbed. James and Sirius looked at each other. They knew they were thinking the same thing. After all, once a Marauder, always a Marauder.

'Er, shall we, Prongs?' asked Sirius offhandedly. 'You know, for old times sake.'

James glanced at his son, then back at his best friend, grinning.

'I will if you are,' he replied. He looked at the two teenagers one last time, still kissing, then back at Sirius. He nodded. 'Go on, get in there, my son!'

'Get a room!'

-o-

Harry and I broke apart as we heard the voices of our Dads jeering at us. We looked across at them to see James and Dad having a hoot of a time while Mum and Lily were shaking their heads at their husbands. Lupin just shrugged at us then nodded his approval, a smile on his face. I couldn't help but laugh. Our parents had been back half an hour and they were already back to their usual selves. I rested my forehead against Harry's chest in embarrassment and wrapped my arms round him. Harry too was laughing as he held me, his arms loose around my waist and his chin resting on my head.

'Is it too late to reverse the spell?' I asked. Harry smiled and looked down on me.

'Would you really want to?' he asked.

I thought for a moment, watching our parents, then said, 'Never.' I sighed and snuggled into Harry's arms. I reached up and gently gave Harry another kiss. It lasted several seconds before I pulled back and said, 'I have everything I've ever dreamed of now.'

'Merlin, who'd of thunk it, Prongs,' Sirius said loudly. 'Your son and my daughter. Getting it on.'

'Oh, Sirius!' I sniggered as Mum gave Dad a sharp tap on the shoulder. He pouted at her. 'Leave them alone. Insensitive git.'

'So, is this what it looks like or are James and Sirius's remarks invalid?' said Lupin lightly. He raised a knowing eyebrow at me and Harry. I blushed.

'Yeah,' replied Harry. He brought me closer. 'It is what it looks like.'

'Merlin, who would have thought,' said James. 'Seems like the Potter charm lives on.'

'In your dreams, James,' said Lily. 'I'm sure Harry was a perfect gentleman.'

'That's the charm! You should know that, Lils. You fell for it too.'

Lily gave me a significant look.

'I hope you know what you're in for, Jenna,' she told me. 'Potter men are hard to handle.'

'You forget though, Lily,' said Sirius. 'She's got Black blood. She'll be able to handle him.'

Harry and I glanced at each other.

'I think I have it under control.'

It was nearing half past eight when Harry and I left our parents. Leaving them to explain what happen, Lupin took them down to find any of the Weasleys or teachers while Harry and I returned to the Gryffindor Tower. We walked down from the Astronomy Tower and headed back to the common room. We walked in a comfortable silence, my hand clasped in Harry's. When we entered the common room to find it was empty. I let go of Harry's hand and started for the staircase to the girls' dormitories. However, Harry had other ideas.

With a soft kiss, Harry took my hand and led me away from the girl's dormitory door. I followed willingly. We climbed up the staircase to the boys' dormitories to the top where the seventh year boys' dormitory was. Harry pushed the door open. We looked inside. Seamus, Neville and Dean were all asleep in their beds, the hangings pulled round them. In the other occupied bed, I saw Ron and Hermione lying there together. Ron had his arm round Hermione's waist and the pair of them were asleep.

'It's about time those two got their acts together,' I whispered, looking at them.

'Yeah,' agreed Harry. He took out his wand and flicked it at Ron's bed. The hangings pulled shut. 'Best give them some privacy.'

I nodded in agreement.

Taking my hand again, Harry led me inside and over to his bed. I followed. We sat down on it facing each other. Harry flicked his wand. The hangings drew shut and a Silencing Charm was put around us. The glow of the morning was the only light in the room, shining through the window beside Harry's bed. Neither of us spoke. We seemed as unsure as each other about what to do. But when I looked at him, I didn't see the boy I'd met almost ten years ago; I didn't see The Boy Who Lived or the Chosen One; I saw the handsome young man Harry had become, brave, strong and with the courage of a true Gryffindor.

'I can't believe it's over,' I breathed. 'You're finally free, Harry. To live your life as you want it.'

'And with who I want,' said Harry. He moved closer and kissed my cheek. 'And I want to be with you.'

I blushed, looking away from him, but I couldn't help but smile. I bit my lip as my nerves crept in again. I never used to be this nervous around Harry before. I felt like an embarrassed little schoolgirl. I looked back at Harry to see him smiling back at me. Next moment we were kissing again, Harry's hand on my neck, my own resting on his chest. I followed Harry's rhythm, our lips fitting perfectly. The kisses were long and I could feel the passion in them.

I felt Harry's arm creep round my waist and bring me closer. I ran my hands up Harry's chest and pushed the jacket off his shoulders, continuing down his arms. They were so strong, so powerful. My hands travelled down them until they found the bottom of his t-shirt. Harry's hands moved on top of my own. His t-shirt was soon discarded, my hands exploring his bare chest. I felt Harry's arm go back round my waist and I was lowered back on to the bed, his hand trailing up my side.

After a while Harry and I broke apart. We didn't say anything and our eyes didn't part as he lay lightly over me. I could feel my heart racing and we were both panting slightly. The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy. I raised my hand and brushed back Harry's hair, letting my fingers linger on his cheek, then rested it on his torso. His muscles tensed at my touch causing me to gasp slightly. Stealing a glance I saw Harry's chest was very well defined for his age. I instantly blushed. Harry laughed gently then gave me another light kiss on the lips.

'You know, you're cute when you blush,' Harry whispered when he pulled back. 'If I'd known you embarrass this easily, I would have tried it years ago.'

'It's you who makes me blush,' I said. 'Ten years ago, I didn't exactly picture myself kissing you without a shirt on. Actually I didn't picture myself kissing you at all.'

'And are you disappointed?' asked Harry.

I gazed up at Harry for a second, then said, 'No, you've never disappointed me. We've been through our hardships, yeah, but never did you disappoint me. It's just that I can't believe this is happening to us. Falling in love at seventeen.'

'You're not regretting it, are you?'

'No.' I looked at Harry earnestly. 'I just can't believe it's me you chose. There are tons of girls who would fall at your feet because of who you are, this Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One. None of them know you like I do. And the fact that you picked me …'

Harry placed his finger over my lips to stop me.

'I picked you because I fell in love with you,' said Harry. 'I want to be with you, Jenna. I don't want to lose you. I want you beside me now and always and not have to worry for your safety any longer. But I also want you to love me like I know you do inside.'

'I think I can do that,' I replied.

Harry smiled, then kissed me, and said, 'Now, I believe all that is left to discuss is my access rights over a certain piercing I know to lie in your belly button.'

'How did you know about that?' I asked.

'I have my sources,' mused Harry. 'But never mind that. I have the right to see that piercing.'

'Oh, do you?' I teased, running my finger down his chest.

'Yeah, I do,' said Harry, grinning. 'If I'm correct, I now obtain all access rights over that piercing meaning I can see it whenever I like and do whatever I please with it. In fact, I want to see it right now and you are powerless to stop me.'

'Am I now? And what gives you that idea?'

'Because you're ticklish.'

I squealed as Harry moved on top of me, his hands running up and down my sides trying to lift up my top as I tried to keep it down. I squirmed beneath him but I loved every second of his attention. Taking control Harry took my hands and held them above my head with one of his. He straddled me and lifted my top with his free hand. He pressed it lightly on my stomach to keep me still then bent down and kissed my piercing. I watched as he then held himself above me resting on his elbows, looking into my eyes. His fingers played with my hair.

'I love you, Jen,' he whispered.

'I love you too,' I breathed.

We lay there for a couple of minutes in a comfortable silence until Harry leaned down to me, pressing his lips on to mine. It was as soft and gentle as Harry always was. I felt Harry's arm slide beneath me to bring me closer. I raised my hand and ran it over his cheek, my fingers then tangling into his hair as my arms went round his neck. When the kisses deepened, I responded with a hunger I never knew I had. I just wanted Harry. Nothing more, nothing else. I just wanted to kiss him and for Harry to never let me go again.

_So this is what love feels like_ … I thought. We broke the kiss and I looked up at Harry. His green eyes gazed down at me, full of the love he had for me. Though still slightly amazed by the idea, I knew it was true. I knew he loved me. Harry moved and lay down beside me; he wrapped his arm round my waist and brought me closer. I laid my head on his chest as it gently rose and fell. _I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to realise it …_

It wasn't until late that afternoon that Harry and I woke up. I'd opened my eyes when I felt Harry turn over slightly and pull me closer. I looked at him to see him facing me; his arm was still round my waist while the fingers of his other hand were brushing my piercing; his breath was warm on my neck. I smiled. I gently ran my fingers over his cheek. A smile appeared on Harry's face. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer.

'Mr Potter?' Harry and I both opened our eyes. It was Professor McGonagall. Harry placed his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet, then reached over me and pulled back the hangings enough so that he could see the door. 'Mr Potter, Kingsley wishes to speak to you, Mr Weasley, Mr Longbottom, Miss Granger and Miss Black in the Headmaster's office.' There was movement in the bed next to us. Ron and Hermione must have woken up. 'I assume that seeing as the two girls' beds are empty, you'll know where they are.'

Harry and I looked at each other as we heard Professor McGonagall's footsteps walked away down the stairs.

'Harry? You there?'

'Yeah, Ron,' Harry replied.

'What d'you s'pose Kingsley wants?' asked Ron.

'Don't know. We'd better go see.'

'What about Jenna?' Ron then said. 'Shouldn't one of us go find her? I mean –' Ron cleared his throat, 'Herm's with me.' Harry and I looked at each other.

'I'll find her,' said Harry. 'I'll see you guys down there.'

Harry and I remained still and silent on his bed as Ron, Hermione and Neville got up. We waited for their footsteps to leave the room. There was a shuffle about as they changed their clothes then three pairs of footsteps walked across the room. The door opened and closed. We waited a few more minutes then Harry pulled back the hangings. Seamus and Dean were still asleep.

'Good job those two are heavy sleepers,' he said. Harry reached over, picked up his t-shirt and pulled it back on. 'Come on. We'd better go see what Kingsley wants.'

Harry and I left the dormitory. We walked down to the empty common room and out of the portrait hole together. The school was silent and the remnants of the battle were still there; piles of rubble and dust littered the floor; ashen marks stained the walls; spilled blood of both Death Eaters and defenders marked the stone. Our footsteps echoed in the silent corridors and we proceeded to the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle lay upright and awkwardly to the side, the spiral staircase up the Headmaster's Tower already risen. We climbed it and knocked on the door at the top.

'Come in,' said Professor McGonagall's voice. Harry and I entered.

There were more people gathered there than I expected, let alone thought could fit in this room. Then again, it had been Dumbledore's office. As I entered my eyes flicked to his portrait briefly. His seemed to catch mine, twinkling as usual. Looking away my eyes roved over all who were gathered.

Behind the desk, her hair restored to its usual tight bun, sat Professor McGonagall; her square spectacles sat straight on her nose and she was dressed in her usual green tartan robes. To her left stood Kingsley, a little battered but looking no worse for wear, and next to him was Aberforth. To Professor McGonagall's right were the Heads of Houses, Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn. Behind them was Hagrid in the only space that seemed to be able to hold his huge form. In a group together stood all the Weasley children with their parents each sporting their various injuries; Fred, whose arm was in a sling and he was leaning on his twin, was still smiling despite his injuries which I was glad to see. On the opposite side to them I saw were mine and Harry's parents; James stood with his arm round Lily's shoulders, proud smiles on their faces; Mum and Dad stood next to them, equally as proud; on the end were Lupin and Dora, his arms wrapped round her waist and a content smile on his face. Finally in front of the desk were Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville. Everyone was waiting for us.

'Ah, Mr Potter, Miss Black, so nice of you to join us,' said Professor McGonagall. I heard someone snigger behind me. I rolled my eyes secretly at Dad. Professor McGonagall got up and addressed the room. 'Now, I have called you all here so that Kingsley can inform you of what is happening in the wizarding world while Filius, Pomona, Horace, Hagrid and I are to discuss the details of Hogwarts.'

With a curt nod, Professor McGonagall handed over to Kingsley.

'The aftermath of the Second Wizard War has been as great as the last so, in the absence of an appointed Minister for Magic, I have taken it upon myself to oversee the proceedings,' said Kingsley. 'Already there have been reports of those suffering under the Imperious Curse regaining their self-control while those in Azkaban are being released.'

'Oh goody,' said Luna brightly. 'Daddy will be home for Plimpy soup then.'

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I all held in a snigger. Kingsley merely smiled at Luna then continued.

'The news of the Dark Lord's death has spread quickly like last time. The wizarding world is rejoicing thanks to you, Mr Potter.'

Harry nodded.

'Aurors from the Ministry are beginning to round up the last of the Death Eaters who have fled the school. They are to be sent to Azkaban to await trial by the Wizengamot. As for those who have been killed in combat, their bodies are to be buried at Azkaban as well.

'Those who have either died or been injured in the Second War have been sent to St Mungo's to receive treatment. I would like all those gathered in this room,' Kingsley's looked at all of us individually, 'to be escorted to St Mungo's after this meeting to receive medical treatment. As for the dead, their bodies are being left in the custody of their families once they have been informed so they can be buried in the proper way.'

'That's great, Kingsley,' said Harry. Harry looked round everyone in the room. 'But I just want to say it's not just because of me that we defeated Voldemort.' For the first time, no one in the room shivered at the name. 'You all helped me, by fighting alongside me, by helping me work out what I needed to learn …' Harry turned and looked at his parents, 'and by protecting me.' Lily smiled. 'Thank you, everyone. You all deserve to be honoured, not just me.'

A quiet clap started in the room, soon turning into a round of applause and cheers, Fred and George whooping loudly. I saw Harry glance at me. I smiled, biting my lower to try and stop myself blushing.

'Hear, hear, Mr Potter,' said Professor McGonagall. The applause and cheers died down. 'Now, on to matters of the school. Filius, Pomona, Horace, Hagrid and myself have had a discussion concerning the school. We have decided that Hogwarts, once it has been repaired, is to reopen.'

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny and I all beamed at each other. That was great news.

'All students are welcome to return, that includes all current Slytherins, Mr Weasley,' added Professor McGonagall when Ron groaned, 'and all current seventh years will be welcome to return in September as an honorary "eight year" in order to complete their NEWTs with the correct syllabus should they so desire. All other students will automatically progress to the next year.

'However, there are to be changes in staff,' continued Professor McGonagall. 'Filius, Pomona and Horace have all agreed to keep on their roles as Housemasters of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin respectively, and keep their posts as Charms, Herbology and Potions teachers. Also, in addition to his roles as Keeper of Keys and Grounds and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid has agreed to take the position of Housemaster of Gryffindor,' the seven of us beamed at that, 'while I assume the position of Headmistress of Hogwarts seeing as our previous Headmaster abandoned his post.'

'Professor Snape didn't abandon his post,' said Harry suddenly. Ron, Hermione and I looked at Harry. That was the first time he'd ever referred to him as something other than "Snape". 'Professor Snape did what he had to do, under Professor Dumbledore's orders, including bringing about his death.'

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a phial of silvery liquid. Snape's memories. He placed it on the desk in front of Professor McGonagall.

'I want the teachers to look at these memories as they will explain everything. But Professor Snape was not a traitor. He never was. He risked his life for a reason I am not going to discuss here, but nonetheless, he risked everything and followed Dumbledore's orders. He's probably one of the bravest men I've ever met and I want a portrait of him to be hung in here alongside the other Headmasters and mistresses of Hogwarts, as he too was a Headmaster of Hogwarts.'

No one spoke nor dared to contradict Harry. Professor McGonagall watched Harry for a moment or two, then nodded.

'Very well, Mr Potter.' She picked up the phial and placed it in a nearby cabinet. 'I will examine the memories myself and discuss with the other Heads of Houses.' Harry nodded. Professor McGonagall continued. 'The only remaining positions to be filled are Muggle Studies and, as usual, post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I can safely say Amycus and Alecto have _resigned_ willingly and we will be looking for people to fill these posts. Remus,' Professor McGonagall addressed Lupin, 'as you were such a hit with the students, would you consider accepting the post once again?'

'As tempting as that sounds, Minerva, I would have to decline,' replied Lupin curtly. 'I have my family to think about. I'll be needed at home. Besides I don't think parents would be wanting someone with … my condition teaching their children.'

'That's nonsense, Remus John Lupin, and you know it,' said Dora bluntly. 'Teddy's still got his mother and cousin. I'm sure Jenna will be round to baby-sit whenever she can. Besides, I thought you said what happened nullified the lycanthropy.' Dora's eyes caught mine. We shared a grin. 'He'll be happy to take the post until you find a permanent teacher, Minerva.'

'Very well. There remains now only one question which has been puzzling me,' said Professor McGonagall. She looked at Harry. 'It was quite a shock to see Remus and company into the Great Hall, particularly when all had been dead for varying amounts of time. I'm sure we'd all like an explanation. Perhaps you can offer us one.'

Harry glanced at me, then said, 'There isn't one, not one at least I can give you or one that the person responsible would want known. Even I don't understand how it happened but it did, almost killing the person who tried it. There are just some things in magic which are best left untouched and this is one of them. How it was achieved should never be discussed. Life and death shouldn't be control by anyone or anything; not by Voldemort, not by the Deathly Hallows, no one. All I can say was that they were all given a second chance to be with their families, something not many others who have fought in this war or the last will get.'

'And we're all very grateful,' said Lupin. 'Well said, Harry.'

'Indeed,' agreed James. 'Nice one, son.'

'Well done, Harry,' added Sirius. Furtively I saw Dad also wink at me. 'The only thing we will have to work out is how to, er, explain this to the rest of the wizarding world.'

'You can leave that with me, Sirius,' said Kingsley. 'The Ministry and I will come to an agreement over the matter.

'Now, as I believe that we have discussed all that is important, I request you all to go to St Mungo's to receive medical treatment. The Hogwarts Express has been sent for and will arrive shortly to take you all to London where Ministry cars will collect you and take you to the hospital. As for Remus, I ask that you and the others receive a physical examination to check your health.' Dad, James and Lupin all nodded. 'I have a few last things I wish to discuss with Minerva privately concerning the repair of Hogwarts. Thank you.'

The group dispersed. The Weasleys, Fred being helped along by Percy and George, left first followed by Mum, Dad and the others; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna and I left after them, leaving the Professors to discuss Hogwarts' repair. It was nice to know that it was going to reopen after all that had happen. In a group, we headed down the various staircases and towards the Entrance Hall. Neville, Ginny and Luna walked just ahead of us; Ron and Hermione walked hand in hand with each other next to Harry. I walked on his other side, content in the silence.

'So, you guys going to come back in September?' asked Ron, breaking the silence.

'I'm certainly going to,' said Hermione. 'I need to get my NEWTs in order to apply for the job I want.'

'What's that, Hermione?' I asked.

'I'm going to continue my petition against the treatment of house-elves,' said Hermione. She then laughed. 'I going to continue SPEW.'

'S.P.E.W, you mean,' said Ron. Hermione beamed at him.

'Some things never change,' I laughed. We descended the marble staircase and walked across the empty Entrance Hall and into the grounds. The sun was now shining brightly over the grounds. Ahead of us, Ginny, Neville and Luna were now with Seamus and Dean, walking down the path towards the gates. 'What about you, Ron?'

'I'll probably come back eventually,' he mused, 'but firstly I'm gonna help out Fred and George at the shop, what with Fred's wand arm being damaged at the moment. It'll take a while for his arm to heal and get back his strength so I'll help around the shop. It won't be forever though,' he assured Hermione, seeing her look of disappointment. 'Probably come back so I can train to be an Auror. Like the sound of that. What about you, Jen?'

'Yeah, I'll probably come back too,' I said. 'I finally worked out what I want to do with my life. Help and heal others. I need to get the qualifications first though before I can apply for a Healer internship at St Mungo's but I know that's what I want to do.'

Harry glanced at me. He smiled.

'That's my girl,' he said quietly so only I could hear it. He slipped his arm round my waist. He gave me a gentle squeeze. 'Always helping others.'

'What about you, Harry?' asked Hermione.

'I don't know if I'll come back,' said Harry. 'I'm going to speak to Kingsley about applying for the Auror program and see what he says. I'll do my NEWTs if it's necessary but otherwise, I think I've finished school.' Harry stopped and looked back at the castle. Ron, Hermione and I did so too. 'You know,' he said slowly, 'I'm going to miss this place. So many memories.'

'So many dangerous years,' laughed Ron. 'But what's life without a few dragons, eh?'

'So many things we've learnt from them,' added Hermione.

'But so many things that we'll never forget,' I said. The others nodded in agreement.

'You know what,' finished Harry. 'I think … _mischief managed._'

* * *

**AN: there you are, the final chapter, but don't fret, there is still an epilogue to come. as for a sequel, well it depends on whether people want it or not. let me know and i'll have a ponder. please do leave a review, especially since it's the last chapter so i know what you all thought of it and thank you for being such loyal readers and reviewers. thanks!! and a big thanks to JK Rowling for writing the story in the first place. without it as a base i wouldn't have been able to write one as a starter for my fanfiction. BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


	47. Epilogue: The Next Year

Epilogue

The Next Year

As Kingsley instructed we all went to St Mungo's to get checked over. We got our various wounds healed and I managed to get my scars from the Flagrum Curse finally removed. After that, the Weasleys returned to The Burrow, glad to be a family once again; Hermione began arranging with the Ministry for her to get her parents from Australia and restore their memories; James, Lily and Harry were able to stay at the Three Broomsticks until they found a more permanent residence; and I returned to Moonlake Cottage with Remus and Dora while Mum and Dad stayed at Andromeda's house. It took a while for everything to be sorted out in the aftermath of the Second War but now, a year later, everything is back to normal.

I'm now nineteen and looking at me, you wouldn't think a year ago I'd been in the centre of a war. In fact if you looked at anyone who'd been involved in it, or the wizarding world itself, you wouldn't think we'd come so close to a complete domination of evil. Everyone had changed so much and those who had fought together had formed much stronger friendships from it.

The September after the Battle of Hogwarts, the school reopened with Professor McGonagall as Headmistress. The parts of the castle which had been destroyed in the fight had been repaired and Hogwarts looked as welcoming as it had the day I first laid eyes on it. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn still taught their old subjects as well as looked after the students in their Houses and Hagrid was a great success with the Gryffindors, both old and new. A new Muggle Studies teacher had also been found, Professor Grahams, and Remus had taken on the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor until a new teacher, Professor Jenkins took his place. All other staff had kept their posts and Hogwarts was returned to how it had been before Voldemort had got his claws into it.

As for Professor Snape, Harry had ensured a portrait of him had been hung in the Headmaster's office, however, he has so far never spoken to it. Whatever those memories he'd seen had shown, it had made Harry reach a silence with Snape and their seven year quarrel ended. Ron, Hermione and I never questioned it and respected Harry's choice knowing he had his reasons for it.

The Ministry too had been reformed after Voldemort's claim over it. Kingsley had become the new Minister for Magic and he instantly set about abolishing all the anti Muggle-born campaigns and registrars that had been created during Voldemort's reign. Umbridge, who had been at the head of this, was arrested and put on trial for her crimes. She was found guilty and sent to Azkaban. The Dementors also were no longer in control of the prison and had been banished to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean while all that had been imprisoned by the Death Eaters were released.

It wasn't just in the wizarding world though where change had happened. There were many other changes elsewhere too.

The Malfoy family was one of those where the change was evident. Although Lucius still maintained that blood purity was important, his loathing against Muggle-borns had been toned down to put it one way. He no longer flaunted his influence over people and kept his opinions firmly to himself. Narcissa, who'd never really been a Death Eater in the first place, was merely glad to have her husband and son both safely returned to her and she'd even become slightly warmer to the idea of Sirius and me being her relations.

Meanwhile, Draco was one of the few Slytherin students who returned to Hogwarts for their seventh year. People like Goyle, Zabini, Nott, Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy didn't return, but Tracey Davis, Daphne and Penelope Runcorn did. They were the more bearable Slytherins. Draco still had his role of prefect but he was much less arrogant and vile than he used to be and whenever he saw, we'd share a smile. I wasn't sure if he still had feelings for me but regardless if he did or not, it was just nice to now have him as a friend.

Luna and Neville were two other people who when you saw them you instantly saw the change in them. Neville was much more confident now and rarely ever got spells wrong in class, even being Professor Sprout's assistant in the greenhouses in his free time. He'd also lost weight and become a rather good-looking young man. His grandmother had never been more proud of him. Luna, on the other hand, was still as barmy as she'd always been but people no longer made fun of her (unless she was telling them about new creatures she and her dad had discovered, but that was only on special occasions). She and Neville regularly met up with the rest of us and it felt just like old times. After school, Luna travelled round for a bit to continue research on new creatures while Neville followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Auror program.

The War had also had a good result for the Weasleys. Bill and Fleur had their first child, Victoire, on the second anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts; Charlie returned to Romania to continue his work on dragons but visited regularly; Percy and his parents reconciled with each other and he introduced us all to his girlfriend Audrey Quigley (which brought a lot of jokes from Fred and George); Weasleys Wizard Wheezes continued to be a big success with the Hogwarts students and with Ron's help, Fred and George created many new products, Fred taking a back seat as he slowly regained his strength in his wand arm again. Finally Mr Weasley got a raise at the Ministry and he and Mrs Weasley were able to refurbish The Burrow though it still retained its charm of not having a straight edge in the place.

Family was certainly more important than ever now that the War was over. That was certainly true for Remus. Now that he no longer had lycanthropy Remus was back to his old self and enjoying life how a man his age should. They had a proper wedding the December after the War and he, Dora and Teddy lived happily together in Moonlake Cottages. I was over there practically every week to visit and to baby-sit Teddy whenever Remus asked. Though I'd had my initial reservations about their relationship, I saw Remus and Dora truly loved each other and I adored my baby cousin to bits. He was going to be the spitting image of Remus when he was older, I just knew it. Unless, that is, if he decided to keep the turquoise hair he frequently had.

James and Lily had also got their lives back on track and I saw what Remus had always described about them. They were kind and caring, and I saw where Harry got his love of Quidditch (James) from as well as his respect for others (Lily). They'd rebuilt their house Godric's Hollow and had moved back in a month or so after the War, Harry living with them. The statue of them in the village had been replaced with a statue of Harry with the words "The Boy Who Lived" written beneath it. Harry wasn't too bothered about it but always avoided it if he could.

Mum and Dad too had also managed to get a house near to Godric's Hollow so they could regularly meet up with James and Lily. I lived with them in a small house in the countryside and I finally saw what it was like to have parents. Mum was unbelievable and I saw I was more like her than I ever realised before. As for Dad, I always could rely on him when I needed someone to cover for me if I was going to sneak out for a few hours. Like Remus said, I was like both my parents: I had my Mum's looks and compassion for others but I had Dad's recklessness, not that I complained.

As for the rest of us, nothing much really changed for Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry and me but there were still changes that showed.

Ginny and Neville's relationship grew over her seventh year and I saw how close they had become over the time the four of us had been away from Hogwarts. She became House Captain of Gryffindor and Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, finally passing her NEWTs in Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Astronomy. After she finished school, Ginny continued her Quidditch, eventually joining the Holyhead Harpies as one of their Chasers.

Like he said, Ron didn't go straight back to Hogwarts. For four months or so he helped Fred and George out in the shop, helping create new products and charms while Fred's wand arm healed. Fred and George finally began to admit that he was their brother and showed they were truly proud of him. Ron then came back to Hogwarts for his seventh year in January, much to Hermione's joy, and began studying to become an Auror as he planned to join once he'd passed his NEWTs.

Hermione returned to Hogwarts as soon as it started in September, like she said she would. She passed her NEWTs with flying colours, something no less than expected of her, and managed to get the job she wanted in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and started to make changes in the treatment of house-elves. I made sure though to tell her what I'd learned from Jitters, that as long as respect is held between elf and owner, then they don't mind having masters.

Throughout all of what happened after the War and all the publicity he received because of it, Harry kept a level head and finally got what he'd wanted for a long time. The life of a normal teenager. Sure he was bombarded with press and everything but he just ignored it all and got on with his life. He spoke to Kingsley and joined the Auror program, however, without his NEWTs he wasn't allowed to train even though he was of age. Harry returned to Hogwarts and was appointed Head Boy (because there was an "eighth" year, the Head Boy and Girl remained in the highest year though House Captains were introduced as well). Harry even restarted the DA, making it an official club on Saturdays for fourth years and above, but he didn't continue Quidditch, leaving it to Ginny instead and filling in if needed. He finished his studies, passing his NEWTs with top grades. Of course, not as good as Hermione's. After that he and Ron both joined the Auror department and started their three year training course.

Now all that's left is what happened to me. After the War I moved in with my parents though I looked into sorting out the apartment in London I had been left in Dad's original will. I also returned to Hogwarts and, to my surprise, I was made Head Girl, something I never expected considering I'd never been a prefect or Captain of anything before. I remained part of the DA and every now and then I helped Hagrid out with any creatures for his classes. I passed my NEWTs with Outstandings in all subjects and I applied for my Healer internship at St Mungo's. I specialised in Spell Damage, in particular working with Neville's parents to try and restore their minds having experienced first hand Bellatrix's torture.

Life was finally back to normal for me. I had my family back; my hair (with a little help from magic) finally grew back to its original length and I re-dyed parts of it blood red again; and, after having been on the run for so long and lost a bit of weight, I regained my old energy and zeal for life. I was finally me again.

But who am I? You sure you wanna know? You've read the story of my life and it wasn't for the faint of heart. If somebody said it was a happy little tale, if somebody said my life was free of fear and danger, if somebody told you I was just your average, ordinary girl, not a care in the world … somebody lied.

I'm Jenna Black, a nineteen year old witch who's been through more in her teenage years than anyone twice her age. I'm an Animagus and can change into any animal I want at will, though that's not always a good thing (especially when Teddy's around). And I'm a Healer-in-training, putting my talent for helping others to good use.

There's something I've forgotten though. One thing's still left unsaid. I fell in love at seventeen with my best friend and he fell in love with me. As for what happened between me and Harry –

That's for us to know and you to find out … H.J. Potter

I guess that says it all really.

This was my Diary. The Diary of an Orphan.

J.M. Black

* * *

**AN: well, there you are. after over a year, i've finally finished my story. it's going to be strange no longer thinking about what to write next and it will certainly now create a void in my time where i used to write. However, if you enjoyed this, please do read my other one-shots and my story The Wolf of a Black's Heart, the prequel to this story about Jenna's parents. and after lots of persuasion (and threats ;)) i can safely say that there will be a sequel to this story coming in the future so watch this space. in the meantime i hope you enjoyed my story, do read my other ones and do leave a review for whatever your read of my material as it's so rewarding hearing your story is liked. cheers and thank you all who have read and reviewed.**

**BlAcKdAuGhTeR**

**on a side note, i said that Neville did Auror training. i only wrote this because he wouldn't have become Herbology Professor straightaway (he has nineteen years) so i reckoned he'd follow his dad before finding his true vocation.**


	48. Author's Note

**Hi all fans of Diary of an Orphan.**

**Just a note to say I have officially started the so far unnamed sequel of Diary of an Orphan and ideas for the story are formulating in my mind as we speak. If you have any ideas for a title (at the moment I have simply called it "His Black Rose" for a saved document) do let me know as well as if there is anything you want me to write in the story. The perspective will mostly be in the first person (Jenna's narrative) like in Diary of an Orphan but will at times stick to the third person (through Harry like the books).**

**All I will says is that it will cover the various relationships from Diary of an Orphan, their final year at Hogwarts and their lives afterwards including jobs and families. But it won't be all smooth sailing for the new love birds Harry and Jenna, I can guarantee that. Who knows … Draco might have something to say about that. The story will be rated M as it will cover much deeper issues of adult life so be aware of that.**

**Otherwise, happy reading and read and review my other stories. Cheers!**

**BlAcKdAuGhTeR**


End file.
